Heavy Geopolitical Weight on Stocks this Week

This week there is clearly a geopolitical weight on stocks. Given the developments around the world, and specifically in Israel and Ukraine, there’s just cause for investor concern. Israel's operation in Gaza, no matter its cause, has led to global uproar and seems set to inspire terrorism and potentially a broader war. The Russian denials of the shooting down of MH17 are exposing Russia as a state unfortunately in the hands of dubious leadership. Given Russia’s effective propaganda machine, the nuclear nation poses a significant threat to global stability. Thus, investors have substantial geopolitical concerns to weigh in the macro considerations regarding investing this week. Get this report weekly by subscribing or following our blog via email or social media.

5-Year Chart at Yahoo Finance

Stocks have enjoyed quite a run without much of a stumble over the last five years. It’s all the more reason to be wary here, given the upcoming Fed direction for rising interest rates and the significant geopolitical issues that threaten global stability.

Security	2014	Last 12M
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+6.8%	+16.6%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+2.8%	+9.7%
PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ)	+9.1%	+28.7%
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)	+8.8%	+1.0%
iPath S&P Crude Oil (NYSE: OIL)	+8.3%	-1.5%
PIMCO Total Return (Nasdaq: BOND)	+4.1%	+2.8%
PowerShares US $ Bull (NYSE: UUP)	-0.2%	-4.0%

THIS WEEK:

The week ahead shows a housing and manufacturing sector heavy data period. Several key reports on US housing will update us on this cornerstone and barometer of the American economy. Manufacturing has been hot, but threats to exports and a continued weight against the questionably employed nation here at home could cause a stumble here as well.

THIS WEEK’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Est.
MONDAY
Chicago Fed National Activity Index	0.21	0.12 Actual
TUESDAY
Consumer Price Index	+0.4%	+0.3%
-Core CPI	+0.3%	+0.2%
Existing Home Sales	4.89 M	4.99 M
FHFA House Price Index	0.0%	+0.3%
ICSC Weekly Store Sales	+0.1%
-Year-to-Year Pace	+4.5%
Redbook Store Sales	+4.1%
Richmond Fed Index	3	5.5
Senate Finance Examines US Tax Code
WEDNESDAY
Mortgage Activity	-3.6%
EIA Petroleum Status
-Crude Oil Inventory	-7.5 MB
-Gasoline Inventory	+0.2 MB
FEIR Quarterly Report on Greece
THURSDAY
New Home Sales	504K	475K
PMI Manufacturing Flash Index	57.5	57.6
Kansas City Fed Mgf. Index	6	6
Weekly Jobless Claims	302K	310K
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	37.5
EIA Natural Gas Report	107 bcf
IMF Produces World Economic Outlook
FRIDAY
Durable Goods Orders	-1.0%	+0.5%
-Ex-Transportation	-0.1%	+0.7%

Earnings take center stage this week, and a partial list of this week’s reports follows below. Herbalife (NYSE: HLF) is under attack by Bill Ackman Tuesday morning via his public presentation, and its shares have fallen precipitously ahead of and into the news.

EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
MONDAY
AbbVie	Nasdaq: ABBV
Access National	Nasdaq: ANCX
Alkermes	Nasdaq: ALKS
Allergan	NYSE: AGN
Artisan Partners	Nasdaq: APAM
Avid Technology	Nasdaq: AVID
BancorpSouth	NYSE: BXS
BB&T	NYSE: BBT
Bridge Capital	Nasdaq: BBNK
Brown & Brown	NYSE: BRO
Cadence Design Systems	Nasdaq: CDNS
Chipotle Mexican Grill	NYSE: CMG
Choice Hotels	NYSE: CHH
Crowdgather	Nasdaq: CRWG
Crown Holdings	NYSE: CCK
CYS Investments	NYSE: CYS
Destination Maternity	Nasdaq: DEST
Dime Community Bancshares	Nasdaq: DCOM
Dresser-Rand	NYSE: DRC
Enterprise Bancorp	Nasdaq: EBTC
Exar	Nasdaq: EXAR
Extreme Networks	Nasdaq: EXTR
Farmers National Banc	Nasdaq: FMNB
Frisch’s Restaurants	NYSE: FRS
Genuine Parts	NYSE: GPC
GNC Holdings	NYSE: GNC
Gulfmark Offshore	NYSE: GLF
Halliburton	NYSE: HAL
Hasbro	NYSE: HAS
HealthStream	Nasdaq: HSTM
Helix Energy Solutions	NYSE: HLX
Hittite Microwave	Nasdaq: HITT
InterMune	Nasdaq: ITMN
ITT Educational	NYSE: ESI
Lennox Int’l	NYSE: LII
Lumber Liquidators	NYSE: LL
MagnaChip Semiconductor	NYSE: MX
Manpower	NYSE: MAN
Mastech	NYSE: MHH
Navios Maritime	NYSE: NMM
Netflix	Nasdaq: NFLX
NVR Inc.	NYSE: NVR
Ocean Power Technologies	Nasdaq: OPTT
Pacific Ethanol	Nasdaq: PEIX
Packaging Corp. of America	NYSE: PKG
Petmed Express	Nasdaq: PETS
RadioShack	NYSE: RSH
Rent-A-Center	Nasdaq: RCII
Sanmina	Nasdaq: SANM
Service Corp.	NYSE: SCI
Six Flags	NYSE: SIX
Steel Dynamics	Nasdaq: STLD
SunTrust Banks	NYSE: STI
Texas Instruments	NYSE: TXN
Triumph Group	NYSE: TGI
United Bankshares	Nasdaq: UBSI
United Therapeutics	Nasdaq: UTHR
Value Line	Nasdaq: VALU
Ventas	NYSE: VTR
Waste Connections	NYSE: WCN
Zions Bancorporation	Nasdaq: ZION
TUESDAY
A.O. Smith	NYSE: AOS
Allegheny Technologies	NYSE: ATI
Altria Group	NYSE: MO
Apple	Nasdaq: AAPL
Asbury Automative	NYSE: ABG
Carlisle Cos.	NYSE: CSL
CIT Group	NYSE: CIT
City Holding	Nasdaq: CHCO
Comcast	Nasdaq: CMCSA
Covanta Holding	NYSE: CVA
Crocs	Nasdaq: CROX
Cubist Pharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: CBST
Del Frisco’s	Nasdaq: DFRG
Discover Financial	NYSE: DFS
Domino’s Pizza	NYSE: DPZ
Du Pont	NYSE: DD
Eagle Materials	NYSE: EXP
Electronic Arts	NYSE: EA
Flagstar Bancorp	NYSE: FBC
Forward Air	Nasdaq: FWRD
Fulton Financial	Nasdaq: FULT
Gannett	NYSE: GCI
Harley-Davidson	NYSE: HOG
Harmonic	Nasdaq: HLIT
Ingersoll-Rand	NYSE: IR
Intuitive Surgical	Nasdaq: ISRG
iRobot	Nasdaq: IRBT
Juniper Networks	Nasdaq: JNPR
Kimberly-Clark	NYSE: KMB
Lexmark Int’l	NYSE: LXK
Linear Technology	Nasdaq: LLTC
Lockheed Martin	NYSE: LMT
McDonald’s	NYSE: MCD
Mead Johnson	NYSE: MJN
Microsoft	Nasdaq: MSFT
MoSys	Nasdaq: MOSY
Nabors Industries	NYSE: NBR
New Oriental Education	NYSE: EDU
Peabody Energy	NYSE: BTU
Peoples Bancorp	Nasdaq: PEBO
Polaris	NYSE: PII
