Week Ahead: Bulls Face the Butcher

Week Ahead

The bulls are getting desperate. Driven by chaos and a fear of being made into strip steak, they seem to be running down any which street they pass. As earnings season swings into full stampede, I heard one bovine raging on Bloomberg Radio about how earnings season would stop investors from capitulating with the double-dip recession argument. Wait a second now - he must not be a Wall Street Greek reader, or awake, given that Intel and poor economic reports already dueled it out last week, and the Sheriff won.

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Bulls Face the Butcher

Appropriately enough, the economic segment that showed some of the first signs of trouble, housing, keys the marquee this week. Four housing reports litter the week's economic data flow, and we are not expecting very good news from any except perhaps the irrelevant FHFA House Price Index. Despite overwhelming numbers, corporate earnings seem likely to disappoint on net based on some of the early results and softening economic environment.

Monday

The National Association of Home Builders publishes its Housing Market Index Monday morning at 10:00 AM. The index has remained mired in deep depression, as homebuilders have had little reason for enthusiasm for quite some time now. However, the index did see some benefit this spring from the government's tax incentive for first-time homebuyers. Once the incentive expired though, builders were rudely awakened to a rough reality, a still absent housing market. June's measure of the HMI exposed that truth, as the index fell five points to a reading of 17. Economists expect the metric to fall further to 16 in July.

Markets will be closed in Japan Monday, and the International Air Show will keep British aeronautics fans busy in Farnborough, England.

US earnings season will turn its focus toward IBM (NYSE: IBM), Ford Motor (NYSE: F), Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq: ZION), Atheros Communications (Nasdaq: ATHR). The remainder of the report schedule includes AMCON Distributing (AMEX: DIT), Bank of Marin (Nasdaq: BMRC), Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO), Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK), Delta Airlines (NYSE: DAL), Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), First Defiance Financial (Nasdaq: FDEF), HDFC Bank (NYSE: HDB), ICU Medical (Nasdaq: ICUI), IEC Electronics (AMEX: IEC), Ladish (Nasdaq: LDSH), Lincare (Nasdaq: LNCR), McMoRan Exploration (NYSE: MMR), New Oriental Education & Technology (NYSE: EDU), Noble (NYSE: NE), Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE: PKG), Park National (AMEX: PRK), PetMed Express (Nasdaq: PETS), Ralcorp (NYSE: RAH), Renaissance Learning (Nasdaq: RLRN), RLI Corp. (NYSE: RLI), S&T Bancorp (Nasdaq: STBA), Sierra Bancorp (Nasdaq: BSRR) and Virginia Commerce (Nasdaq: VCBI).

Tuesday

Not even 24 hours after the Housing Market Index release, Housing Starts are due for the month of June by 8:30 ET. Again economists are looking for a softening situation, with Bloomberg's survey showing consensus expectations for an annual pace of 580K starts. That would mark a modest decline from May's 593K rate, which highlighted a 17.2% drop in single-family structure starts. Building Permits fell 5.9%, to 574K in May, and single-family structure authorizations dropped 9.9%. In other words, things don't look too hopeful heading into this data, and it seems economists might be playing the downtrend too cautiously.

Before the Starts data, look for the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Weekly Same-Store Sales Report at 7:45 AM ET. Sales have proven volatile over the last two weeks, jumping and then more recently retrenching sharply. Last week's report for the period ended July 10 showed a weekly decline of 1.5%. On a year-over-year basis, sales moved 3.2% higher.

Tuesday marks the filing deadline for the lead plaintiff in a class-action suit against BP (NYSE: BP). BP is now wrapped up in a quagmire with the US government, since it may want to temporarily remove the cap that has stopped oil flow into the Gulf in order to place a permanent fix. That's not selling well in Washington.

The Bank of Canada will make its latest interest rate decision Tuesday, and expectations are it will keep rates steady. The Bank of England just made its latest rate decision, but this week brings Britain's new Prime Minister, David Cameron, to Washington for his first visit with President Obama. US Fed Governor Dan Tarullo is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on modernizing financial regulation.

An FDA panel will review Genentech's (NYSE: DNA) Avastin medication for breast cancer. General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported results last week, but meets with analysts in London Tuesday. Honda's (NYSE: HMC) CEO briefs investors on the midterm business outlook.

