This Week: Peace Disrupted

This weekly period into Labor Day weekend is historically one of the slowest trading periods for stocks, but that is dependent on the NASDAQ (Nasdaq: NDAQ) staying open and Syria not showering chemical weapons on its citizens. As a result, stocks have been shaken up. Economically speaking, there certainly are some tasty tidbits of economic data to review this week, including GDP, durable goods orders, consumer spending and confidence, and home price and sales data. However, the earnings schedule is dwindling away. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any company reporting towards the close of this week should probably be sold just because of the sketchy aspect of doing such a thing when everyone is on vacation.

Index ETF	Week Ending August 23	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.5%	+16.3%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	-0.4%	+15.2%
PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+1.6%	+15.9%

Just when it looked like stocks would stabilize (since they did last week), the awkward looking dimwit who runs Syria had to go and use chemical weapons against other Syrians. It’s a situation even the mild geopolitically mannered President Obama cannot ignore. So as the media talks about Syria, Iran, Russia and all the worst case scenarios that could unfold if and when the U.S. and/or some other interested parties finally let loose on Syria, stocks are pressured. However, stay tuned to our blog and other columns, as I have an interesting idea about this I’ll publish on shortly.

Economic Events

THIS WEEK’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expected	Actual
MONDAY
Durable Goods Orders	+3.9%	-4.0%	-7.3%
Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey	4.4	4.5	5.0
TUESDAY
Case Shiller Home Price Index	+1.0%	+1.0%	+0.9%
ICSC Weekly Store Sales	-1.9%		+0.2%
-Year-to-Year Pace	+2.2%		+1.9%
Consumer Confidence Index	81.0 (R)	78.0	81.5
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index	-11	0	14
Investor Confidence Index	107.7		105.1
WEDNESDAY
Pending Home Sales Index	-0.4%	-1.0%	-1.3%
Mortgage Activity	-4.6%		-2.5%
EIA Petroleum Status
-Crude Oil Inventory	-1.4 M
-Gasoline Inventory	-4.0 M
THURSDAY
GDP Report Q2	+0.7%	+0.7%
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	-28.8
Weekly Jobless Claims	336K	330K
EIA Natural Gas Report	57 Bcf
Jeffrey Lacker Speaks
James Bullard Speaks
FRIDAY
Personal Income & Outlays
-Income	+0.3%	+0.2%
-Spending	+0.5%	+0.3%
-Core PCE Price Index	+0.2%	+0.2%
Chicago PMI	52.3	53.0
Consumer Sentiment	80.0	80.0
Farm Prices

The economic schedule has been overshadowed this week by the events around Syria, but there are tidbits of data to chew on. The GDP revision for one should weigh on the market when reported and if changed. So far this week the data has been mixed but mostly disappointing, with decreases in activity in housing especially. We’ve discussed the issues around the housing recovery slowdown in past work; it is mostly on seasonal lull and rising mortgage rate shock. The manufacturing news has been mixed thus far this week, with durable goods orders dropping but regional Fed bank measures doing relatively well. While consumer confidence improved in the latest check, consumer spending seems to be slowing. Later this week, we’ll get a look at consumer spending, which should offer an answer on the issue, but I think the slowing is on a lull before the back-to-school spending storm.

Corporate Events

If you own a stock that is reporting results towards the close of this week, you had better worry. Also, watch out for press releases issued this Friday afternoon as a real warning sign. You don’t need to own stocks that have to resort to attempts at hiding bad news from you.

