Market comments for Aug. 16th (UPDATES)

The Dow has been going back and forth between Dow 11,000 and 11,500 as I said it might in recent posts. It is not clear yet whether we are going to go and stay above 11,500 in order for it to become support for the Dow or whether we will test it and fall back down below and head back to test 11,000. The charts below, especially the 3 month chart shows the volume has been dropping off while we have risen from below 11,000.



Housing Starts and Building Permits data will be released at 5:30am PST and I will update the information here and make a comment or two on this and Industrial Production data, also to be released.

Watch for news coming out of Europe as a high profile meeting between Germany and France will be taking place discussing the European debt crisis and should provide a news aspect to the market.

UPDATE: 5:30am PST Aug. 16th

Futures are down significantly this morning. News from the Eurozone responsible for the decline. The Eurozone released its Q2 GDP number and it came in at almost no growth at 0.2%. This has caused the German DAX to drop over 2.3% and caused the Dow Futures to drop to -150 points. Later today Merkel and Sarkozy to announce the result of their meeting about Sovereign debt issues across Europe amd any actions they plan to take. They are going to propose a Financial transaction tax across the Eurozone.

Housing Starts data was released here and the data showed 607K starts for July. Data for June was at 629K starts and expectations for July were at 600K. Building Permits came in at down -3.2% at 597K units.

July Import Prices were up +0.3%. while Export Prices were down -0.4%.

It looks like we will not penetrate above the 11,500 resistance level today, but instead may go and retest 11,000 in the next few days. The Volatility Index should rise sharply today.

Market comments for April 19th on the Dow and CAT

Looking at yesterday's drop in the markets and specifically the Dow, you can see that again Caterpillar, symbol CAT, which has led the Dow rise over the past year was one of 2 stocks leading the Dow lower yesterday. I have posted 2 charts below of Dow and Caterpillar which shows the extent of CAT's move down lately. More is to come as the market goes lower, but there will be bounces up on the way down. Notice the volume to the downside for CAT yesterday. It was very high, suggesting more downside is to come.



Housing starts and Building permits data was released today and both showed better than expected numbers. While many see this as a positive for the Real Estate market, I see it as a negative because the supply of houses on the market or about to be put on the market much too high a supply. This will keep housing prices low and may drive prices even lower if this becomes a trend and continues.

Market comments for Oct. 19th

Today's economic data was released on Housing Starts and Building Permits, after the earnings data from IBM and Apple had already driven the markets down after hours yesterday on disappointing forward expectations by both companies. Today's data isn't important to offset this decline nor add much to it because it isn't as important as other numbers being released later this week on Initial Jobless Claims. Housing Starts data released this morning for September came in at 610K, compared to an expectation of 579K. Last month's data was revised upwards from 598K Starts to 608K Starts. Building Permits for September were down to 539K Permits versus an expectation of 565K. August's data was revised from 569K to 571K Permits.

If you haven't read my post from Saturday on Fundamental Analysis versus Technical Analysis be sure to do so as it explains much of what is going on in the market discord between both type of analysis and the conclusions each draws.

A special Birthday wish to my friend in Massachusetts this morning. He and I were in Carmel many years ago on the day back in the 1987 when the market crashed. We survived that one but not sure if we will on the next one. A very Happy Birthday, Lad.

Market comments for Sept.21st.

The big economic news today is Housing starts, Building Permits and The Fed FOMC meeting. The first data released this morning was Housing Starts for August. Expectations were for 540K and the number came in at 598K. For the prior month of July, the number was 546K so we are 10.5% higher than we were expecting. Futures reacted positively to the news.

Building Permits came in at 569K. Expectations were for 550K. The prior month was 559K. So this number along with Housing starts were better than expected and up from the previous month.

Later today the Fed will be meeting and announce whether interest rates will stay the same. The statement they make will be watched carefully.

