Week Ahead - Busy Housing and EPS Schedule

The week ahead is chock full of housing data, with several reports due measuring the mood of homebuilders, new home construction starts, real estate prices and existing home sales. Of course, the European debt crisis and the United States’ debt ceiling debacle will overwhelm the wire. Still, we’ll receive data on economic leading indicators, regional manufacturing activity, the weekly consumer take and a slew of earnings reports as EPS season kicks into high gear.

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Week Ahead - Busy Housing and EPS Schedule

Monday

You will surely enjoy your coffee Monday morning, as the two economic reports scheduled for release probably will dip well. Before the bell rings, we’ll receive the latest Treasury International Capital (TIC) data. Given that U.S. Treasury Securities could soon suffer a sharp discount, we doubt there’s been active interest. However, this report covers the month of May, when people still thought some sense existed in the U.S. Congress. April’s report showed a net improvement in foreign investment in long-term U.S. securities, to net inflow of $30.6 billion.

Follow up that dough-nut with a bagel, when the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports its Housing Market Index at 10:00 AM EDT. The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is a measure of builder confidence, and it has been quite lacking in that for some time now. Last month’s report showed the HMI dropped 3 points in June to a mark of 13, a level it hadn’t seen since September of 2010. By the way, the breakpoint between a positive view and negative is 50, so you get the point.

Overseas, markets will be closed in Japan. German and Russian bankers are meeting, I suppose so the Russians can learn more about the vulnerabilities of Europe.

The corporate wire has the Global Hunter Securities Energy Conference running. The EPS schedule has news from Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), Gannett (NYSE: GCI), Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Aetrium (Nasdaq: ATRM), American National Bankshares (Nasdaq: AMBN), American River Bankshares (Nasdaq: AMRB), Anadys Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ANDS), AspenBio Pharma (Nasdaq: APPY), B&H Ocean Carriers (AMEX: BHO), BCSB Bancorp (Nasdaq: BCSB), Bridge Bancorp (Nasdaq: BDGE), Brown & Brown (NYSE: BRO), Carolina Trust Bank (Nasdaq: CART), Cass Information Systems (Nasdaq: CASS), CenterState Banks (Nasdaq: CSFL), Charles Schwabb (Nasdaq: SCHW), Check Point Software (Nasdaq: CHKP), Chicopee Bancorp (Nasdaq: CBNK), China HGS Real Estate (Nasdaq: HGSH), Citizens & Northern (Nasdaq: CZNC), Citizens First (Nasdaq: CZFC), Codorus Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq: CVLY), Colony Bankcorp (Nasdaq: CBAN), Community West Bancshares (Nasdaq: CWBC), Consolidated-Tomoka Land (AMEX: CTO), CoreSite Realty (NYSE: COR), Covenant Transportation (Nasdaq: CVTI), Dearborn Bancorp (Nasdaq: DEAR), Dehaier Medical Systems (Nasdaq: DHRM), Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), DXP Enterprises (Nasdaq: DXPE), ECB Bancorp (Nasdaq: ECBE), Enteromedics (Nasdaq: ETRM), Equity Lifestyle Properties (NYSE: ELS), ESB Financial (Nasdaq: ESBF), Farmer’s Capital Bank (Nasdaq: FFKT), Fidelity Bancorp (Nasdaq: FSBI), First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FNLC), First Community (Nasdaq: FFCO), First Financial (Nasdaq: THFF), First Financial Northwest (Nasdaq: FFNW), GSI Group (Nasdaq: GSIG), Harleysville Savings (Nasdaq: HARL), Heartland Express (Nasdaq: HTLD), Heritage Commerce (Nasdaq: HTBK), Hingham Institution (Nasdaq: HIFS), Horizon Bancorp (Nasdaq: HBNC), Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ), Hudson City Bancorp (Nasdaq: HCBK), ICU Medical (Nasdaq: ICUI), Immucor (Nasdaq: BLUD), InsWeb (Nasdaq: INSW), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Jefferson Bancshares (Nasdaq: JFBI), Lincare (Nasdaq: LNCR), Mattson Technology (Nasdaq: MTSN), Meta Financial (Nasdaq: CASH), Metro Bancorp (Nasdaq: METR), MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG), Miller Energy (Nasdaq: MILL), Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), NASB Financial (Nasdaq: NASB), NetGear (Nasdaq: NTGR), New Century Bancorp (Nasdaq: NCBC), New England Bancshares (Nasdaq: NEBS), New Oriental Education & Technology (NYSE: EDU), Newbridge Bancorp (Nasdaq: NBBC), Newport Bancorp (Nasdaq: NFSB), Oak Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq: OVLY), Omega Flex (Nasdaq: OFLX), Oneida Financial (Nasdaq: ONFC), Orrstown Financial (Nasdaq: ORRF), Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE: PKG), Pacwest Bancorp (Nasdaq: PACW), Park National (AMEX: PRK), Peoples Federal (Nasdaq: PEOP), Petmed Express (Nasdaq: PETS), Phazer (Nasdaq: ANTP), Porter Bancorp (Nasdaq: PBIB), Premierwest Bancorp (Nasdaq: PRWT), Provident Community Bancshares (Nasdaq: PCBS), Pure Cycle (Nasdaq: PCYO), Republic First Bancorp (Nasdaq: FRBK), River Valley Bancorp (Nasdaq: RIVR), Roma Financial (Nasdaq: ROMA), Savannah Bancorp (Nasdaq: SAVB), SEACOR (NYSE: CKH), Southcoast Financial (Nasdaq: SOCB), Southern National Bank of Virgina (Nasdaq: SONA), Southside Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBSI), Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK), State Bancorp (Nasdaq: STBC), Steel Dynamics (Nasdaq: STLD), Teche (AMEX: TSH), Union Bankshares (NYSE: UNB), Union First Market Bankshares (Nasdaq: UBSH), Unity Bancorp (Nasdaq: UNTY), Wayne Savings Bancshares (Nasdaq: WAYN), Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK) and Zions Bancorporation (Nasdaq: ZION).

