Weekly Newsletter February 10th - February 16th

Current Events:  Major U.S. equity indexes all finished at or near the highs for the week on Friday despite a roller-coaster type week. With Friday's strong finish the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes are impressively at new highs for 2013.

What to Look for This Week

A relatively full plate of earnings announcements are scheduled this week as popular beverage giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi lead the way. The quarter has been quite the favorable one for the stock market as corporations have been routinely reporting better than expected earnings due to such low initial forecasts.

News Affecting the Markets

Investors will be eager to see how the market handles the news of the devastating snow storm that hit the north east this weekend. Nine states have reported a loss of electricity due to the poor weather conditions which have impacted an estimated 660,000 customers. Highways were also effected as abandoned cars littered the roadways.

Smart Investing

Buying a Franchise:  Buying a franchise business is something that should always be approached with a good deal of caution and research. You should make sure that you scrutinize over every detail of the franchise you wish to purchase and make sure a competent franchise attorney looks over ever document the franchisor provides to you. By law, franchisors must provide the franchisee with the proper documentation and numbers that will help you make your decision. It is vital to conduct your own independent research on the franchise you wish to join. After doing the research and crunching the numbers, you'll have a pretty good idea whether this particular industry is right for you and if the franchisor would be easy to work with. Do not jump into a franchise opportunity without first doing your due-diligence to insure this venture will be profitable and fun.

Earnings for the Week

Monday: Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (LGF) {After the Close}, Loews Corp (L), Mannkind Corp (MNKD), Masco Corp (MAS) {After the Close}, Radian Group Inc (RDN)

Tuesday:  Avon Products Inc (AVP), Cliffs Natural Resources Inc (CLF) {After the Close}, DDR Corp (DDR) {After the Close}, Fidelity National Information Services Inc (FIS), FMC Technologies Inc (FTI) {After the Close}, Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (MMC), Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (KORS), Omnicom Group Inc (OMC), Rackspace Hosting Inc (RAX) {After the Close}, Reynolds American Inc (RAI), The Coca-Cola Co (KO), The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT), The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc (MHP), Western Union Co (WU) {After the Close}

Wednesday: Avis Budget Group Inc (CAR) {After the Close}, CenturyLink Inc (CTL) {After the Close}, Dean Foods Co (DF), Deere & Co (DE), Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc (DPS), Duke Energy Corp (DUK), Hospira Inc (HSP), Lorillard Inc (LO), Metlife Inc (MET) {After the Close}, Oceaneering International Inc (OII) {After the Close}, Pioneer Natural Resources Co (PXD) {After the Close}, Skechers USA Inc (SKX) {After the Close}, The Jones Group Inc (JNY), Whole Foods Market Inc (WFM) {After the Close}

Thursday:  Agilent Technologies Inc (A) {After the Close}, Apache Corp (APA), CBS Corp (CBS) {After the Close}, Directv (DTV), EOG Resources Inc (EOG), General Motors Co (GM), GNC Holdings Inc (GNC), Key Energy Services Inc (KEG) {After the Close}, PepsiCo Inc (PEP), PPL Corp (PPL), Realty Income Corp (O), Vulcan Materials Co (VMC), Waste Management Inc (WM)

Friday:  American Electric Power Company Inc  (AEP), Campbell Soup Co (CPB), Ventas Inc (VTR)
* Earnings dates and times are subject to change

Economic Data this Week

Monday
No announcements scheduled.

Tuesday
Treasury Budget @ 2:00 PM for January (Est. = -$2.0B, Prior = -$27.4B)

Wednesday
MBA Mortgage Index @ 7:00 AM for 02/09 (Est. = n/a, Prior = 3.4%)
Retail Sale @ 8:30 AM for December (Est. = -0.3% to 0.1%, Prior = 0.5%)
Business Inventories @ 10:00 AM for December (Est. = 0.1% to 0.3%, Prior = 0.3%)
Crude Inventories @ 10:30 AM for 02/09 (Est. = n/a, Prior = 2.623M)

Thursday

Initial Claims @ 8:30 AM for 02/09 (Est. = 365K, Prior = 366K)
Continuing Claims @ 8:30 AM for 02/02 (Est. = 3200K, Prior = 3224K)
Natural Gas Inventories @ 10:30 AM for 02/09 (Est. = n/a, Prior = n/a)

Friday

Empire Manufacturing @ 8:30 AM for February (Est. = -2.0 to 0.0, Prior = -7.8)
Industrial Production @ 9:15 AM for January (Est. = 0.2% to 0.4%, Prior = 0.3%)
Capacity Utilization @ 9:15 AM for January (Est. = 78.9% to 79.0%, Prior = 78.8%)
Wholesale Inventories @ 10:00 AM for December (Est. = 0.3% to 0.7%, Prior = 0.6%)
Michigan Sentiment @ 9:55 AM for February (Est. = 73.0 to 73.5, Prior = 73.8)