The Demon Gold Bears Don’t See

Gold bears celebrated last week as the precious metals sector slipped. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) dropped 3.3%; the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) fell 3.1%; the Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE: GDX) collapsed 3.5%; the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares (Nasdaq: NUGT) cascaded 11.1%; and Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) fell 4.5%. I believe gold fell off while the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) climbed last week because elections in Ukraine went off without a hitch and Russia reportedly pulled its troops off the border with its neighbor. But what gold bears are missing here is that the demon, by his nature, will not go away; he will only alter his strategy and return in another way. Russia continues to foment discord within Eastern Ukraine. Rebels took over the airport in Donetsk just after the election. However, they were met by the first (informal) act of newly elected President Poroshenko. Ukrainian forces met with force the misinformed traitors in Donetsk who because of Russian propaganda believe themselves to be threatened by Kiev. Poroshenko has undertaken a fast-moving mission to crush criminal militias and reunite Ukraine. Who’s to say that will not take him to the border with Crimea, illegally taken by Russia just months ago. Russia is now poised to counter any new sanctions against it with a slew of actions of its own, which I believe will threaten the euro. Gold should recover lost ground. See our report on gold.

Bank of America is a Gift from God Here

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) took a hard fall after its executive team failed to accurately report its regulatory capital ratios to the Federal Reserve. The company had its capital plans frozen as a result. With expectations for a sharp dividend increase and share repurchases built into the stock price, investors were disappointed. And then the company’s earnings outlook required a second look, given the accounting errors and the absence of share repurchases. That leveled the stock, cutting 6% off its value in one day. But, after all that, I suggest Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is now a gift for those who do not yet own the stock. The company has resubmitted its third-party reviewed capital figures and its financial plans to the Fed, and is now on a 75 day wait for approval. The stock is deeply discounted to peers, trading at just 1.1X tangible book value, versus 1.65X for Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), 1.34X for J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and 2.05X for U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). If BofA could attain the average value of itself and those peers and trade at a conservative 1.5X tangible book, it would be worth 37% more than it is today. That is a gift from God for new entrants. Please see our full report here for a more detailed analysis of Bank of America.

Wall Street Week Ahead June 2-6

Everybody ought to be back from holiday this week and we can get back to business. It’s a busy week on the economic front, with a jam packed schedule that includes the granddaddy of them all, the monthly Employment Situation Report. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) keys this week’s wire as well, with its big developers’ conference Monday. The geopolitical schedule is hot too, with a G-7 meeting and a series of important central bank decisions. Find your full schedule below.

Wall Street Week Ahead

Security	2014	Last 12 Mos.
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+4.3%	+17.9%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+0.9%	+10.5%
PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+3.8%	+24.7%
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)	+3.7%	-10.1%
iPath S&P Crude Oil (NYSE: OIL)	+6.9%	+16.2%
PIMCO Total Return (Nasdaq: BOND)	+3.9%	+0.6%
PowerShares DB US $ Bullish (NYSE: UUP)	-0.2%	-5.0%

Stocks have been on a bit of a run, especially last week after the Ukraine elections went off without a hitch and Russian troops began backing off the border with Ukraine. However, the economic data has remained disappointing. Hopes are pinned on improving data as we get out of that miserable winter weather that plagued Q1. Gold started slipping last week, but we’re looking for it to bounce back soon enough.

Economic Events

THIS WEEK’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expected
MONDAY
Apple World Developers Conf.
ISM Manufacturing	54.9	55.5
PMI Manufacturing	55.4	56.2
Construction Spending	0.2%	0.7%
Gallup US Consumer Spending	$88
Charles Evans Speaks
Treasury Secretary Lew Speaks
TUESDAY
Motor Vehicle Sales	16.0 M	12.8 M
-Domestic Sales Only	12.8 M	16.1 M
Factory Orders	1.1%	0.5%
ICSC Weekly Store Sales	-1.2%
-Year-to-Year Pace	+2.1%
Redbook Store Sales	+3.2%
Gallup US ECI
Esther George Speaks
WEDNESDAY
ADP Employment Report	220K	210K
International Trade	-$40.4 B	-$41.0 B
ISM Non-Manufacturing	55.2	55.3
PMI Services Index	55.0
Nonfarm Productivity	-1.7%	-2.9%
-Unit Labor Costs	4.2%	5.2%
Beige Book
Gallup US Job Creation Index	25.0
Mortgage Activity	-1.2%
EIA Petroleum Status
-Crude Oil Inventory	+1.7 MB
-Gasoline Inventory	-1.8 MB
G-7 Summit in Brussels
Bank of Canada Monetary Policy
THURSDAY
ECB Monetary Policy
BOE Monetary Policy
Chain Store Sales
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	33.3
EIA Natural Gas Report	+114 bcf
Challenger Job-Cut Report	40,298
Weekly Jobless Claims	310K
Gallup US Payroll to Population	43.4
Kocherlakota Speaks
Fed Flow of Funds Data
FRIDAY
Employment Situation Report
-Nonfarm Payrolls	288K	213K
-Private Payrolls	273K	215K
-Unemployment Rate	6.3%	6.4%
Consumer Credit	$17.5 B	$15.0 B

The week ahead is jam-packed full of significant economic data that should matter to investors. The obvious market-mover most are keying on this week is the monthly employment report for May, though the news is not expected to be as great as April’s. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase at a less robust pace, by just 213K, versus April’s 288K. Private nonfarm payrolls will likewise be lower for May, according to economists, at 215K. The unemployment rate is seen inching higher to 6.4%, after declining sharply in April (though the workforce count disappeared a bit). So, the bar is set lower for the critical economic data point. The rest of the monthly employment figures include a lower bar for ADP’s private employment data and a relatively easy comp on the Challenger Job-Cut point – last month’s figure was mildly concerning.