The earnings schedule highlights data from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR), Pepsico (NYSE: PEP), Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX), Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX), State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT), Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) and Bank of NY Mellon (NYSE: BK).

The remainder of the EPS schedule includes news from A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS), Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX), Ameriserv Financial (Nasdaq: ASRV), AptarGroup (NYSE: ATR), Astec Industries (Nasdaq: ASTE), Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB), Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS), Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS), CNH Global (NYSE: CNH), Courier (Nasdaq: CRRC), Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (NYSE: CRT), Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT), Fidelity National Information (NYSE: FIS), Fulton Financial (Nasdaq: FULT), Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG), Heska (Nasdaq: HSKA), IDEX (NYSE: IEX), Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW), Juniper Networks (Nasdaq: JNPR), LaBranche (NYSE: LAB), Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE), Linear Technology (Nasdaq: LLTC), Manhattan Associates (Nasdaq: MANH), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI), Marten Transport (Nasdaq: MRTN), Mercantile Bank (Nasdaq: MBWM), Metals USA (Nasdaq: MUSA), MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG), Millicom International (Nasdaq: MICC), Mueller Industries (NYSE: MLI), Neogen (Nasdaq: NEOG), Net Servicos de Comunicacao (Nasdaq: NETC), Omnicon Group (NYSE: OMC), Palm Harbor Homes (Nasdaq: PHHM), Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), Peoples Bancorp (Nasdaq: PEBO), Pinnacle Financial Partners (Nasdaq: PNFP), Platinum Underwriters (NYSE: PTP), Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII), Pulaski Financial (Nasdaq: PULB), RC2 Corp. (Nasdaq: RCRC), Renasant Corp. (Nasdaq: RNST), Resources Global Financial (Nasdaq: RECN), Saba Software (Nasdaq: SABA), Schiff Nutrition (NYSE: WNI), Seagate Technology (Nasdaq: STX), SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM), Steel Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD), Stryker (NYSE: SYK), TD Ameritrade (Nasdaq: AMTD), Tempur Pedic (NYSE: TPX), Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI), Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), The South Financial Group (Nasdaq: TSFG), UAL Group (Nasdaq: UAUA), United Rentals (NYSE: URI), VMWare (NYSE: VMW), Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN), Weatherford Int'l (NYSE: WFT) and Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR).

Wednesday

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the period ended July 9, 2010, produced the lowest level of activity for the Purchase Index since December of 1996. If economists or investors needed a sign of real trouble, they should have noticed this data point. The latest reading is due Wednesday in the pre-market.

The bigger story for the market on Wednesday will be Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's semiannual report on monetary policy, delivered via testimony to the Senate Banking Committee. We suspect it will not be long before market concerns move from a focus on future Fed rate hikes to worry about Fed inaction with regard to its support of an ailing economy. Meanwhile, the SEC will take up the topic of mutual fund fee structures.

The EIA reports on Petroleum Status at 10:30 AM. Last week's report covering the period ended July 9 produced the largest draw of inventory for the year. Some 5.1 million barrels of inventory were drawn on net. Weather was reportedly partly to blame, as difficult conditions likely kept imports offshore; the Gulf issue and resulting moratorium played the bigger role in cutting net inflows to inventory.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) reports on production and exploration for the June quarter. The earnings schedule highlights data from US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), EMC (NYSE: EMC), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX), Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT) and CA Technologies (Nasdaq: CA).

