Market Analysis

Yesterday the stock market surged on news of the Greek bailout. Today, stocks are slumping on fears that some European Union member countries might not get on board with the bailout. In the backdrop, corporate earnings continue to be strong. This morning Merck, Phizer, ADM and CVS all reported earnings. Only ADM's was below analyst's expectations and it was still much better than last year, with a quarterly profit of $421 million vs $3 million for the same quarter last year.

In economic news today, March Factory Orders which were expected to be down .2% were up 1.3%. Pending Home sales for March, expected to be up 5% were up a seasonally adjusted 5.3%.

Below is a recap of the economic calendar for this week:

Monday, May 3, 2010

• March Personal Income, Spending and Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index - Incomes were up .3% as expected compared to a .1% increase in February, Spending was up .6% as expected compared to a .5% increase in February and the PCE Index, a measure of inflation at the consumer level was up .1% as expected compared to a 0% change in February.
• March Construction Spending - Up .2% vs market expectations of a .3% decline and a 2.1% decline in February.
• April Institute of Supply Management Manufacturing Sector Index - 60.4 reading vs expectations of a 60.0 reading and a 59.6 reading in March.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

• March Factory Orders - Up 1.3% vs expectations for a .2% decline. February's Factor Orders were revised up 1.3% vs initial reports of a .6% increase.
• March Pending Home Sales - Up 5.3% vs expectations of a 5% increase and compared to a 8.3% increase in February.

Wednesday May, 5, 2010

• April ADP Employment Change Report - expected to show a 30,000 increase in private sector payrolls vs a 23,000 decrease in March.
• April Institute of Supply Management (ISM) Service Sector Index - expected to be 56.1 compared to 55.4 in March.
  

Thursday, May 6, 2010

• Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended 5/1/2010 - expected to show an 8,000 decrease.
• Continuing Jobless Claims for the week ended 4/24 / 2010 - expected down by 45,000.
• 1st Qtr 2010 Initial Productivity Estimates - expected up 2.4% vs up 6.9% for the 4th Qtr 2009.
  

Friday, May 7, 2010

• April Nonfarm Payrolls Report - expected increase in payrolls of 187,000 compared to a 162,000 in March. The nation's unemployment rate is expected to stay steady at 9.7%.