Where to begin… From there, the schedule is simply packed. We have monetary policy meetings from the ECB, BOE and Bank of Canada. A slew of Federal Reserve men are scheduled to speak along with the Treasury Secretary. The Beige Book of regional Fed bank indicators will be reported. There’s a G-7 meeting scheduled, sans Vladimir Putin, who’s been dropped from the bunch. Every important national manufacturing and non-manufacturing figure is due, including factory orders, productivity & costs and a slew of Gallup data points. Construction spending data is due and one consumer sentiment measure. It’s just busy, very busy.

Corporate Events

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) tops the corporate news list, as its Worldwide Developers’ Conference promises to offer all sorts of new and important news. However, in the past, Apple has fallen short of high expectations for it. The stock has run up into the meeting, so many expect another failure here. If we get one of significance, I suggest buying Apple shares up. The earnings list is somewhat comprehensive in this post-holiday period. See the full list below.

HIGHLIGHTED EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
MONDAY
Apple WorldWide Developers	Nasdaq: AAPL
Urstadt Biddle Property A	NYSE: UBA
Calavo Growers	Nasdaq: CVGW
Jos A. Banks Clothiers	Nasdaq: JOSB
KBR	NYSE: KBR
Quiksilver	NYSE: ZQK
Accretive Health	Nasdaq: ACHI
Berkshire Bancorp	Nasdaq: BERK
Conn’s	Nasdaq: CONN
Ferrelgas Partners	NYSE: FGP
Guidewire Software	Nasdaq: GWRE
Hastings Entertainment	Nasdaq: HAST
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts	NYSE: KKD
Layne Christensen	Nasdaq: LAYN
Link Real Estate Investment Trust	Nasdaq: LKREF
Progressive	NYSE: PGR
TravelCenters of America	NYSE: TA
Village Super Market	Nasdaq: VLGEA
TUESDAY
ABM Industries	NYSE: ABM
Ambarella	Nasdaq: AMBA
American Woodmark	Nasdaq: AMWD
Ascena Retail	Nasdaq: ASNA
Dollar General	NYSE: DG
ePlus	Nasdaq: PLUS
FuelCell Energy	Nasdaq: FCEL
G-III Apparel Group	Nasdaq: GIII
Mattress Firm Holdings	Nasdaq: MFRM
Measurement Specialties	Nasdaq: MEAS
Mitcham Industries	Nasdaq: MIND
Rentrak	Nasdaq: RENT
WEDNESDAY
Bazaarvoice	NYSE: BV
Brown-Forman	NYSE: BF-A
Cyberonics	Nasdaq: CYBX
Doral Financial	NYSE: DRL
Five Below	Nasdaq: FIVE
Greif	NYSE: GEF
Hovnanian Enterprises	NYSE: HOV
IXYS Corp.	Nasdaq: IXYS
Leidos	Nasdaq: LDOS
PVH Corp.	NYSE: PVH
RealD	NYSE: RLD
Verint Systems	Nasdaq: VRNT
THURSDAY
American Superconductor	Nasdaq: AMSC
Analogic	Nasdaq: ALOG
Bio-Reference Laboratories	Nasdaq: BRLI
Breeze-Eastern	NYSE: BZC
Cantel Medical	NYSE: CMN
Ciena	Nasdaq: CIEN
Comtech Telecommunicaitons	Nasdaq: CMTL
Cooper Cos.	NYSE: COO
Diamond Foods	Nasdaq: DMND
Hooker Furniture	Nasdaq: HOFT
J.M. Smucker	NYSE: SJM
Joy Global	NYSE: JOY
Mad Catz Interactive	NYSE: MCZ
Navistar Int’l	NYSE: NAV
Quanex Building Products	NYSE: NX
Rally Software Development	Nasdaq: RALY
SeaChange Int’l	Nasdaq: SEAC
Selectica	Nasdaq: SLTC
Thor Industries	NYSE: THO
Titan Machinery	Nasdaq: TITN
UTi Worldwide	Nasdaq: UTIW
Vail Resorts	NYSE: MTN
Vera Bradley	NYSE: VRA
VeriFone Systems	NYSE: PAY
Vince Holdings	Nasdaq: VNCE
FRIDAY
KMG Chemicals	NYSE: KMG
Oil-Dri Corporation of America	NYSE: ODC
Piedmont Natural Gas	NYSE: PNY

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.