This market, with a little good news could go to 11,200 on the Dow again. This is another 500 points. But it should not go higher. as it appears a Head-and-Shoulders pattern developed between May and mid-August of last year. So the shorts are going to have still yet a bit longer pain from this rally which will have moved 12% since it was 10,000 in August and 15% since it was 9700 in July. That is what has caused some pain for people like myself who are short right now. This too will pass and those short purchases now will provide the biggest gains when the market does turn. For me it is no time to be weak kneed. As this market rises to 11,200, I will add to my shorts and keep my fingers crossed. But I wouldn't make a move like "All In!" on this expected market rally.

Economic data released today, Aug. 17th (Update)

The beginning of economic data for the week was released this morning. First up was Housing Starts for July. They came in at 546K. Expectations were for 555K. The prior month was revised down to 537K from 549K. Building Permits for July came in at 565K. Expectations were for 573K. The previous month was revised down to 583K from 586K. While these numbers are lower than expected, it wasn't off by a lot so the market will look at these as good news.

The PPI number came in at +0.2%. The market expected +0.2%, so that was in line with expectations. The Core PPI came in at +0.3% for July. The market expected +0.1%, so this was higher than expected.

Industrial Production came in at +1.0%. The market expected +0.8%, again better than expected.

This has set up the market to rise as the Dow Futures now are +65 going into the open. Now we wait for the Initial Jobless Claims for Thursday and Continuing Claims. The Initial Jobless Claims will be the most important going into Friday's Option Expiration for August.

WallMart had better than expected earnings form oversees growth. That set the market up for a rise earlier. It is clear China is still dragging some of the world economies to a better than expected Q3 GDP number no matter what the final result would be. But if they slow down the world is screwed as is China as expectations have been building with the Chinese population of an ever growing improved condition in their lives. It's hard to get off that drug, once someone has had the initial taste as the Chinese will certainly find out some day. It is their only concern about destabilization within its borders.

UPDATE: 7:45am PST

Capacity Utilization data came in at 74.8%. This was exactly what was expected. It is an uptick from the prior month reading of 74.1%, so it is in the right direction. But Factories need to get to a minimum of 85% to be generating lots of jobs and we have a long way to go to get there. Here is a historical perspective on the data.



Average 1972-2009 79.2%
From 1988-1989 high 85.2%
From 1990-1991 low 78.7%
From 1994-1995 high 85.1%
From 2008-2009 low 68.2%
July 2009 69.1%

Now this is the progression for 2010
Feb. 72.4%
Mar. 72.8%
Apr. 73.1%
May 74.1%
Jun. 74.1%
Jul. 74.8%

So the data is definitely improving and going in the right direction for a recovery but at this rate it would take several years to get back up to 85%, assuming we don't have a setback.

Summary of Projections versus actuals for economic data released this week

This is a summary of the economic data released this week along with what the expectations were for this data.


Monday, July 26th
10:00am EST. New Home Sales for June. Forecast is 295K and the prior month reading was 300K.
Actuals: 330K

Tuesday, July 27th
10:00am EST. Consumer Confidence for July. Forecast is 51.0 and the prior month was 52.9.
Actuals: 50.4

Wednesday, July 28th
8:30am EST. Durable Goods Orders for June. Forecast is +1.0% and the prior month was -0.6%
8:30am EST. Durable Goods orders ex Transportation. Forecast is +0.5% and prior month was +1.6%
2:00pm EST Fed's Beige Book.
Actuals: Durable Goods -1.0%
Actuals: Durable Goods ex Transports -0.6%

Thursday, July 29th
8:30am EST. Initial Jobless Claims. Forecast is for 450K and the prior week was 464K.
8:30am EST. Continuing Claims. Forecast is for 4.550 Million and prior week was 4.487 Million
2:00pm EST. Fed's Beige Book.
Actuals: Initial Claims 475K
Actuals: Continuing Claims 4.565 Million

Friday, July 30th
8:30am EST. GDP for Q2. Forecast is for 3.0% and Prior was 2.7%. Market is expecting 2.5%.
8:30am EST. Chain Deflator for Q2. Forecast is 0.7% and prior period was 1.1%
8:30am EST. Employment Cost Index for Q2. Forecast is 0.5% and prior period was 0.6%
9:45am EST. Chicago PMI for July. Forecast is for 58.5 and prior month was 59.1
9:55am EST. Univ. of Michigan Sentiment for July. Forecast is 67.5 and prior month was 66.5
Actuals: GDP 2.4%
Actuals: Chain Deflator 1.8%

The remaining data will be added as it becomes available today on Univ. of Michigan Consumer Confidence.