The rest of the EPS schedule includes 1st Constitution Bancorp (Nasdaq: FCCY), Aehr Test Systems (Nasdaq: AEHR), Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX), Airgas (NYSE: ARG), AirTran Holdings (NYSE: AAI), Alfa SA (OTC: ALFPP), Allegiant Travel (Nasdaq: ALGT), Alliance Data Systems (NYSE: ADS), Altria Group (NYSE: MO), AMB Property (NYSE: AMB), Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), Amphenol (NYSE: APH), AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), Amylin Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMLN), Arbitron (NYSE: ARB), Arkansas Best (Nasdaq: ABFS), Astoria Financial (NYSE: AF), ATMI (Nasdaq: ATMI), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Banco Latinamericano de Comercio Exterior SA (NYSE: BLX), Banner Corp. (Nasdaq: BANR), Berkshire Hills Bancorp (Nasdaq: BHLB), Cascade Financial (Nasdaq: CASB), Checkpoint Software (Nasdaq: CHKP), Clicksoftware Technologies (Nasdaq: CKSW), Cohen & Steers (NYSE: CNS), Cohu (Nasdaq: COHU), Comerica (NYSE: CMA), Community Trust (Nasdaq: CTBI), Complete Production Services (NYSE: CPX), Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB), CoStar Group (Nasdaq: CSGP), Convenant Transport (Nasdaq: CVTI), Datalink (Nasdaq: DTLK), Eaton (NYSE: ETN), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW), Encana (NYSE: ECA), Exponent (Nasdaq: EXPO), F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV), Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF), First Cash (Nasdaq: FCFS), First Midwest Bancorp (Nasdaq: FMBI), Freeport McMoRan Copper and Gold (NYSE: FCX), Genzyme (Nasdaq: GENZ), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Glimcher Realty Trust (NYSE: GRT), Graco (NYSE: GGG), Hanesbrands (NYSE: HBI), Host Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: HST), Hub Group (Nasdaq: HUBG), Hudson City Bancorp (Nasdaq: HCBK), IberiaBank (Nasdaq: IBKC), Intersil (Nasdaq: ISIL), Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG), Journal Communications (NYSE: JRN), Julius Baer Group (OTC: JBARF.PK), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR), LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO), Lufkin Industries (Nasdaq: LUFK), M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), Manpower (NYSE: MAN), Mattson Technology (Nasdaq: MTSN), Media General (NYSE: MEG), Mellanox Technologies (Nasdaq: MLNX), MKS Instruments (Nasdaq: MKSI), Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), Netgear (Nasdaq: NTGR), Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS), NVE Corp. (Nasdaq: NVEC), Pacific Continental (Nasdaq: PCBK), Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC), Plexus (Nasdaq: PLXS), PrePaid Legal (NYSE: PPD), Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), Raymond James (NYSE: RJF), Rewards Network (Nasdaq: DINE), Richardson Electronics (Nasdaq: RELL), Robert Half Int'l (NYSE: RHI), Rush Enterprises (OTC: RUSHB.OB), SEI Investments (Nasdaq: SEIC), Select Comfort (Nasdaq: SCSS), Sensata Technologies (NYSE: ST), SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI), Spansion (Nasdaq: CODE), StanCorp Financial Group (NYSE: SFG), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX), StellarOne (Nasdaq: STEL), Terex (NYSE: TEX), TESCO (Nasdaq: TESS), Texas Capital Bankshares (Nasdaq: TCBI), Textron (NYSE: TXT), Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Total System Services (NYSE: TSS), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), US Airways (NYSE: LCC), Washington Trust (Nasdaq: WASH), Westell (Nasdaq: WSTL), Western Digital (NYSE: WDC), Young Innovations (Nasdaq: YDNT) and Zhone Technologies (Nasdaq: ZHNE).

Thursday

Weekly Jobless Claims dropped by 29,000 in the period ended July 10, to a level of 429K. The Independence Day holiday and related vacationing likely had something to do with this result. Even so, the four-week moving average fell by 11,750, to 455,250; still a high mark. Economists are looking for a reading of 450K this week.

More housing data comes due at 10:00 AM. Existing Home Sales are due for the month of June, and economists forecast the annual pace of sales decreased to a pace of 5.26 million. That would mark a drop from 5.66 million in May. Supply is still high at 8.3 months, and the situation looks more likely to worsen than improve in June.

The FHFA House Price Index is due at 10:00 AM, but this data point is the least important of the week's reports. The latest data, for April, showed prices rose 0.8% month-to-month but remained down 1.5% from the prior year period.

Leading Economic Indicators are due for report at 10:00 AM. While indicators increased in May by 0.4%, the drivers behind it were suspect. Economists see June's economic indicators declining by 0.3%, which is in line with our economic forecast.

Bernanke works his way over to the House Financial Services Committee to give semiannual testimony there. A US bankruptcy court will decide on General Growth Properties' request to approve Barclays' (NYSE: BCS) replacing a $400 million loan held by a group led by Farallon Capital.

The EIA Natural Gas Report is on tap for 10:30 reporting. Last week's data covering the period ended July 9 showed net inventory increased by 78 Bcf. Stocks remained 274 Bcf above the five-year average for this time of year.

