All About Bernanke

Today will be all about Bernanke and his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The market has thrived solely on hope in Bernanke and his Fed-men, despite deteriorating economic data. So, we’ll need more juice from the B-man today to keep the party rolling.

Economic Reports

In the morning, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke testifies on the economic outlook before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. Bernanke’s perspective matters more to markets now than ever, because with every poor economic data point, the market seeks to rally on the hope of ongoing Federal Reserve support. The day the Fed raises concern about its ability to affect the economy or if inflation becomes an issue, stocks will lose that support. Also, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard gives a guest lecture at a university in Germany.

At 2:00 PM ET, the Federal Reserve publishes the minutes of its last meeting, shedding more light on the intimacies of the discussion in-bank. Like Bernanke’s testimony, this could be a market moving event, because what it sheds light on is of utmost importance to equity investors today.

The latest mortgage activity data arrives from the Mortgage Bankers Association Wednesday before the market open. Last week’s report covering the period ending May 10 showed mortgage applications decreased by 7.3%. Applications tied to the purchases of homes decreased by 4.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The Refinance Index decreased by 8.0%. Effective mortgage rates increased significantly and seemed to freeze the market, leading me to author, Be Very Afraid: Higher Rates Killed Mortgage Activity. We’ll see what happens this week, given all the Fed activity.

When Existing Home Sales data was reported for the month of March, it was supposed to show the annual pace of sales breaking the 5.0 million threshold, but it missed that mark, reaching just 4.92 million. For April, economists expect the pace to make 5.0 million exactly, but the spring selling season is coming to a close now.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	9:09 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	-0.2%	NIKKEI 225	+1.6%
German DAX	-0.1%	Hang Seng	+0.4%
CAC 40	-0.3%	S&P/ASX 200	-0.3%
FTSE 100	+0.2%	Korean KOSPI	+0.6%
Greek ASE	-1.7%	BSE India SENSEX	-0.4%

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will publish its latest monetary policy decision Wednesday, and given the importance of Abe-economics to currency values and to Japanese stocks, investors will be paying attention.

The Bank of Cyprus’ Governor will address a conference in Nicosia.

Commodity Markets (9:08 AM ET)

WTI Crude	-0.4%
Brent Crude	-0.5%
NYMEX Natural Gas	-0.6%
RBOB Gasoline	-1.0%
Gold Spot	+1.1%
Silver Spot	+1.6%
COMEX Copper	-0.1%
CBOT Corn	-0.3%
CBOT Wheat	+0.6%
CBOT Soybeans	-0.2%
ICE Sugar	+0.1%
ICE Cocoa	-0.4%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+0.1%
CME Live Cattle	-0.0%

Look for the EIA’s regular Petroleum Status Report at 10:30 AM ET. Last week’s report covering the week ending May 10 showed crude oil inventory decreased by 0.6 million barrels, and remained above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventory increased by 2.6 million barrels and marched into the upper half of the average range for this time of year.

Corporate Events

Look for investor or analyst meetings at Boeing (NYSE: BA), Aflac (NYSE: AFL), Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE: TMO), Prestige Brands (NYSE: PBH) and Citrix Systems (Nasdaq: CTXS). Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) is appearing at the Electrical Products Group Conference. JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq: JDSU) is presenting at the Barclays Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications Conference. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is presenting at the UBS Global Healthcare Conference.

The EPS schedule highlights reports from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Target (NYSE: TGT), Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS), L Brands (NYSE: LTD), PetSmart (Nasdaq: PETM) and Lowe’s Companies (NYSE: LOW). Also see news from 8x8 (Nasdaq: EGHT), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), Bristow Group (NYSE: BRS), Citi Trends (Nasdaq: CTRN), Diana Shipping (NYSE: DSX), DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS), Eaton Vance (NYSE: EV), Heico (NYSE: HEI), James Hardie Industries (NYSE: JHX), LTX-Credence (Nasdaq: LTXC), MakeMyTrip (Nasdaq: MMYT), Noah Education (NYSE: NED), Ocean Rig UDW (Nasdaq: ORIG), Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN), Rediff.com (Nasdaq: REDF), REX American Resources (NYSE: REX), SeaWorld Entertainment (Nasdaq: SEAS), Semtech (Nasdaq: SMTC), Spartan Stores (Nasdaq: SPTN), Syneron Medical (Nasdaq: ELOS), Synopsys (Nasdaq: SNPS), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), ValueVision (Nasdaq: VVTV), Westell Technologies (Nasdaq: WSTL), Workday (Nasdaq: WDAY) and Zale (NYSE: ZLC).

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