Tuesday

More real estate data reaches wire Tuesday, as the Housing Starts tally is reported for June at 8:30 AM ET. Starts measure the beginning of construction, and last month’s report marked a 3.5% increase in May Starts, to an annual pace of 560K. Permits authorized for construction in May jumped 8.7% over April, to an annual rate of 612K. Permits were also up against the prior year rate of 582K.

Last week’s same-store sales data covered the week ending July 9. The holiday inclusive period saw same-store sales gain, but just 0.4% against the immediately preceding period. On a year-to-year basis, sales rose 5.5%; Redbook had yearly sales up 5.4% for the same period. The latest data will be available before the bell on Tuesday.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on some form of cut to the budget deficit, the raising of the debt ceiling and an amendment to the Constitution that requires a balanced federal budget. The GOP-led extreme measures will not likely get through Congress, but perhaps act as progressive step towards agreement.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is due to finalize additional financial reform regulations. Overseas, a task force assigned by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues a report and briefs the public on the Japanese nuclear crisis.

The corporate schedule has an FDA panel review of new diabetes drug applications by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN). News Corp. (NYSE: NWS, Nasdaq: NWSA) execs testify before the U.K. Parliament with regard to their subsidiary’s alleged phone hacking. A hearing is scheduled over Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) settlement with authors on e-books. Skullcandy, a headphone maker, is expected to price its IPO within a range of $17 to $19 a share.

The day’s EPS schedule highlights data from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR), Coca Cola (NYSE: KO), Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG), Forest Laboratories (NYSE: FRX), State Street (NYSE: STT), A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS), Ameriserv (Nasdaq: ASRV), Bancfirst (Nasdaq: BANF), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Beneficial Mutual (Nasdaq: BNCL), China Technology and Development (Nasdaq: CDTC), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Cintas (Nasdaq: CTAS), Comerica (NYSE: CMA), Crown Holdings (NYSE: CCK), CSX (NYSE: CSX), Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Keycorp (NYSE: KEY), Knoll (NYSE: KNL), Life Partners (Nasdaq: LPHI), Manhattan Associates (Nasdaq: MANH), Marten Transport (Nasdaq: MRTN), McMoran Exploration (NYSE: MMR), Mercantile Bank (Nasdaq: MBWM), Mueller Industries (NYSE: MLI), Omnicom (NYSE: OMC), Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), Pinnacle Financial Partners (Nasdaq: PNFP), Platinum Underwriters (NYSE: PTP), Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII), Pulaski Financial (Nasdaq: PULB), Qiao Xing Mobile (NYSE: QXM), Renasant (Nasdaq: RNST), Riverbed Technology (Nasdaq: RVBD), Sterling Bancshares (Nasdaq: SBIB), Stryker (NYSE: SYK), Taubman Centers (NYSE: TCO), TD Ameritrade (Nasdaq: AMTD), Tessco (Nasdaq: TESS), United Rentals (NYSE: URI), UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH), VMware (NYSE: VMW), W.W. Grainger (NYSE: GWW), Waste Connections (NYSE: WCN), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), Westamerica Bancorp (Nasdaq: WABC) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO).