NiSource (NYSE: NI) holds an analysts' meeting, and the EPS schedule highlights data from Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), QLogic (Nasdaq: QLGC), SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) and Baxter International (NYSE: BAX). The remainder of the schedule highlights news from 3M (NYSE: MMM), ABB (NYSE: ABB), Acacia Research (Nasdaq: ACTG), Advanced Energy Industries (Nasdaq: AEIS), Air Products & Chemicals (NYSE: APD), Akeena Solar (Nasdaq: AKNS), Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALXN), Align Technology (Nasdaq: ALGN), Alliance Fiber Optic Products (Nasdaq: AFOP), Ambassadors Group (Nasdaq: EPAX), American River Bankshares (Nasdaq: AMRB), AmSurg (Nasdaq: AMSG), Associated Banc-Corp. (Nasdaq: ASBC), AT&T (NYSE: T), Athenahealth (Nasdaq: ATHN), Autonation (NYSE: AN), Avid Technology (Nasdaq: AVID), Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI), Bancorp Rhode Island (Nasdaq: BARI), BancorpSouth (NYSE: BXS), BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT), BJ's Restaurants (Nasdaq: BJRI), Bucyrus International (Nasdaq: BUCY), Builders FirstSource (Nasdaq: BLDR), CR Bard (NYSE: BCR), Cabot Microelectronics (Nasdaq: CCMP), Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG), CALIX (Nasdaq: CALX), Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI), Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF), Cash America (NYSE: CSH), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Central Valley Community Bancorp (Nasdaq: CVCY), Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Chubb (NYSE: CB), Citizens Banking (Nasdaq: CRBC), City National (NYSE: CYN), CoBiz (Nasdaq: COBZ), Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP), Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM), Community Bank System (NYSE: CBU), Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL), Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE), Covanta Holding (NYSE: CVA), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Cymer (Nasdaq: CYMI), Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY), Cypress Sharpridge Investments (NYSE: CYS), Danaher (NYSE: DHR), Danvers Bancorp (Nasdaq: DNBK), Data I/O (Nasdaq: DAIO), Decker Outdoors (Nasdaq: DECK), Deluxe Corp. (NYSE: DLX), Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO), Digi International (Nasdaq: DGII), Dr. Reddy's (NYSE: RDY), E*TRADE Financial (Nasdaq: ETFC), Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP), Education Realty Trust (NYSE: EDR), Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN), Electronics for Imaging (Nasdaq: EFII), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Endologix (Nasdaq: ELGX), Ensco (NYSE: ESV), Exelon (NYSE: EXC), Federated Investors (NYSE: FII), Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB), First Interstate BancSystem (Nasdaq: FIBK), First Niagara Financial (Nasdaq: FNFG), Flextronics (Nasdaq: FLEX), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR), Fortinet (Nasdaq: FTNT), Forward Air (Nasdaq: FWRD), Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL), Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI), GATX Corp. (NYSE: GMT), Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX), GigOptix (Nasdaq: GGOX), Glacier Bancorp (Nasdaq: GBCI), Gleacher & Co. (Nasdaq: GLCH), Great Southern Bancorp (Nasdaq: GSBC), Grupo Aeroporturario (NYSE: ASR), Healthways (Nasdaq: HWAY), Hittite Microwave (Nasdaq: HITT), HNI Corp. (NYSE: HNI), Home Bancshares (Nasdaq: HOMB), Huntington Bancshares (Nasdaq: HBAN), Immucor (Nasdaq: BLUD), Independent Bank (Nasdaq: INDB), Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN), Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA), Insteel Industries (Nasdaq: IIIN), Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), Interphase (Nasdaq: INPH), Invacare (NYSE: IVC), Isilon Systems (Nasdaq: ISLN), Iteris (AMEX: ITI), ITT Educational Services (NYSE: ESI), Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA), J&J Snack Foods (Nasdaq: JJSF), JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), JetBlue Airways (Nasdaq: JBLU), KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), Laboratory Corp. of America (NYSE: LH), Lacrosse (Nasdaq: BOOT), Lance (Nasdaq: LNCE), Lattice Semiconductor (Nasdaq: LSCC), Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG), Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS), Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM), LIN TV (NYSE: TVL), MainSource Financial (Nasdaq: MSFG), Matthews International (Nasdaq: MATW), MB Financial (Nasdaq: MBFI), Medco Health (NYSE: MHS), MetroCorp Bancshares (Nasdaq: MCBI), Mettler-Toledo (NYSE: MTD), Micrel Semiconductor (Nasdaq: MCRL), Microsemi (Nasdaq: MSCC), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Monro Muffler Brake (Nasdaq: MNRO), Myers Industries (NYSE: MYE), Nash Finch (Nasdaq: NAFC), NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR), NetScout Systems (Nasdaq: NTCT), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), NSTAR (NYSE: NST), Nucor (NYSE: NUE), OceanFirst Financial (Nasdaq: OCFC), Old Republic International (NYSE: ORI), Olin (NYSE: OLN), Omnicell (Nasdaq: OMCL), Orbital Sciences (NYSE: ORB), Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN), Pension Worldwide (Nasdaq: PNSN), Philip Morris (NYSE: PM), PMC Sierra (Nasdaq: PMCS), PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC), Pool Corp. (NYSE: POOL), Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP), Precision Drilling (NYSE: PDS), Premier Global (NYSE: PGI), ProLogis (NYSE: PLD), Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS), Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS), Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI), Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq: RVBD), Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), RSC Holdings (NYSE: RRR), Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK), Sandy Spring Bancorp (Nasdaq: SASR), Scholastic (Nasdaq: SCHL), Seacoast Banking (Nasdaq: SBCF), Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW), Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL), Simmons First National (Nasdaq: SFNC), Skyworks (Nasdaq: SWKS), Socket Mobile (Nasdaq: SCKT), Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON), Southern Community Financial (Nasdaq: SCMF), St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ), Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT), Sterling Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBIB), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), Suntrust (NYSE: STI), Syngenta (NYSE: SYT), Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV), Syntel (Nasdaq: SYNT), The Bancorp (Nasdaq: TBBK), The Cheesecake Factory (Nasdaq: CAKE), The Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY), The Marcus Corp. (NYSE: MCS), The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), The New York Times (NYSE: NYT), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), Theravence (Nasdaq: THRX), Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TNB), Tradestation (Nasdaq: TRAD), Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO), Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL), Ultratech (Nasdaq: UTEK), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), United Parcel Services (NYSE: UPS), USA Truck (Nasdaq: USAK), USG (NYSE: USG), Utah Medical (Nasdaq: UTMD), Valley National Bancorp (NYSE: VLY), Vascular Solutions (Nasdaq: VASC), VCA Antech (Nasdaq: WOOF), VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), Vicor (Nasdaq: VICR), Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI), Vitran (Nasdaq: VTNC), WR Grace (NYSE: GRA), Watsco (NYSE: WSO), WESCO (NYSE: WCC), Western Alliance Bancorp (NYSE: WAL), Westwood Holdings (NYSE: WHG), WNS Holdings (NYSE: WNS), Xerox (NYSE: XRX) and Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH).