UPDATE:
Actuals: Chicago PMI 62.3
Actuals: Univ. of Michigan Sentiment 67.8

Economic Indicators for the week of July 26th

Here's the rundown of data expected this coming week and their relative importance as to where the economy is headed. Three of the more important indicators this week will be Consumer Confidence, Durable Goods orders and GDP. Here's the breakdown by day:

Monday, July 26th
10:00am EST. New Home Sales for June. Forecast is 295K and the prior month reading was 300K.

Tuesday, July 27th
10:00am EST. Consumer Confidence for July. Forecast is 51.0 and the prior month was 52.9.

Wednesday, July 28th
8:30am EST. Durable Goods Orders for June. Forecast is +1.0% and the prior month was -0.6%
8:30am EST. Durable Goods orders ex Transportation. Forecast is +0.5% and prior month was +1.6%
2:00pm EST Fed's Beige Book.

Thursday, July 29th
8:30am EST. Initial Jobless Claims. Forecast is for 450K and the prior week was 464K.
8:30am EST. Continuing Claims. Forecast is for 4.550 Million and prior week was 4.487 Million
2:00pm EST. Fed's Beige Book.

Friday, July 30th
8:30am EST. GDP for Q2. Forecast is for 3.0% and Prior was 2.7%. Market is expecting 2.5%.
8:30am EST. Chain Deflator for Q2. Forecast is 0.7% and prior period was 1.1%
8:30am EST. Employment Cost Index for Q2. Forecast is 0.5% and prior period was 0.6%
9:45am EST. Chicago PMI for July. Forecast is for 58.5 and prior month was 59.1
9:55am EST. Univ. of Michigan Sentiment for July. Forecast is 67.5 and prior month was 66.5

That's the rundown for the coming week. I will try and update my site each day with the actual data. As for the market reaction it is difficult to predict without any actual data but I will give it a try. If GDP comes in 2.0-2.5% the market will react quite negatively. If it comes in at the expected 3.0% or better, it will be claimed as a victory and the market will have a positive reaction. However the Durable Goods orders and Consumer Confidence will have more of an effect as they are predictors of the present and future, not the past. So if I were weighting the data this week, I would tend to weight these later data points more heavily as market direction predictors. Durable goods orders are expected to rise so anything less than that will be negative. As for CONSUMER CONFIDENCE, it is expected to drop only slightly from 52.9 to 51. If we get any reading below 51, the market will react quite negatively. Therefore Tuesday is the most important data this week in my view. Stay tuned for the results and please come back.

Market outlook for July 20th: Rainy with Clouds

Well after the bell yesterday, IBM reported its earnings as did Texas Instruments. Both disappointed on top line Revenue expectations and that has set the stage for today's market action. Futures are down and Europe is down this morning. Also out this morning was Housing Starts and Building Permits. The news there was mixed. Housing starts came in at 549K for June compared to an expectation of 575K, which was worse than expected, and Building Permits came in at 586K compared to the expectation of 572K, which was better news than expected. That rallied the Futures a bit so they weren't as negative before the news came out Dow Futures were down about 100 before the Housing data, but after the data they came in at down only 75. However, currently the Dow Futures have slipped back down 93.

Expect today to show another leg down on this slowly unwinding market. I will post Updates here during the day today. So if you have read this once be sure to come back and see the Updates and commentary.

