Although Friday's stock market ended on a bit of a sour note, for the week in full the S&P 500 climbed almost 2.2%. Despite that move, both that index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average remain in the red year to date. This aside, we've seen a pick-up in mergers-and-acquisitions activity, including a high-profile deal by Facebook (FB) for WhatsApp, and so far the initial-public-offering market is well ahead of last year. Seven weeks into 2014, and 35 companies have listed on U.S. exchanges -- a 75% increase over last year. Forty-nine companies have filed for IPOs year to date, so this trend should continue as long as the stock market holds up.
As expected, the impact of this year's winter weather was felt amid a number of economic data points that were shared last week. Thanks to the release of the Federal Reserve's 2008 transcripts, we were reminded how perfectly human the members of the Federal Open Market Committee are. Keep that in mind as we grapple with the speed of stimulus tapering in the months ahead. Meanwhile, the initial reading on the European and Chinese economies pointed to softer conditions vs. the prior month, per data from Markit Economics and HSBC.
On the flip side, those same sources reported the U.S. manufacturing economy continued to gain steam, recording a pick-up in activity, orders and backlog. In the week ahead, we'll hear more on housing in January and February, but it seems the stock market will be chalking up that softer data to the weather. The other big item to watch will be the durable-orders report -- and many, including myself, will be looking to see if this number bounces back for capital goods after that pronounced drop in December.
Shifting toward company earnings in the week ahead, a number of industry groupings will be represented. You may have thought we were almost over with corporate reporting for the December quarter, but as we enter the back half it's time for retailers and other sectors to issue their results and forecasts. Don't worry, though. Only 58 companies listed on the S&P 500 remain, so we are closing in on the end of earnings season.
As I just mentioned, a bevy of retailers are on tap this week: Gap (GPS), Macy's (M), Steve Madden (SHOO), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), J.C. Penney (JCP), Target (TGT), TJX (TJX), Ross Stores (ROST) Kohl's (KSS) and others.
Pizza chains Domino's Pizza (DPZ) and Papa Johns (PZZA) are also set to dish their results, as are DineEquity (DINE), Noodles (NDLS) and Del Frisco's (DFRG). One item to watch with Del Frisco's will be commentary on beef prices, which have been on the rise over the last few months.
Two of the top companies in the water industry are also scheduled to report -- American Water Works (AWK) and Aqua America (WTR). Given drought condition in California and elsewhere, commentary from these outfits should prove insightful.
I've already mentioned the recent bout of weak housing data. But for clues as to what the future holds in this area of the market, you may wish to listen to this week's commentary from housing plays Toll Brothers (TOL), Armstrong World (AWI), Trex (TREX) and, to some extent, Home Depot (HD).
Aside from the usual rounds of economic data and earrings reports, the coming days will also feature what is arguably the biggest event for the mobile industry -- Mobile World Congress. On Friday, I shared what you can expect to hear at the event.
Here's a more detailed look at what you can expect in the week ahead:
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Economic Data
Monday, Feb. 24
- Markit U.S. Flash Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI)
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Tuesday, Feb. 25
- Case-Shiller 20-City Index (December)
- Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) Housing Price Index (December)
- Consumer Confidence (February)
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Wednesday, Feb. 26
- Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Mortgage Index (Weekly)
- New Home Sales (January)
- Crude Inventories (Weekly)
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Thursday, Feb. 27
- Markit/JMMA Japan Manufacturing PMI
- Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims (Weekly)
- Durable Orders (January)
- Natural Gas Inventories (Weekly)
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Friday, Feb. 28
- HSBC Brazil Manufacturing PMI
- Gross Domestic Product -- Second Estimate (Fourth Quarter of 2013)
- Chicago PMI (February)
- Michigan Sentiment Index (February)
- Pending-Home Sales (January)
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Earnings Reports
Monday, Feb. 24
- Armstrong World Industries (AWI)
- GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT)
- Live Nation ((LYV)
- Nautilus Inc. (NLS)
- Palo Alto Networks (PANW)
- Rogers Corp. (ROG)
- Sina Corp. (SINA)
- Standard Motor Products (SMP)
- Trex Co. (TREX)
- Vivus, Inc. (VVUS)
- Zulily, inc. (ZU)
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Tuesday, Feb. 25
- America Tower Corp. (AMT)
- Big 5 Sporting (BGFV)
- Bloomin' Brands (BLMN)
- Bank of Montreal (BMO)
- BTU International (BTUI)
- Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI)
- Digital Realty Trust (DLR)
- Domino's Pizza (DPZ)
- DreamWorks Animation (DWA)
- First Solar (FLSR)
- The Home Depot (HD)
- Integra Lifesciences (IART)
- Macy's (M)
- Martha Stewart Living (MSO)
- Office Depot (ODP)
- Sanderson Farms (SAFM)
- Boston Beer (SAM)
- Steve Madden (SHOO)
- T-Mobile U.S. (TMUS)
- Toll Brothers (TOL)
- Vornado Realty Trust (VNO)
- Vitamin Shoppe (VSI)
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Feb. 26
- Autodesk (ADSK)
- AGCO Corp. (AGCO)
- Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF)
- CardioNet (BEAT)
- Baidu.com (BIDU)
- Barnes & Noble (BKS)
- CoreLogic, Inc. (CLGX)
- Carter's Inc. (CRI)
- Cablevision Systems (CVC)
- Del Frisco's Restaurant Group (DFRG)
- DineEquity (DIN)
- Dycom Industries (DY)
- J.C. Penney Co. (JCP)
- Lowe's Co. (LOW)
- Noodles & Co. (NDLS)
- NutriSystem (NTRI)
- Parker Drilling (PKD)
- Papa John's (PZZA)
- Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR)
- SodaStream International (SODA)
- Taser International (TASR)
- Target Corp. (TGT)
- TiVo Inc. (TIVO)
- The TJX Companies (TJX)
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Thursday, Feb. 27
- Air Methods (AIRM)
- AMC Networks (AMCX)
- Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA)
- ASM International (ASMI)
- America Water Works (AWK)
- Sotheby's Holdings (BID)
- Churchill Downs (CHDN)
- Chico's FAS (CHS)
- Salesforce.com, Inc. (CRM)
- Deckers Outdoor Corp. (DECK)
- FARO Technologies (FARO)
- Gap Inc. (GPS)
- GrafTech International (GTI)
- Hilton Hotels (HLT)
- Kohl's (KSS)
- Monster Worldwide (MNST)
- OmniVision Technologies (OVIT)
- Pall Corp. (PLL)
- Ross Stores (ROST)
- Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM)
- TD Bank Financial (TD)
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Friday, Feb. 28
- AutoNavi Holdings (AMAP)
- Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP)
- Comfort Systems (FIX)
- Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM)
- MasTec Inc. (MTZ)
- NII Holdings (NIHD)
- PepCo Holdings (POM)
- Tesco Corp. (TESO)
- Aqua America (WTR)