HIGHLIGHTED EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
MONDAY
Allied Healthcare Products	Nasdaq: AHPI
Amira Nature Foods	Nasdaq: ANFI
Atlanticus Holdings	Nasdaq: ATLC
Calypte Biomedical	Nasdaq: CBMC
Cambridge Heart	Nasdaq: CAMH
China Cord Blood	NYSE: CO
CSS Industries	NYSE: CSS
Daxor	NYSE: DXR
Dehaier Medical	Nasdaq: DHRM
Digital Cinema Destinations	Nasdaq: DCIN
Hancock Fabrics	Nasdaq: HKFI
HemaCare	Nasdaq: HEMA
Isle of Capri Casinos	Nasdaq: ISLE
KNOT Offshore Partners	Nasdaq: KNOP
Orthofix International	Nasdaq: OFIX
Phoenix Companies	NYSE: PNX
Qihoo 360	Nasdaq: QIHU
Qualstar	Nasdaq: QBAK
RTI International Metals	NYSE: RTI
Rue21	NYSE: RUE
SED International	NYSE: SED
Sedona	Nasdaq: SDNA
SpectraScience	Nasdaq: SCIE
Tower Group	Nasdaq: TWGP
WSP Holdings	NYSE: WH
Yosen Group	Nasdaq: YOSN
TUESDAY
Standex International	NYSE: SXI
dELiA’s	Nasdaq: DLIA
Movado	NYSE: MOV
Donaldson	NYSE: DCI
Sanderson Farms	Nasdaq: SAFM
Regis	NYSE: RGS
Brown Shoe	NYSE: BWS
Tiffany	NYSE: TIF
DSW	NYSE: DSW
Dycom	NYSE: DY
AeroVironment	Nasdaq: AVAV
Heico	NYSE: HEI
TiVo	Nasdaq: TIVO
WMS Industries	NYSE: WMS
Books-A-Million	Nasdaq: BAMM
Concurrent Computer	Nasdaq: CCUR
Daegis	Nasdaq: DAEG
Accuray	Nasdaq: ARAY
QAD Inc.	Nasdaq: QADB
Workday	Nasdaq: WDAY
Adept Technology	Nasdaq: ADEP
Wet Seal	Nasdaq: WTSLA
WEDNESDAY
APR Energy	Nasdaq: APREN
LTX-Credence	Nasdaq: LTXC
Chico’s FAS	NYSE: CHS
Express	Nasdaq: EXPR
Brown-Forman	NYSE: BFB
Zale	NYSE: ZLC
Joy Global	NYSE: JOY
Gordman’s Stores	Nasdaq: GMAN
eGain	Nasdaq: EGAN
Fresh Market	NYSE: TFM
SWS Group	NYSE: SWS
Delta Apparel	NYSE: DLA
Casella Waste Systems	Nasdaq: CWST
Culp	NYSE: CFI
Aceto	Nasdaq: ACET
Perceptron	Nasdaq: PRCP
Williams-Sonoma	NYSE: WSM
Guess	NYSE: GES
Tilly’s	Nasdaq: TLYS
Collector’s Universe	Nasdaq: CLCT
THURSDAY
Pall Corp.	NYSE: PLL
Campbell Soup	NYSE: CPB
Methode Electronics	NYSE: MEI
1-800-Flowers.com	Nasdaq: FLWS
K12	NYSE: LRN
Shiloh Industries	Nasdaq: SHLO
Corinthian Colleges	Nasdaq: COCO
Genesco	NYSE: GCO
Bio-Reference Laboratories	Nasdaq: BRLI
Fred’s	Nasdaq: FRED
U.S. Global Investors	Nasdaq: GROW
American Software	Nasdaq: AMSWA
Bebe Stores	Nasdaq: BEBE
Shoe Carnival	Nasdaq: SCVL
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts	NYSE: KKD
Salesforce.com	NYSE: CRM
Esterline Technologies	NYSE: ESL
Control4	Nasdaq: CTRL
Pacific Sunwear	Nasdaq: PSUN
Splunk	Nasdaq: SPLK
OmniVision Technologies	Nasdaq: OVTI
Astro-Med	Nasdaq: ALOT
Lantronix	Nasdaq: LTRX
MGC Diagnostics	Nasdaq: MGCD
FRIDAY
Big Lots	NYSE: BIG
Sears Hometown & Outlet	Nasdaq: SHOS

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