Also, news on Goldman Sachs missing expectations on their numbers also is causing some market turmoil. It is clear that the top line Revenue Growth is not there and the only way companies are making their earnings is but cutting costs. It isn't going to get better any time soon according to Pimco's Mohamed El-Erian, CEO and Co CIO who was on CNBC this morning.

I will also post today something on Silver and ZSL and that there is about to be a significant break below key supports on Silver and that this can be payed by buying ZSL or adding to previous positions. Look for tha post later this morning.

UPDATE: 9:45am PST

AS you can see from the above chart we started down about 125 for the Dow but have steadily risen up in spite of the news. Well the Dow formed a "W" pattern with the slant pointing down. We therefore should go lower from below the lowest leg of the "W" pattern. That would take us to Dow down over 100 again today.

Market outlook June 22nd

Existing Home Sales were down 2.2% for May. This was lower than analysts expected and is not a good number. The stock market is near neutral this morning and making up its mind where it is headed. The Dow has had a 90 point range this morning going as high as 10,493, but has pilled back after the release of the Housing data. They are talking that this may be the beginning of a double dip in the recession. The Dow is now down 5 points but heading up again to the positive. I will post intraday charts of the Dow and make commentary throughout the day. But there is a tug of war to define market direction between the Bulls and the Bears. Check back, as a "W" pattern is being formed.

Update: 8:45am PST

The Dow and other indexes have been between positive and negative values today. Two "W" patterns emerged as is shown on the above chart. The first one I did not put a red line under, but it was not slanted and just before the one I did underline in Red. It seems like the market is trying to go up now as the slant indicates. I am not buying or selling today, as direction seems to be unclear today. And when I am in doubt, I go back to the question, What is the overall Trend of the market? The answer is down. So I do not buy when short term direction is unclear. Stay tuned for more updates.

Update: 11:30am PST

As you can see from the last "W" pattern above we are going lower than this last leg down on the "W" pattern. TZA Calls should be rising. Remember 10,393 on the Dow is at the S2 support level. For those long the market, you will want this level to hold. For those short, you will want this to go lower than 10,393 and stay below that level.

Update Noon PST

As you can see the market did follow the slanted "W" red line and went down over 100 points and broke through all Support levels. This market does have a negative bias and today just proves my point. Direction had been slightly positive and then negative teetering art the Unchanged line, but then made up its mind that the Bears are in control. We are in the last hour of trading so let's see what happens as there are no "W: patterns to get a clue from right now.

Update: 1:15pm

The market has closed and the Dow finished at 10,293, down about 150 points today. More interestingly, the Dow finished today below its 200 day Moving average which is at about 10,320. THE DOW MANAGED TO STAY ABOVE THE 200 DAY MOVING AVERAGE FOR 5 OUT OF THE 6 DAYS. Unfortunately for the Bulls, it has closed below that level and will make a rally above face more resistance. As can be seen in the 2 month chart of the Dow above, it has been down below the 200 day Moving Average from May 20th until June 15th, so this is a setback for the Longs. For the Shorts like myself, it is what I had expected. I did not sell any TZA Calls (which is the Triple ETF Ultra Short with goes inverted to what the Russell 2000 is doing. If the Russell drops 1% TZA goes up 3%.) TZA closed today just shy of $7.00/share for a 6.3% gain. Volume today was slightly ahead of yesterday's but is not that low low given it's the beginning of summer and many are on vacation this week as school is out. Check back tomorrow and every week day for market updates and on the weekends occasional commentary on the news of the day. Thanks!

CPI went negative again and Jobless Claims rose. Everything is just Peachy isn't it?

Reported by Bloomberg.com this morning, "The cost of living in the U.S. dropped in May for a second month, signaling the world’s largest economy is recovering without causing prices to flare." Now isn't that a cute way to describe deflation, "it didn't cause prices to flare"! Give me a break! What spin.