Wednesday

The marquee report for the day is without question the Existing Home Sales Report for June, due at 10:00 AM ET. Economists are looking for the annual pace of sales to reach 4.9 million, which would mark increase from May’s 4.81 million rate. We should start to see important year-over-year housing sales growth through the second half of the year.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) precedes this data with the Weekly Applications Survey. The MBA’s measure of mortgage application flow showed a likely holiday impacted decline last week, as the Market Composite Index fell 5.1%, despite mortgage rate improvement.

At 10:30 AM ET, look for the EIA’s Petroleum Status Report. Last week’s data covering the period ending July 8 showed a 3.1 million barrel decrease in oil inventory and a 0.8 million decrease in total motor gasoline stores. Crude oil stocks remain above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, while gasoline inventory is within the lower range for the season.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) issues its World Trade Report Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers will request permission of a bankruptcy court to continue borrowing on hedge fund manager Highbridge Principal’s loan.

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) is expected to publish its June quarter exploration and production report. The EPS schedule includes news from EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Xilinx (Nasdaq: XLNX), Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT), Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX), St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ), Access National (Nasdaq: ANCX), Altria (NYSE: MO), Amphenol (NYSE: APH), AMR (NYSE: AMR), Astoria Financial (NYSE: AF), Badger Meter (NYSE: BMI), Banner (Nasdaq: BANR), Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), Cardinal Financial (Nasdaq: CFNL), Cheesecake Factory (Nasdaq: CAKE), Cohu (Nasdaq: COHU), Covanta (NYSE: CVA), Datalink (Nasdaq: DTLK), E*Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC), East West Bancorp (Nasdaq: EWBC), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), First Cash Financial (Nasdaq: FCFS), Forward Air (Nasdaq: FWRD), Gramercy Capital (NYSE: GKK), Hanesbrands (NYSE: HBI), Host Hotels and Resorts (NYSE: HST), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), JAKKS Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP), Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR), Knight Capital (NYSE: KCG), L&L Energy (Nasdaq: LLEN), Lufkin (Nasdaq: LUFK), M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB), Media General (NYSE: MEG), Mellanox (Nasdaq: MLNX), MKS Instruments (Nasdaq: MKSI), Monarch Casino and Resort (Nasdaq: MCRI), Noble (NYSE: NE), Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS), NVE (Nasdaq: NVEC), Pacific Continental (Nasdaq: PCBK), Penson Worldwide (Nasdaq: PNSN), Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC), Plexus (Nasdaq: PLXS), PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC), Popular INC (Nasdaq: BPOP), Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), Raymond James (NYSE: RJF), Saba Software (Nasdaq: SABA), Select Comfort (Nasdaq: SCSS), SLM (NYSE: SLM), TASER (Nasdaq: TASR), Tractor Supply (Nasdaq: TSCO), Umpqua (Nasdaq: UMPQ), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Werner (Nasdaq: WERN), Westell (Nasdaq: WSTL) and Zhone Technologies (Nasdaq: ZHNE).

Thursday

Thursday will certainly be the busiest day of the week, with six economic reports scheduled. The only premarket data will arrive from the Department of Labor. Weekly Jobless Claims, due at 8:30, are seen rising to 415K, from 405K reported last week. We discussed the possibility that last week’s economic data were depressed by the lackadaisical days that follow holiday weekends.

After the bell, at 9:45 AM EDT, look for Bloomberg’s Consumer Comfort Index. The weekly measure improved a bit last period, but remained sour at -43.9, from negative 45.5 the week before. Both domestic and international uncertainty should keep consumers cautious.

The Philadelphia Fed Survey follows last week’s disappointing news from New York State. Manufacturing in the Empire State kept in the negative, marking contraction for the sector. Economists are looking for the Philadelphia metric to move into positive territory, to 5.0, from negative 7.7 last month. This time at least the range includes some negative forecasts, with economists varying in their index forecasts from -4.8 to 10.0, based on Bloomberg’s tally.

Also at 10:00 AM ET, look for the latest Leading Indicators Index from the Conference Board. Economists are forecasting a 0.3% increase for June’s take, which would compare to the 0.8% rebound in May (following April’s 0.4% decline). I’m not as confident as the economists surveyed, looking for somewhere around no change in the LEI.

Also at 10:00 AM ET, see the FHFA House Price Index data for May. April’s data showed a 0.8% month-over-month price increase, while prices remained lower, down 5.7% against the prior year. As this data nears June, it will begin to better match and I posit even surpass prior year home pricing (seen more so in S&P Case Shiller and Existing Home Sales data).

