March 14, 2009 - The markets got a reprieve this week, despite the fact that the negative economic data kept streaming in. The catalyst for stocks came from the financial services industry where Citigroup said it earned a profit in the first two months of 2009, and Bank of America was reportedly regaining some footing. As a result, the DJIA gained 9% on the week, the Nasdaq gained 10.6% and the Samp;P gained 10.7%. This is good news, but major concerns persist. Unemployment data continued to show that more Americans are losing jobs and expectations are that this trend will continue at least through the first half of 2009. A direct consequence of job losses is that consumer spending is going to continue to taper off. The US economy has come to be so dependent on consumer spending that this is going to have materially negative impact on GDP. To ...

The big bailout will be a key focus of the markets.

Congress is expected to meet over the weekend to discuss legislation proposed by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The details of the proposal, and any additional measures designed to help homeowners struggling with mortgage payments, could impact market direction.

The temporary ban on short selling could also affect trading early in the week. Part of Friday's rally was the result of quadruple witching. Traders are being forced to close short positions rather than roll them over into new contracts.

On the earnings front, we have confirmed reports from 33 companies. Included in this group are S&P 500 members Autozone (AZO), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), Discover Financial (DFS), Jabil Circuit (JBL), KB Home (KBH), Lennar (LEN), McCormick (MKC), Nike (NKE) and Paychex (PAYX). I expect

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The final week of August will feature earnings reports from S&P 500 members Big Lots (BIG), Dell (DELL), Novell (NOVL), Sears Holding (SHLD) and Tiffany (TIF). Overall, it will be a quiet week for earnings with 77 companies confirmed to report.

The economic schedule is pretty full, led by the minutes from the August Fed meeting. I don't anticipate any surprises from the notes. Other key data will include: Monday: July existing home sales Tuesday: July new home sales, August Conference Board consumer confidence index, August Fed minutes Wednesday: July durable goods orders, weekly crude inventories Thursday: Preliminary second-quarter GDP, weekly initial jobless claims Thursday: July personal income and spending, August Chicago PMI, revised August University of Michigan consumer confidence

The Federal Reserve's web site does not list any upcoming speeches.

The U.S. financial markets will be closed on Monday, Sep 1, in observance of Labor Day. Ahead of

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