They also reported on Jobless Claims the following, "The Labor Department also reported today that initial jobless claims rose 12,000 last week to 472,000. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a decline to 450,000, according to the median estimate." Hmm, off again these economists by a bunch! Are these the people we are relying on to tell us we are recovering. Wake up, we're not recovering. Ask any tradesman in your community how business is going for them. We had to hire a Dry Wall repair person. He said not much work for any Tradesmen because New Home Construction is non existent. He knows Electricians who have taken to drive a truck to get any work. He quipped, "Maybe we are being affected by the Gulf Oil Spill and can put in a Claim before we are homeless from the lack of work.

Friends, things are not really good in Camelot. But it's easier to think it is than to face the fact it isn't. I don't blame people for wanting hope. Today is Options expiration for June. I think the volatility will not emerge today as many shorts have covered over the past week or so causing this temporary rally. If there is anything to report today, I will add an update to this post. Have a nice June weekend and Happy Father's day to all the Fathers out there.

PPI, Housing Starts for May: Not really good, but will it affect the market?

Yesterday was an unusual day in the market. The Dow soared up above the R2 (Resistance) level of 10,377, closing above 10,400 and all on bad news during the day. I had said it wouldn't happen. I was wrong. The Futures were pointing down as the PPI data and Housing Starts data was to be released. The PPI (Producer Price Index) came in at -0.3% compared to being down -0.1% in April, while Housing Starts were down -10%. May Building permits were down -5.9% after being up +3.9% in April.

The PPI numbers continue to support the fact we are in a Deflationary period, contrary to many who believe we are in Inflation. Does it really make a difference? It should as it affects Fed policy, but the stock markets seem to be driven by the beat of a different drummer and we aren't sure who's beating that drum, are we. This stock market even has Cramer scratching his head, as he said on his CNBC Mad Money show yesterday. To quote Cramer, "It makes no sense at all!"

Where are we going?: Latest on the stock market trend both long term and short term

It's time for one of those posts where I take a very lofty view of the stock market and a minute view at the same time and explain to my readers how I look at the market from day to day when trading. To do this I have put up many charts staring as long as a 30 year chart of the Dow to as small as an Intraday of yesterday's trading. I hope this helps you at least see what I see. Let me start with the broad view using the Dow 30 year chart.

As usual, I will look at each chart observing "W" pattern formation. As I have noted here before, these "W" patterns are often referred to as Head and Shoulder patterns. I suggest you read up on on these patterns somewhere like Investopedia, which has a significant wealth of facts and lessons for any investor. Getting back to those "W" patterns, I will underline in red each "W" pattern I want you to be looking at and we will be looking for which way the slant of the line appears to be heading. If the line heads down, it implies the market will follow by going down below the bottom right leg of the "W". If the slant points upward, the market should go up.


Looking now at the Dow 30 year chart above, you will notice the "W" pattern of the stock price and the fact that it is slanted down. To me this means that although we have made highs of 11,000 recently and 14,000 before that, we are headed lower and should go lower than the previous low, which was at 6,400 on the Dow. That seems to contradict conventional wisdom by the "experts" on CNBC and others who have said any correction will go to Dow 8,000. If that were so, then the previous low would not have gone below 8,000 and there would be no slant of the "W" pattern. So that is one thing I wanted you to see along with me. But there is another interesting point to be made on this chart, but it doesn't involve the stock price, but rather, the Volume in the bottom section of the chart.

As you can plainly see, there has been 3 distinct periods where the Volume made a significant step up. I have drawn Blue lines to define each step. The first step was from 1980 to about 1988, the second step up from 1988 to 1998, and the last step up from 1998 to now. But in this last step, it looks to me that the Volume is increasing steadily over this 12 year period .Just think, the Volume was significantly lower just 10-15 years ago in the buildup to the year 2000 Dot.com bubble bursting. I don't know many investors who have increased their purchases of shares over these past 10 years and yet the Volume is over double the previous period. Part of the explanation could be that the bank shares like Citigroup, symbol C, have dropped in value so much that there are Billions of shares traded now compared to previous times, but that doesn't entirely explain it.

