No Economic Data and Little in Earnings (Literally)

It's a tough week to believe in the new bull market will next to no economic data coming out and little in the way of earnings. I still think the markets can move higher with the help of a couple good reports next week and a few earnings surprises by some of the bigger companies. Goldman Sachs has been holding steady with it's earnings to be released next week with Johnson & Johnson only failing slightly the last two days.

Economic Data

With some unimportant economic data coming out this week, it's hard to excited about the rally. Consumer Credit, Wholesale Inventories, Export Prices, Initial Claims, and Trade Balance. That's one big yawn. Briefing.com rates the importance of the reports this week like a jock's grade card that skipped class all quarter, D-, C+. and D. Not anything to move the markets.

Earnings

And the earnings are just trickling in with only fear of the coming weeks to create any direction. Alcoa started the earnings today with a fairly poor report but that's expected with commodities not performing well during the last quarter. Mosaic after the close fell 7% with the same story as Alcoa. The Shaw Group could be a little exciting on Wednesday and Chevron could beat lowered expectations on Thursday but that's about it until Tuesday. Next Tuesday CSX Corp, Goldman Sachs, Intel, and Johnson & Johnson all announce their earnings. Goldman Sachs has a nack for beating estimates (except last quarter) and has been holding up the last two days of trading which is encouraging. Johnson & Johnson could also provide strength to start the week with a positive tone.