Weekly Newsletter October 28th - November 3rd

Current Events: The market took a hit last week as Tuesday's slide deflated all three major U.S. indexes. With September's gains all but washed away, investors will look to see if the market can rebound this week. However, most will undoubtedly be distracted, at least during the early parts of the week, by the monstrous storm attacking the eastern coastline of the U.S.

What to Look for This Week

An interesting week awaits for investors as the presidential election is just over a week away. Key economic data, such as the unemployment rate and consumer confidence, will likely have some impact on the market, as well as the election. Overall volume may be muffled though due to a quiet week of earnings and Hurricane Sandy's presence on Wall Street during the early part of the week.

News Affecting the Markets

With sandbags layered outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in an attempt to protect the Mecca of the financial world from the affects of Hurricane Sandy, floor trading on Monday has been cancelled until the danger of the powerful storm passes. States of emergency have been declared in 12 states along the east coast thus far as the U.S. coastline bunkers down for potentially life-threatening storm-surges.

Smart Investing

Investing in Gold and Silver: When a business is suffering financial problems such as the automobile industry has of late, often these companies offer buyout retirement options that prove interesting enough that the employees take on early retirement. The typical U.S. severance package often includes a small amount of weeks of pay decided by every year the person was an employee, plus they may add the unused vacation time, a few months of health insurance coverage, and/or allow a lump sum payout of entitled pension benefits. Whether or not a person should accept these buyout retirement options centers on many different factors, these factors include but are not limited to the time that the person actually has before nearing their objective retirement age, the condition of their health, other income, the amount of savings they have, how long it will take to get another job should they need to, and finally the cost of interim health care either before filing for Medicare or being carried by insurance at the next job.

Earnings for the Week

Monday: Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC) {after the close}, Baidu Inc (BIDU) {after the close}, Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (BKW), CNO Financial Group Inc (CNO) {after the close}, EXCO Resources Inc (XCO) {after the close}, Forest Oil Corp (FST) {after the close}, Harris Corp (HRS), Herbalife Ltd (HLF) {after the close}, Hertz Global Holdings Inc (HTZ) {after the close}, Life Technologies Corp (LIFE) {after the close}, Loews Corp (L), Mannkind Corp (MNKD), Masco Corp (MAS) {after the close}, New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc (EDU), Northeast Utilities (NU), Oceaneering International Inc (OII) {after the close}, Overseas Shipholding Group Inc (OSG), PG&E Corp (PCG), Plum Creek Timber Company Inc (PCL) {after the close}, Senior Housing Properties Trust (SNH), Titanium Metals Corp (TIE), UDR Inc (UDR), Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (VRTX) {after the close}, Weingarten Realty Investors (WRI)

Tuesday: No major announcements scheduled.

Wednesday: No major announcements scheduled.

Thursday: No major announcements scheduled.

Friday: No major announcements scheduled.
* Earnings dates and times are subject to change

Economic Data this Week

Monday
Personal Income @ 8:30 AM for September (Est. = 0.5% to 0.6%, Prior = 0.1%)
Personal Spending @ 8:30 AM for September (Est. = 0.4% to 0.6%, Prior = 0.5%)

Tuesday
Case-Shiller 20-city Index @ 9:00 AM for August (Est. = 1.5% to 1.7%, Prior = 1.2%)
Consumer Confidence @ 10:00 AM for October (Est. = 72.5 to 73.0, Prior = 70.3)

Wednesday
MBA Mortgage Index @ 7:00 AM for 10/27 (Est. = n/a, Prior = -12.0%)
ADP Employment Change @ 8:15 AM for October (Est. = 135K to 140K, Prior = 162K)
Chicago PMI @ 9:45 AM for October (Est. = 50.0 to 50.4, Prior = 49.7)
Crude Oil Inventories @ 10:30 AM for 10/27 (Est. = n/a, Prior = 5.896M)

Thursday
Initial Claims @ 8:30 AM for 10/27 (Est. = 375K, Prior = 369K)
Continuing Claims @ 8:30 AM for 10/20 (Est. = 3249K to 3250K, Prior = 3254K)
ISM Index @ 10:00 AM for October (Est. = 50.5 to 51.0, Prior = 51.5)
Construction Spending @ 10:00 AM for September (Est. = 0.8% to 1.0%, Prior = -0.6%)
Auto Sales @ 2:00 PM for October (Est. = n/a, Prior = 5.3M)
Truck Sales @ 2:00 PM for October (Est. = n/a, Prior = 6.3M)

Friday
Nonfarm Payrolls @ 8:30 AM for October (Est. = 125K to 135K, Prior = 114K)
Nonfarm Private Payrolls @ 8:30 AM for October (Est. = 125K to 145K, Prior = 104K)
Unemployment Rate @ 8:30 AM for October (Est. = 7.9%, Prior = 7.8%)
Hourly Earnings @ 8:30 AM for October (Est. = 0.2%, Prior = 0.3%)
Factory Orders @ 10:00 AM for September (Est. = 4.5% to 5.0%, Prior = -5.2%)