Prologis	NYSE: PLD
Regions Financial	NYSE: RF
Robert Half	NYSE: RHI
Rockwell Collins	NYSE: COL
Signature Bank	Nasdaq: SBNY
State Street	NYSE: STT
Synovus Financial	NYSE: SNV
TD Ameritrade	Nasdaq: AMTD
Coca-Cola	NYSE: KO
Travelers	NYSE: TRV
Trustmark	Nasdaq: TRMK
UMB Financial	Nasdaq: UMBF
Unisys	NYSE: UIS
United Technologies	NYSE: UTX
Vascular Solutions	Nasdaq: VASC
Verizon	NYSE: VZ
Vicor	Nasdaq: VICR
ViewPoint Financial	Nasdaq: VPFG
VMware	NYSE: VMW
Waters	NYSE: WAT
World Acceptance	Nasdaq: WRLD
Xilinx	Nasdaq: XLNX
Xoom	Nasdaq: XOOM
Zix	Nasdaq: ZIXI
WEDNESDAY
8x8 Inc.	Nasdaq: EGHT
Akzo Nobel NYV	Nasdaq: AKZOY
Amphenol	NYSE: APH
Angie’s List	Nasdaq: ANGI
AngioDynamics	Nasdaq: ANGO
Astoria Financial	NYSE: AF
AT&T	NYSE: T
AvalonBay Communities	NYSE: AVB
B/E Aerospace	Nasdaq: BEAV
Biogen Idec	Nasdaq: BIIB
Boeing	NYSE: BA
Check Point Software	Nasdaq: CHKP
Cirrus Logic	Nasdaq: CRUS
Citrix Systems	Nasdaq: CTXS
Clear Channel Outdoors	NYSE: CCO
Corelogic	Nasdaq: CLGX
Costamare	Nasdaq: CMRE
Daimler	Nasdaq: DDAIF
Delta Air Lines	NYSE: DAL
Dow Chemical	NYSE: DOW
E*TRADE	Nasdaq: ETFC
EMC	NYSE: EMC
Ethan Allen	NYSE: ETH
Everest Re	NYSE: RE
F5 Networks	Nasdaq: FFIV
Facebook	NYSE: FB
Federal-Mogul	Nasdaq: FDML
Flowserve	NYSE: FLS
Freeport-McMoRan	NYSE: FCX
General Dynamics	NYSE: GD
Gilead Sciences	Nasdaq: GILD
Hanesbrands	NYSE: HBI
Hatteras Financial	NYSE: HTS
Hercules Offshore	Nasdaq: HERO
Hudson City Bancorp	Nasdaq: HCBK
IBERIABANK	Nasdaq: IBKC
JAKKS Pacific	Nasdaq: JAKK
Janus Capital	NYSE: JNS
Kaiser Aluminum	Nasdaq: KALU
Knight Transportation	NYSE: KNX
Lithia Motors	NYSE: LAD
MB Financial	Nasdaq: MBFI
Medicines	Nasdaq: MDCO
MKS Instruments	Nasdaq: MKSI
Morningstar	Nasdaq: MORN
Natus Medical	Nasdaq: BABY
Norfolk Southern	NYSE: NSC
Northrop Grumman	NYSE: NOC
Oceaneering Int’l	NYSE: OII
Ownens Corning	NYSE: OC
Pepsico	NYSE: PEP
Polycom	Nasdaq: PLCM
Potlatch	NYSE: PCH
Praxair	NYSE: PX
Qualcomm	Nasdaq: QCOM
Raymond James Financial	NYSE: RJF
Sangamo Biosciences	Nasdaq: SGMO
SEI Investments	Nasdaq: SEIC
Simon Property Group	NYSE: SPG
Skechers USA	NYSE: SKX
Susquehanna Bancshares	Nasdaq: SUSQ
Teradyne	NYSE: TER
The Cheesecake Factory	Nasdaq: CAKE
Tractor Supply	Nasdaq: TSCO
TripAdvisor	Nasdaq: TRIP
Tupperware	NYSE: TUP
Varian Medical	NYSE: VAR
W.R. Grace	NYSE: GRA
WesBanco	Nasdaq: WSBC
Whirlpool	NYSE: WHR
THURSDAY
3M	NYSE: MMM
Airgas	NYSE: ARG
Alaska Air	NYSE: ALK
Alexion Pharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: ALXN
Altera	Nasdaq: ALTR
Amazon.com	Nasdaq: AMZN
American Airlines	NYSE: AAL
AmerisourceBergen	NYSE: ABC
Baidu	Nasdaq: BIDU
Boise Cascade	NYSE: BCC
Boston Scientific	NYSE: BSX
Brightcove	Nasdaq: BCOV
Brink’s	NYSE: BCO
Bristol-Myers Squibb	NYSE: BMY
Brunswick	NYSE: BC
Bryn Mawr Bank	Nasdaq: BMTC
