New World Order Flavor this Week

Week Ahead

A New World Order flavor seems to overwhelm this latest economic and stock market schedule. Between a secretive meeting of Persian Gulf foreign ministers, Dmitry Medvedev's Global Political Forum and a group of banking officials and supervisors meeting to implement new global rules in Basel, Switzerland, something stinks this week.

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New World Order

While US and Canadian markets were closed Monday for Labor Day, the North American holiday did not have the world's population laying back with a cold one. However, you might find it chilling that Persian Gulf state foreign and finance ministers got together while we were relaxing. As the Iranian situation unfolds, we have to wonder what back-room discussions and friendly lunches might have offered interested ears in the Gulf... perhaps some new world order speak...

Sometime this week, BP (NYSE: BP) will publish the results of its internal probe into the Deepwater Horizon disaster. You can expect that a well-paid legal team will have read through and weaved the release thoroughly ahead of time though, so don't expect the whole truth and nothing but the truth here (unlike the tone of the company's PR work).

Tuesday

Tuesday offers an easy way into a new week, and we expect that's what you're looking for coming back from holiday. There are no economic reports scheduled for Tuesday. However, President Obama took advantage of the news void to break some of his own. Feeling pressure to support his Democrat comrades and keep the Congress on his side, President Obama will be making a big announcement Tuesday or Wednesday, as the Administration acts in panicked fashion to ease concern about last Friday's jobs data. Hey, I would prefer some lengthy research so that the best stimulus might be found rather than the fastest. Can you imagine how much more good could have been accomplished by the Bush Administration if it had used those early stimulus funds to halt foreclosures rather than to send every American $300?

The early word on Obama's measure is that there will be some sort of business tax incentive to inspire investment. On Saturday he declared his hope to extend $50 billion in the first of a six-year program to fix roads, railways and runways, and modernize the air-traffic control system.

There will be a bunch of important business occurring overseas Tuesday. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep its monetary policy unchanged, but the BOJ already expanded its monetary easing in an emergency meeting last week. Euro area finance ministers should approve the latest issuance of aid to Greece, via an $11.5 billion bit of help this time around. In "New World Order" flavor, banking officials will meet in Basel, Switzerland, to draw up new rules to tighten the reins on banks globally.

Back in the states, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro will address the Economic Club of New York. Also, an FDA advisory committee takes up Cerexa's (of Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX)) injectable antibiotic for bacterial pneumonia. A bankruptcy court in Delaware will convene to hear the case of J.P. Morgan's (NYSE: JPM) takeover of Washington Mutual.

In corporate news, Manpower (NYSE: MAN) will publish its quarterly survey of global hiring intentions. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) CEO Erich Schmidt will address the IFA electronics fair in Berlin. The Citigroup (NYSE: C) Global Technology Conference kicks off, with presentations scheduled from EMC (NYSE: EMC), Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) and Xerox (NYSE: XRX). Barclay's (NYSE: BCS) Back-to-School Consumer Conference should show off the wears of Pepsico (NYSE: PEP) and Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB). Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. Insurance Conference highlights a presentation by Unum (NYSE: UNM). Look for EPS from Chesapeake Midstream Partners (Nasdaq: CHKM), Genus plc (LSE: GNS.L), Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH), Pike Electric (Nasdaq: PIKE), Rosetta Genomics (Nasdaq: ROSG), Animal Health International (Nasdaq: AHII), Casey's General Stores (Nasdaq: CASY), Comarco (Nasdaq: CMRO), CREDO Petroleum (Nasdaq: CRED), Delta Natural Gas (Nasdaq: DGAS), DJSP Enterprises (Nasdaq: DJSP), Energy XXI (Nasdaq: EXXI), Flow International (Nasdaq: FLOW), L&L Energy (Nasdaq: LLEN), Linktone (Nasdaq: LTON), Mitcham Industries (Nasdaq: MIND), NCI Building Systems (NYSE: NCS) and Pike Electric (Nasdaq: PIKE).

Wednesday

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) will report on weekly same-store sales a day later this week, due to the holiday. Last week's data covering the period ended August 28, showed sales increased just 0.1% week-to-week. The yearly comparison showed a gain of 2.8%, which still fits the generally decelerating rate of growth we've seen trending. Redbook concurred, showing a 3.0% increase last week. Wall Street Greek has been calling attention to the easy comparables that sales matched against in the earlier part of the year. Now that sales are being matched against the results of a more normal state of affairs, the message is clear. Americans are terrified to spend money now, if they even have an extra dollar to spend freely.

Mortgage rates dipped to new historic lows since record keeping began in 1990, and so mortgage activity found some traction last week. Contracted rates on 30-year and 15-year mortgages averaged 4.43% (from 4.55%) and 3.88% (3.91%), respectively, in the period ended August 27. Thus, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported weekly mortgage applications gained. The Market Composite Index gained 2.7%, driven by a 2.8% increase in the Refinance Index. However, note that the Purchase Index also rose 1.8% in the period. It would be interesting to see if a rate level really has been reached that might support housing activity in such a weak employment market.

