There is a lot of economic data coming out this week. This may be the break in the log jam the market has been in for the past couple weeks. But all signs are still pointing towards an eventual lower market. Brief rallies, in our view, are selling opportunities at this time. This is STILL a bear market.

Monday

• 9:45 am : March Chicago Purchasing Manager Index
• 10:00 am : March National Association of Purchasing Managers Index - Milwaukee
• 12:00 pm : Fed Yellen speaks in San Francisco on the foreclosure problem

Tuesday

• 7:45 am : ICSC/UBSW Chain Store Sales data
• 8:55 am : Redbook Retail Sales data
• 10:00 am : March ISM Manufacturing Data
• 10:00 am : February construction spending

Also on Tuesday, Auto sales figures will be reported

Wednesday

• 7:00 am : MBA mortgage applications
• 8:15 am : March ADP employment data
• 9:30 am : Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies before Congressional Joint Economic Committee
• 10:00 am : Senate Banking Committee hearing on Bear Stearns (BSC)
• 10:00 am : February Factory Orders
• 10:30 am : Crude oil/gasoline inventory data

Thursday

• 8:30 am : Initial jobless claims
• 10:00 am : March ISM - non-manufacturing
• 10:00 am : Senate Banking hearings on Bear Stearns (BSC)
• 10:15 am : Fed’s Mishkin speaks
• 10:30 am : Natural Gas inventory
• 7:30 pm : Fed’s Mishkin speaks in New York
• 8:00 pm : Fed’s Yellen speaks on the US economy

Friday

• 8:30 am : March non-farm unemployment data
• 2:45 pm : Fed’s Kroszner speaks at Inter-American Development Bank meeting in Miami

 

A lot of things happening this week. The hearings on Bear Stearns should be very interesting. Items is bold letters are items which will be potential large market moving events.

 

Last minute news tonight:

—   Expect Merck (MRK) to get a haircut in Monday’s trading as the study of it’s Vytorin and Zetia drugs was a "flop"

 

 — (US) THE US HUD SECRETARY TO ADDRESS THE PRESS AT 10 A.M. ON MONDAY - HUD
      The Secretary of HUD (Dept of Housing and Urban Development), Alphonso Jackson, is expected to resign on Monday     - Wall Street Journal

— (UK) ACCORDING TO THE PROPERTY ECONOMIST AT CAPITAL ECONOMICS, UK HOME PRICES COULD FALL BY 25% IN TWO YEARS - TELEGRAPH

—(US) THE FED IS EXAMINING THE NORDIC BANK NATIONALIZATIONS OF THE 1990S AS A POSSIBLE INTERIM SOLUTION TO THE US FINANCIAL CRISIS - TELEGRAPH
- A senior official at one of the Scandinavian central banks said that Fed strategists had stepped up contacts to learn how Norway, Sweden and Finland managed their crisis from 1991 to 1993.
- Telegraph reports that it is understood that Fed vice-chairman Don Kohn remains very concerned by the depth of the US crisis and is eyeing the Nordic approach for contingency options.
- Telegraph comments on the effectiveness of the Nordic bailout solution in reducing problems related to moral hazard.

(RebelTraders note: this has to be one of the craziest things to come out of Washington, D.C. in a long time. At least since yesterday.. LOL)

 

— (US) THE SEC HAS GIVEN FIRMS MORE FLEXIBILITY IN VALUING THEIR ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES - Wall Street Journal
- The new guidelines by the SEC will allow public companies to use "unobservable inputs" to value asset-backed securities, but only when actual market prices are not available.
- The companies that use "unobservable inputs" to value assets must determine if that would have a material impact on their financial results and they must include written explanations of how a firm determined the value of its asset-backed assets and liabilities, as well as how those values might change.
- The SEC added that public companies might need to provide more disclosure on risky "Level 3" assets and liabilities.

(Rebeltraders note: This has the makings of another disaster)

 

 — BANK OF AMERICA MAY CANCEL THE SALE OF ITS EQUITIES PRIME BROKERAGE UNIT AFTER LOWER THAN ANTICIPATED BIDS - Financial Times

 

See you in the morning…