Build-A-Bear Workshop	NYSE: BBW
Builders FirstSource	Nasdaq: BLDR
C.R. Bard	NYSE: BCF
Cabela’s	NYSE: CAB
Cabot Microelectronics	Nasdaq: CCMP
Cabot Oil & Gas	NYSE: COG
Callaway Golf	NYSE: ELY
Cameron Int’l	NYSE: CAM
Caterpillar	NYSE: CAT
Celgene	Nasdaq: CELG
Cerner	Nasdaq: CERN
Chicago Bridge & Iron	NYSE: CBI
Chubb	NYSE: CB
Cliff’s Natural	NYSE: CLF
CMS Energy	NYSE: CMS
Constant Contact	Nasdaq: CTCT
CRA Int’l	Nasdaq: CRAI
D.R. Horton	NYSE: DHI
Deckers Outdoor	Nasdaq: DECK
Diamond Offshore	NYSE: DO
Dr. Pepper Snapple	NYSE: DPS
Dunkin’ Brands	Nasdaq: DNKN
Eli Lilly	NYSE: LLY
Fair Isaac	Nasdaq: FICO
Federated Investors	NYSE: FII
First American Financial	NYSE: FAF
FLIR Systems	Nasdaq: FLIR
Ford Motor	NYSE: F
General Motors	NYSE: GM
Gigamon	Nasdaq: GIMO
GrubHub	Nasdaq: GRUB
Hershey	NYSE: HSY
Jarden	NYSE: JAH
JetBlue Airways	Nasdaq: JBLU
KKR	NYSE: KKR
KLA-Tencor	Nasdaq: KLAC
Life Time Fitness	NYSE: LTM
Marketo	Nasdaq: MKTO
Mattson Technology	Nasdaq: MTSN
Maxim Integrated	Nasdaq: MXIM
McClatchy	NYSE: MNI
Mellanox	Nasdaq: MLNX
Overstock.com	Nasdaq: OSTK
Pandora Media	NYSE: P
Penn National Gaming	Nasdaq: PENN
Pinnacle Entertainment	NYSE: PNK
Piper Jaffray	NYSE: PJC
Popular	Nasdaq: BPOP
Precision Castparts	NYSE: PCP
Quest Diagnostics	NYSE: DGX
Raytheon	NYSE: RTN
Regal Entertainment	NYSE: RGC
Republic Services	NYSE: RSG
RF Micro Devices	Nasdaq: RFMD
Scholastic	Nasdaq: SCHL
SolarWinds	NYSE: SWI
Southwest Airlines	NYSE: LUV
Starbucks	Nasdaq: SBUX
Starwood Hotels	NYSE: HOT
SVB Financial	Nasdaq: SIVB
T. Rowe Price	Nasdaq: TROW
Under Armour	NYSE: UA
Uroplasty	NYSE: UPI
USG	NYSE: USG
VCA Inc.	Nasdaq: WOOF
Verisign	Nasdaq: VRSN
Visa	NYSE: V
Wyndham Worldwide	NYSE: WYN
Zimmer Holdings	NYSE: ZMH
FRIDAY
Aaron’s	NYSE: AAN
American Electric Power	NYSE: AEP
Aon PLC	NYSE: AON
Arctic Cat	Nasdaq: ACAT
Avery Dennison	NYSE: AVY
Barnes Group	NYSE: B
Beasley Broadcast Group	Nasdaq: BBGI
Blue Capital Reinsurance	Nasdaq: BCRH
Changyou.com	Nasdaq: CYOU
Corporate Office Properties	NYSE: OFC
Covidien	NYSE: PLC
DTE Energy	NYSE: DTE
First Niagara Financial	Nasdaq: FNFG
Hudson Valley	NYSE: HVB
IDEXX Laboratories	Nasdaq: IDXX
JMP Group	NYSE: JMP
Lakeland Financial	Nasdaq: LKFN
Lear Corp.	NYSE: LEA
LifePoint Hospitals	Nasdaq: LPNT
LyondellBasell Industries	NYSE: LYB
Magellan Health	Nasdaq: MGLN
Moody’s	NYSE: MCO
NuStar Energy	NYSE: NS
NuStar GP Holdings	NYSE: NSH
Prosperity Bancshares	NYSE: PB
Provident Financial Services	NYSE: PFS
Sensient Technologies	NYSE: SXT
Silicon Laboratories	Nasdaq: SLAB
Standard Register	NYSE: SR
Stanley Black & Decker	NYSE: SWK
TCF Financial	NYSE: TCB
Tyco Int’l	NYSE: TYC
Viad	NYSE: VVI
WABCO Holdings	NYSE: WBC
West Bancorporation	Nasdaq: WTBA
Xerox	NYSE: XRX

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.