To me the only explanation is that the Government has been using its reserves to keep this market sustainable at these levels through firms like Goldman Sachs and others these past 2 years investing with nearly free money from the government. It's a way fro the government to make money too since the wealthy don't want to be taxed.

Anyway, I think this Volume will eventually drop as people get more scared and leave the market as their gambling table of choice. Any major market drop will scare a generation of investors away, as may have happened in the recent drop to 6,400 on the Dow. Ok, now let's move on to another chart.


This next chart above is off the Dow for the past 10 years. I have underlined several "W" patterns to show you again the predictability of this pattern at determining the market direction immediately after the "W" pattern is formed. Several of these in this chart show this to be true. You will notice the last "W" pattern I drew in red to the right of the chart appears to slant down. This will be clearer in shorter time period Dow charts to come. The other thing to look at on this 10 year chart is the volume spike near the low of 6,400, when Volume increases and price is dropping it is very bearish for the market. Same is true when the market is going up on high volume. However, if price rises on low volume, that too is bearish.


This 3rd chart above, shows the Dow for the last 1 year period. I have underlined a number of "W" patterns here as well. As you can see in this last period, the "W" pattern was flat. This implies the Dow moving sideways, not up and not down. It implies a tight range until the next "W" pattern emerges.


And lastly, the final 1 month chart of the Dow. I have drawn 2 red lines. Let's focus on the last one which points up. We can't tell much form this except that the market should go up from this latest rally the past few days, correct? However, the previous red line under the "W" pattern is slanted down and it has not yet been fulfilled. It may be a fluke. Remember I have said these aren't 100% accurate predictors, but rather about 90%. However, I conclude 2 things from this. First, is that while it might be a fluke, the Dow will not go too high from here. It possibly could go as high as Dow 10,500-10,600 range, as I have mentioned a few weeks ago. However, it may just fizzle out and return to another major drop on any negative trigger. I would be cautious trading here. And Volume is barely hanging in this past week at 200 Million shares where if you look at the 30 year chart it looks like the average for this period should be more than the 200 million shares.

So what do you do when the signals are mixed? I can't tell you what you should do, but I can tell you how I am thinking about it. Because the short term is so murky, I pull back to what I do know. That takes me to look at the 30 year chart. So while I mark time, I keep in mind that the overall trend will be down, so if I am going to buy any stock Puts, I can wait a bit and if the market rises, I should be able to get them cheaper. I most likely won't risk buying any stock Call Options either. And lastly, waiting until there is clarity is just fine as well.

I am sitting on a number of TZA Call Options. My latest purchase was for $1.55 each for a Strike Price of $9.00 for October. I also purchased some Puts on a Dow index stock I will keep nameless.

I hope this isn't boring and has been informative. Good luck out there. Next week the key Leading Economic Indicators I will be watching will be these:

Wednesday PPI, Core PPI, Housing starts, Industrial Production (expect PPI to be negative)

Thursday Jobless Claims, Consumer Price Index, Core CPI (Watch for Deflation in Core CPI numbers)

That's it from here. have a nice weekend. And remember, there is nothing wrong with taking profits and being in cash right now. It is the only safe place to be contrary to the hype out there in my view. To make this point further, click here on a video clip of Maria Bartiromo of CNBC's Closing Bell interviewing Bob Prechter of Elliott Wave International.

Market Outlook for March 17th: Up!

It may be a Happy St. Patrick's Day today, indeed, as it looks like we are headed back up today, after having a slightly down day yesterday. Futures are pointing up because the Housing Starts data showed a good positive surprise this morning. The actual number of Housing Starts was 583,000 which is up 22.2% from last month, which was down 14.7% from December's data. We held the gains from the previous week even though there was a pullback yesterday. We are still over 740 closing yesterday at 754 on the S&P 500. The Dow closed at 7,217 but did go over 7,300 during the session yesterday and then pulled back steadily to the close.

