Data Expected From Many Dow Companies
Investors will receive a mountain of earnings data this week that should help them determine whether corporate profits, one of the catalysts for the recent run-up in stocks, have held up as well as some have predicted.
Coming off another record-setting week for the Dow Jones industrial average, Wall Street will be looking for new drivers to push stocks higher and, in the case of the Dow, past the 12,000 mark.
The Dow Jones industrial average crept to another record close Friday, marking the third straight week of triple-digit increases by the blue-chip index.
A dozen of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones index are scheduled to report results, including technology names such as Intel and consumer companies such as Johnson & Johnson.
On Tuesday, the Labor Department is scheduled to release the September producer price index, which measures the wholesale cost of goods.
That same day, the Federal Reserve will weigh in on the country’s industrial sector. The central bank is expected to issue its report on industrial production and capacity utilization for September.
Wednesday brings the Commerce Department’s report on September housing starts and building permits. The health of the housing sector has weighed on investors who have worried that a slowdown in construction and a pullback in housing values will erode consumer spending, which has been key to economic growth.
Also Wednesday, the Labor Department is expected to release its consumer price index, which is the key measure of inflation.
Oil prices, which touched lows for the year last week, remain central to the stock market’s run-up in many investors’ eyes, as falling prices have put more money in consumers’ pockets and reduced costs for myriad industries. Weekly data on crude inventories are due Wednesday.
The Week Ahead
Today
* Treasury bill auction.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks at an American Bankers Assn. conference.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Charles Schwab, Mattel, Wachovia.
Tuesday
* Labor Department reports on producer price index for September.
* Federal Reserve reports on industrial production for September.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Intel, McClatchy, Wells Fargo, Yahoo, CSX, E.W. Scripps, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, KeyCorp, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Office Depot, Sovereign Bancorp, State Street, United Technologies, US Bancorp.
Wednesday
* Labor Department reports on consumer price index for September.
* Commerce Department reports on housing starts for September.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Advanced Micro Devices, Apple Computer, EBay, Occidental Petroleum, Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, AMR, Boston Scientific, Capital One Financial, General Dynamics, J.P. Morgan Chase, Mellon Financial, Northern Trust, Washington Mutual.
Thursday
* Labor Department reports on weekly jobless claims.
* Freddie Mac reports on mortgage rates.
* Conference Board reports its monthly leading economic indicators index.
* Quarterly earnings reports due from Bank of America, Broadcom, Google, Baxter International, Belo, Cingular Wireless, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, Eli Lilly, McDonald’s, New York Times, Southwest Airlines, Tribune, Union Pacific.
Friday
* Quarterly earnings reports due from 3M, Caterpillar, Merck, Schering-Plough.
