Jim Cramer Blog

For earnings hounds, the abbreviated work week is going to be made even shorter. Aside from the Q4 earnings season tapering off, market movers of note are limited with Tuesday and Wednesday being the headliners. Key reports include Home Depot (HD), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ).For economic watchdogs, Wednesday will be in the spotlight. Last week’s less influential PPI came in “just right” in matching expectations, so traders will be focused on what inflation at the consumer level ushers in. With relief over dovish Fed testimony last week, the report should prove to be a market mover. Stronger price readings would likely generate out-the-gate profit taking, as the primary catalyst behind last week’s triumphant rise would be deemed suspect. With the Fed still maintaining a vigilant watch over inflation, a turn in investor psychology isn’t a stretch with strong profits on the table. On the other hand, benign data would confirm investors’ newfound convictions over a more Street-friendly Fed. That being said, while a rallying point might be expected, a sell the news response at this juncture still seems more likely, unless the evidence presented is truly persuasive to bulls and bears alike.Elsewhere, the wild card of energy prices and the influence of index component sectors (XLE, OIH) might get a bit more interesting. Twelve sessions of mostly lateral testing slightly below the $60-a-barrel level and key moving averages should be nearing a technical conclusion. Milder temperatures late last week had bears breaking lateral supports in Thursday’s trading. However, an intraday reversal and follow-through in Friday’s session sent the March contract rallying back towards resistance within the established trading range.
Tuesday
Economic: NA
Earnings: Alltel (AT), Boyd (BYD), Home Depot (HD), Wal-Mart (WMT), Century Aluminum (CENX), Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Medtronic (MDT), Ultra Petrol (UPL), Sealy (ZZ), Powerwave (PWAV)
Wednesday
Economic: CPI & Core (.1%, .2%), Leading Indicators (.2%), Weekly Crude, FOMC Minutes
Earnings: Jack Box (JBX), Mittal (MT), Nice Systems (NICE), Orbital (ORB), Perficient (PRFT), TASER (TASR), Abercrombie (ANF), Agnico Mines (AEM), Analog Devices (ADI), Gen Maritime (GMR), Oceaneering Intl (OII), Pan Am Silver (PAAS), Salesforce (CRM), Whole Foods (WFMI)
Thursday
Economic: Weekly Claims (320K)Earnings: Barrick (ABX), Berry Petrol (BRY), JC Penney (JCP), K-Swiss (KSWS), Newmont (NEM), OfficeMax (OMX), Patterson (PDCO), Toll Bros (TOL), Aventine (AVR), Cabela’s (CAB), Dynamic Matls (BOOM), GFI Group (GFIG), H & R Block (HRB)
Friday
Economic: NA
Earnings: Clear Channel (CCU), Domino’s (DPZ), Lowe’s (LOW), NICOR (GAS)

Labels: AT, BOOM, BYD, CENX, CRM, GAS, HD, HPQ, JBX, MDT, MT, NICE, ORB, PAAS, PWAV, UPL, WMT, ZZ