At 10:30 AM ET, catch the EIA’s Natural Gas Inventory data. Last week’s report covering the period ending July 8 showed an 84 Bcf increase in natural gas inventory. Stores were 218 Bcf less than last year, and 52 Bcf below the five-year average.

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testifies with other officials before a Senate panel on financial regulatory reform one year post. Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Board gets its full regulatory powers. Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans holds a news conference.

Eurozone leaders are scheduled to meet to discuss the regional debt and economic crisis.

The NFL and players’ union may have an agreement ratified Thursday at their annual meeting, just in time for the Hall of Fame Game.

An FDA committee reviews menthol cigarettes, and another FDA panel will consider Centocor’s Remicade treatment for pediatric colitis.

The EPS schedule highlights news from Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), Sandisk (Nasdaq: SNDK), Pepsico (NYSE: PEP), Safeway (NYSE: SWY), Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB), Lab Corp. (NYSE: LH), Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK), Amsurg (Nasdaq: AMSG), Associated Banc (Nasdaq: ASBC), AT&T (NYSE: T), Athenahealth (Nasdaq: ATHN), Autoliv (NYSE: ALV), Baxter Int’l (NYSE: BAX), BB&T (NYSE: BBT), BJS Restaurants (Nasdaq: BJSI), Blackstone (NYSE: BX), Britton & Koontz Capital (Nasdaq: BKBK), Builders Firstsource (Nasdaq: BLDR), C.R. Bard (NYSE: BCR), Cash America (NYSE: CSH), Celanese (NYSE: CE), Cepheid (Nasdaq: CPHD), Chicago Bridge and Iron (NYSE: CBI), China Natural Resources (Nasdaq: CHNR), Chubb (NYSE: CB), Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS), CoBiz Financial (Nasdaq: COBZ), Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR), Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE), Cypress Semi (NYSE: CY), Danaher (NYSE: DHR), Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO), Electronics for Imaging (Nasdaq: EFII), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Encana (NYSE: ECA), Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX), Global Payments (NYSE: GPN), Goodrich (NYSE: GR), Gulfmark Offshore (NYSE: GLF), Healthstream (Nasdaq: HSTM), Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI), Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), Lacrosse Footwear (Nasdaq: BOOT), Landstar (Nasdaq: LSTR), Lattice Semiconductor (Nasdaq: LSCC), Matthews (Nasdaq: MATW), Medco Health (NYSE: MHS), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), NCR (NYSE: NCR), Nucor (NYSE: NUE), Penn National Gaming (Nasdaq: PENN), Philip Morris (NYSE: PM), PMC Sierra (Nasdaq: PMCS), Pool Corp. (Nasdaq: POOL), Rambus (Nasdaq: RMBS), Renaissance Learning (Nasdaq: RLRN), Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT), SEI Investments (Nasdaq: SEIC), SNAP On (NYSE: SNA), Taylor Capital (Nasdaq: TAYC), Temple Inland (NYSE: TIN), Travelzoo (Nasdaq: TZOO), US Airways (NYSE: LCC), USA Truck (Nasdaq: USAK), Value Line (Nasdaq: VALU), VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC), Western Digital (NYSE: WDC), Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) and Young Innovations (Nasdaq: YDNT).

Friday

The EU’s Economic Council’s budget meeting convenes.

In the U.S., monthly state jobs data are reported.

Lehman Brothers and a past partner meet in court to determine whether 19 real estate projects will be allowed to come out of bankruptcy. Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) offers its summer business review.

The EPS schedule includes news from Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), Xerox (NYSE: XRX), Suntrust Banks (NYSE: STI), Dover (NYSE: DOV), Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Columbus McKinnon (Nasdaq: CMCO), Complete Production (NYSE: CPX), Digimarc (Nasdaq: DMRC), DNB Financial (Nasdaq: DNBF), FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Idexx Laboratories (Nasdaq: IDXX), MainSource Financial (Nasdaq: MSFG), McDonalds (NYSE: MCD), Mosys (Nasdaq: MOSY), Northwest Bancshares (Nasdaq: NWBI), Old Line Bancshares (Nasdaq: OLBK), Oriental Financial (NYSE: OFG), Pathfinder Bancorp (Nasdaq: PBHC), Prosperity Bancshares (Nasdaq: PRSP), Rand Capital (Nasdaq: RAND), Reynolds American (NYSE: RAI), Sensient Technologies (NYSE: SXT), Somerset Hills Bancorp (Nasdaq: SOMH), Tower Financial (Nasdaq: TOFC), United Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: UBNK), USG (NYSE: USG), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Yadkin Valley Financial (Nasdaq: YAVY).

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