WHAT’S ON TAP?

For the week of July 19th (in conjunction with Econoday):

Earnings will dominate the calendar this week as many blue chips report.  On the economic front housing data will be in the spotlight.  Let’s take a look at what’s on tap:

Monday – IBM reports after the bell.

Housing Market Index 10:00 AM ET

Tuesday – Pepsi (PEP) reports before the bell.  Apple (AAPL) reports after.

ICSC-Goldman Store Sales 7:45 AM ET

Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET

Housing starts in May fell back 10.0 percent to an annualized pace of 0.593 million units, following a 3.9 percent boost in April. The decline in the latest month was led by a 17.2 percent decrease in single-family starts, following a 5.6 percent gain in April. The May drop in this component was the largest since the 19.6 percent plunge in January 1991. Permits declined 5.9 percent to an annualized pace of 0.574 million units, following a 10.9 percent fall in April. Looking ahead, homebuilders are likely to remain cautious about adding to inventories until the picture on underlying demand without tax credits becomes clearer.

Housing starts Consensus Forecast for June 10: 0.580 million-unit rate

Redbook 8:55 AM ET

Bank of Canada Announcement 9:00 AM ET

Wednesday – Coke (KO) reports before the bell.

MBA Purchase Applications 7:00 AM ET

Ben Bernanke Speaks 10:00 AM ET

EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET

Thursday – American Express (AXP) and Amazon report after the bell.

Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET

Initial jobless claims plunged 29,000 in the July 10 week to 429,000. Manufacturing retooling centered in the auto sector, for this year delayed retooling, makes the report very difficult to read. The four-week average is the best handle and it’s down 11,750 to 455,250 for the lowest reading since mid May.

Jobless Claims Consensus Forecast for 7/17/10: 450,000

Ben Bernanke Speaks 9:30 AM ET

Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Existing home sales in May fell 2.2 percent to an annual sales rate of 5.66 million from April’s 5.79 million.  The recent peak in existing home sales was 6.49 million units for November 2009 when the original tax incentives expired.  The more recent bump in sales from the second round topped at April’s 5.79 million units.  Supply on the market fell only slightly in May and remains quite high at 8.3 months. Looking ahead, sales are likely to slip further with tax credits no longer in play and hiring still almost nonexistent.

Existing home sales Consensus Forecast for June 10: 5.26 million-unit rate

Leading Indicators 10:00 AM ET

The Conference Board’s index of leading indicators gained 0.4 percent in May after no change in April. However, the positives were not as robust as hoped.  The gain was centered in the yield curve where zero rate policy is making for a very wide spread between short and long rates. The second biggest plus was in money supply which is a very iffy component distorted by uncertain measurement and subject to wide swings. The most substantive gain in May probably was the factory workweek, reflecting true strengthening in the real economy.   Looking ahead, stocks were down in June as were building permits.

Leading indicators Consensus Forecast for June 10: -0.2 percent

EIA Natural Gas Report 10:30 AM ET

Friday – McDonalds (MCD) reports before the bell.

No economic reports.