por admin » Dom Feb 03, 2013 10:43 am
February 1, 2013, 5:20 PM.Next Week’s Tape: Chase for 14000 Gets Real
This week’s news that the U.S. economy slightly contracted in the fourth quarter was a huge surprise. Next week will offer news on how productivity performed in a quarter where growth basically stalled.
Of course, next week may also offer a new DJIA record. After Friday’s rally, the Dow sits just about 150 points away from its 2007 record high, and the surge to a new record will very likely preoccupy much of the market’s attention.
On the data-front, productivity is an important building block for rising profits and living standards. The stall in output growth last quarter sets productivity up for a fall, say economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.
The median forecast of economists surveyed is that output per hour worked declined at a 1.6% annual rate last quarter, after growing 2.9% in the third.
With productivity declining, unit labor costs are projected to have increased 3.2%, more than reversing the 1.9% drop in the third quarter. The Labor Department will release the report Thursday.
But earnings season isn’t over, either. While there aren’t as many high-profile names on the docket, the calendar is still heavy Yum Brands YUM +1.52%, LinkedIn Zynga ZNGA -1.85%, Humana, ADM Disney DIS +1.32%, CVS Time Warner TWX +0.71%, and Sprint S +1.07%all report earnings.
On Friday, the Commerce Department will report the December trade deficit. The median forecast calls for the trade gap to shrink to $45.4 billion from $48.8 billion in November.
Overseas, traders will be paying close attention to the ECB’s monthly policy statement on Thursday for any mention of the euro, which has rallied more than 3% against the dollar since the start of the year. Investors have become increasingly optimistic about credit conditions in the euro zone, especially as the likelihood of catastrophic events like a Greek exit get priced out.
MarketWatch’s Kate Gibson stopped by the Markets Hub this morning to preview next week:
Here’s your clip-and-save data calendar:
Monday
Economics:
10:00 a.m. ET: December Factory Orders: seen: +2.2%; last: unchanged
Earnings:
Anadarko, Clorox, Gannett Hartford Financial HIG +1.65%, Humana, Yum
Tuesday
Economics:
10:00 a.m.: January ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI: seen: 55.0; last: 55.7
Earnings:
Aflac AFL 0.00%, Allergan Arch Coal ACI -0.98%, ADM, ADP Becton Dickinson BDX +1.32%Cardinal Health CAH +0.16%, Chipolte, CME, Eaton Estee Lauder EL +2.94%Expedia EXPE +3.10%, Kellogg, NYSE, Panera, Sirius XM, Take-Two, Toyota, Walt Disney, Zynga
Wednesday
Economics:
Nothing of note.
Earnings:
Akamai, Allstate American Electric Power AEP -0.11%Con-Way CNW +2.01%Coventry Health CVH +0.26%, Cummins, CVS, Fifth Street GlaxoSmithKline GSK.LN +0.45%, Green Mountain IAC/Interactive IACI +0.75%, IntercontinentalExchange, Lincoln National Marathon Oil MRO +1.79%News Corp NWSA +1.50%Prudential Financial PRU +1.66%, Ralph Lauren, Tesoro, Time Warner, Visa, Yelp
Thursday
Economics:
8:30 a.m.: Weekly Jobless Claims: seen: 360,000; last: 368,000
8:30: Fourth-Quarter Productivity (1st Read): seen: -1.6%; last: +2.9%
8:30: Fourth-Quarter Unit Labor Costs (1st Read): seen: +3.2%; last: -1.9%
3:00 p.m.: December Consumer Credit: seen: +$12.0 billion; last: +$16.05 billion
Earnings:
Activision Blizzard ATVI +2.19%, Cigna Coca-Cola Enterprises CCE +1.43%, Coinstar, Exelon Hasbro HAS +0.75%KKR KKR +3.61%, Levi Strauss, LinkedIn, Mack-Cali, McClatchy Monster Worldwide MWW -0.17%, New York Times, Philip Morris, Scripps Networks, Sprint Nextel,
Friday
Economics:
8:30: December US Trade Deficit: seen: $45.4 billion; last: $48.7 billion
10:00: December Wholesale Inventories: seen: +0.5%; last: +0.6%
Earnings:
AOL, Apollo Global, CBOE Entergy ETR +0.37%, Louisiana Pacific Moody's MCO +0.97%
– Nicole Hong contributed to this post