Friday

With no economic reports on tap, the focus will clearly move to Europe. The results of the European bank stress tests are scheduled to be disclosed Friday. The general viewpoint is that transparency will aid the overall market, while pushing many banks in Greece, Portugal, Spain and others to raise capital; Barrons reports that Barclays estimates some $100 billion will need to be raised in aggregate.

In geopolitical matters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Vodafone will issue an interim management statement. The EPS schedule highlights news from Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), Dover (NYSE: DOV), Ryder System (NYSE: R) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ). The rest of the schedule includes Acme United (AMEX: ACU), AMCOL Int'l (NYSE: ACO), Ashland (NYSE: ASH), Autoliv (NYSE: ALV), Coca-Cola FEMSA SAB (NYSE: KOF), Columbus McKinnon (Nasdaq: CMCO), Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR), Dime Community Bancshares (Nasdaq: DCOM), Donegal Group (Nasdaq: DGICA), Enbridge Energy Management (NYSE: EEQ), Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP), Encore Bancshares (Nasdaq: EBTX), Great Atlantic Pacific (NYSE: GAP), Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ), Idexx Laboratories (Nasdaq: IDXX), Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), MiMedx Group (OTC: MDXG.OB), MoSys (Nasdaq: MOSY), Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX), NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE), Nidec (NYSE: NJ), NxStage Medical (Nasdaq: NXTM), Prosperity Bancshares (Nasdaq: PRSP), RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE: RAS), Sensient Technologies (NYSE: SXT), Snap-on Inc. (NYSE: SNA), Spartan Motors (Nasdaq: SPAR), Ericson (Nasdaq: ERIC), United Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSI), United Community Banks (Nasdaq: UCBI), Viad (NYSE: VVI) and Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL).

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