At 10:00 AM, look for the latest Quarterly Services Survey for the second quarter. The Census Bureau's Quarterly Services Survey focuses on information and technology-related service industries, including: information; professional, scientific and technical services; administrative & support services; and waste management and remediation services. The first quarter survey showed a quarterly increase in Information Revenue of 1.1%; the year-to-year change was +2.3%. However, recent months have shown that even technology investment is waning at corporations. It's unclear whether this will be seen yet in the services survey for Q2.

Look for the latest Beige Book at 2 PM. The Fed's latest release should prove interesting to investors looking for a fresh look into Fed insight. Commonly known as the Beige Book, this report is published eight times per year. Each Federal Reserve Bank gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in its District through reports from Bank and Branch directors and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector. An overall summary of the twelve district reports is prepared by a designated Federal Reserve Bank on a rotating basis.

Look for the latest check of Consumer Credit at 3:00 PM ET. This report covering the month of July is expected by the consensus of surveyed economists to show a contraction of $3.5 billion. That will compare against the contractions of $1.3 billion in June, $5.3 billion in May and $14.9 billion in April.

The Jewish New Year begins at sundown, and many will not work through Thursday and Friday as a result. In corporate news, look for Morgan Stanley's (NYSE: MS) CEO James Gorman to appear before a German bank conference. Nestle (OTC: NSRGY.PK) Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe also addresses an audience Wednesday. The Citigroup Global Technology Conference highlights presentations from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) and Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR). The Barclays Back-To-School Consumer Conference highlights presentations by Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO). Danaher (NYSE: DHR) meets with analysts and the EPS schedule includes news from Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN), Forest City Enterprises (Nasdaq: FCEA), Hi-Tech Pharmacal (Nasdaq: HITK), Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX), Shuffle Master (Nasdaq: SHFL), Spartech (NYSE: SEH), AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV), Collectors Universe (Nasdaq: CLCT), Mediware Information Systems (Nasdaq: MEDW), Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW), Navistar International (NYSE: NAV), Netsol Technologies (Nasdaq: NTWK), Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY), REX American Resources (NYSE: REX), RG Barry (Nasdaq: DFZ), Rural/Metro (Nasdaq: RURL), Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), Streamline Health Solutions (Nasdaq: STRM), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), Titan Machinery (Nasdaq: TITN), United Natural Foods (Nasdaq: UNFI) and Verint Systems (Nasdaq: VRNT).

Thursday

The latest Weekly Jobless Claims figures showed another decrease in rate to 472K in the period ended August 28, down from 478K the week before. The four-week moving average, at 485,500, reflects the stagnant and ugly state of affairs in labor. You should never rely on this weekly forecast, but economists expect the claims figure to amount to 470K this week.

International Trade data for July is due for release at 8:30 AM ET. We covered June's deficit expansion in detail here. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the deficit to narrow from June's widened divergence of $49.9 billion.

The EIA will report on Petroleum and Natural Gas on the same day this week, due to the holiday. Look for the Natural Gas report first at 10:30. Last week's data covering the period ended August 27 showed natural gas inventory increased by 54 Bcf, to 3,106 Bcf. The level stood 208 Bcf less than last year at this time and 169 Bcf above the 5-year average of 2,937 Bcf. The August 27 period Petroleum Status Report is due for 11:00 AM release. U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 3.4 million barrels from the previous week. At 361.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventories decreased by 0.2 million barrels last week, and are above the upper limit of the average range.

The Bank of England (BOE) will make its latest monetary policy decision Thursday, and is expected to keep short-term rates steady. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev holds his global political forum; this should be interesting. We wonder if there might be some more new world order type speak coming from here as well.

The corporate wire highlights McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) August sales results release and an update from Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN). Australian regulators will decide on National Australia Bank's $12 billion bid for Axa Asia Pacific. The UBS – Best of Americas Conference highlights a report from Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM). Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) holds a conference call to discuss its Chloride Group Acquisition. Reporting EPS, look for National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM), C&D Technologies (NYSE: CHP), Korn Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), Ocean Power Technologies (Nasdaq: OPTT), Oxygen Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: OXBT), Smith & Wesson (Nasdaq: SWHC), Hooker Furniture (Nasdaq: HOFT), Investors Real Estate (Nasdaq: IRET), Myrexis (Nasdaq: MYRX), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PPHM), Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY), Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME), Shanda Interactive Entertainment (Nasdaq: SNDA), Sparton (NYSE: SPA), Stewart Enterprises (Nasdaq: STEI), The Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq: DSGX) and Ulticom (Nasdaq: ULCM).

Friday

President Obama will hold a news conference on the economy. This seems to be a regular event these days.

Wholesale Trade data is due for the month of July at 10:00 AM. Inventories are expected to have increased by 0.4%, according to Barron's.

The Bank of Japan will release the meeting minutes from its August 9-10 meeting; considering a heightening level of panic in Japan, this could make for good weekend reading for interested players.

The UBS Best of America's Conference highlights the presentation of C.H. Robinson Worldwide (Nasdaq: CHRW). Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) holds its European Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference, which highlights the presentation of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Friday. Also catch ABB's (NYSE: ABB) meeting with investors. Look for EPS from Brady Corp. (NYSE: BRC), China Cord Blood (NYSE: CO), Aceto (Nasdaq: ACET), AEP Industries (Nasdaq: AEPI), Duckwall-ALCO (Nasdaq: DUCK), lululemon (Nasdaq: LULU) and US Global Investors (Nasdaq: GROW).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.