Stock Market: Looking Forward to Next Week !

If Egypt's peaceful government change continues, stocks have a good chance to move higher. Earnings are due from Dell, Comcast, Deere and Nordstrom. But a big jump in the consumer price index could cause jitters.

In the meantime, here’s how things stand: The Dow ended the week with a 1.5% gain. The S&P 500 index added 1.4%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.45%. It was the 10^th weekly gain for the Dow in last weeks the ninth in the last 11 for the s&p 500 and the eighth in the last 11 for the Nasdaq.

A week of good earning ahead:

Monday: Masco (MAS), Walter Energy (WLT)

Tuesday: BHP Billiton,  DELL, FRT and CTL.

Wednesday: Comcast, Dean Foods, Deere, natural-gas producer DVN, data-storage manufacturer NTAP and graphics-chip maker NVDA.

Thursday: Oil-and-gas producer APA, Barrick Gold (ABX)and Nordstrom. 

Friday: Tire maker Bridgestone (BRDCF)and Campbell Soup (CPB).

The economy: Manufacturing, inflation and housing

The economic reports due next week include two important manufacturing indexes from the Federal Reserve banks of New York on Tuesday and Philadelphia and Thursday. Both indexes have been rising decently in the last year. The question is if the trend will continue. 

The inflation results will inflame the debate over the subject. The Labor Department issues its producer price index report on Wednesday and its consumer price index report on Thursday. The headline numbers for both should show jumps in food and energy costs. Some will blame the Fed's monetary policy. 

Housing starts and building permits for January will come out Wednesday. Expect both to show seasonally adjusted annual rates of 500,000 to 550,000. You should hope for lower starts so the excess supply of homes can get sopped up. Weather may depress starts. 

Building permits may drop. December permits were up 15% as builders in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania wanted to get permits before stricter building codes took effect. IHS Global Insight sees permits dropping 17% as a payback for December.