Yesterday I sold some Apple shares to raise some cash and take my profit on the stock. My average price for the stock was $83.50 and the shares I sold for $96.35 for a 15.4% gain. I had also sold some of my TNA shares yesterday that I had purchased at $11.20/share for $15.65/share. That was a 39.7% profit. I still own 90% of my TNA shares. But now I have some cash to buy anything on a market pullback.

This week is Options Expiration on Friday and expect some volatility on Thursday as well. It is difficult to say which direction the market will go by Friday but I still believe the news has been favorable and to me the odds point to going higher. As long as the news infers that we may have bottomed in some major indicators, unemployment claims will still be negative for a while. It might be the most lagging of indicators to watch. I would look at the price of Gold. If Gold can get back below 900 watch the market move up more strongly. Gold is at 916 in pre-market. The low closing last week was 905. We were as low as 820 in January and I can see Gold pulling back significantly to these levels if news continues good.

Pre-Market Feb. 18, 2009: Time to get back into the market!

It looks like Housing Starts were down more than expected, down 16.8%. However it did not have the negative effect on the pre-market as was expected. Many on CNBC this morning have said the market is very oversold. So expect a relief rally today. President Obama will announce some plans on stemming the home foreclosure problem and that should have a positive impact on markets.

The Dow is up about 60 points in pre-market and the S&P 500 is up about 8 points.

We aren't out of the woods yet so the market is trying to look up versus looking into the abyss. But many who have some courage are considering buying some real bargains. Apple for example dropped almost $5/share yesterday and to me is a god bargain here. I purchased more shares of the ETF Ultra Pro Shares of the Small Caps x 3, symbol TNA. Price paid was $21.08/share.

It's time we bounced off the bottom of this low range and headed up. Is this wishful thinking? No, this is the time to be buying back into the market. Three weeks from now you will regret not getting back into it. The stimulus package has been approved. Today we get a plan on helping stem foreclosures. And soon we get a plan to rescue the banks by Geithner. We are on the move and if you can't feel it you aren't in touch with what's going on around you.

Your Guide to Leading Economic Indicators announced this coming week

This will be a big week for the release of government data. Here is a summary day by day of the expected government data for the week on Housing, GDP, Consumer Confidence and other significant data, which measures the health of the economy. You'll want to check this post daily to see what data will be released for that day. To read the rest of the news on earnings expected this week click on the link at the end of this post thanks to Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer.

On the docket
Monday: December existing home sales are expected to have fallen to a 4.40 million unit annual rate from a 4.49 million unit rate in November.

The December index of leading economic indicators (LEI) is expected to have fallen 0.3% after falling 0.4% in November.

Tuesday: The January consumer confidence index from the Conference Board is expected to hold steady at an all-time low of 38.0, unchanged from December.

Also due Tuesday is the S&P/CaseShiller home index for November, expected to show steep declines.

Wednesday: The Federal Reserve concludes its two-day policy meeting with an announcement on interest rates due at around 2:15 p.m. ET. No change is expected in the fed funds rate: The central bank lowered interest rates to nearly zero in December and hinted it would keep them there for some time.

As always, the statement accompanying the decision will be critical, as it offers the Fed's assessment of the economy, now in its second year of a recession. (Full story)

Also on Wednesday, the World Economic Forum kicks off in Davos, Switzerland. It runs through Sunday.

Thursday: The December durable goods orders report is due before the start of trade. Orders are expected to have dropped 1.8% after dropping 1.5% in November.

December new home sales are due after the start of trading. Sales are expected to have fallen to a 400,000 annual unit rate from a 407,000 annual unit rate in November.

Friday: Fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to have fallen by an annual rate of 5.2%, after falling by an annual rate of 0.5% in the third quarter. That would be the biggest quarterly decline in roughly 26 years.

The January Chicago PMI, a regional read on manufacturing, is expected to have fallen to 34.2 from 35.1 in December.

The University of Michigan releases its revised January consumer sentiment index, which is expected to hold steady at 61.9.

Here's the link to this week's earnings announcements.