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Announces amended credit agreement substantially expanding capacity under revised covenants

Announces amended credit agreement substantially expanding capacity under revised covenants

Despite the abysmal price action today in the market, there were actually some very narrow based sectors that performed well. At the top of this list, is Broadcast TV Stocks, which appreciated 2.3% on the day. The next best performing indexes were the Bill Collector Stocks, which were up 1.1%, and Generic Drug Stocks, advancing 0.9%.

Leading the way in the Broadcast TV space was tiny Nexstar Broadcasting Group (NASDAQ: NXST). This stock rose 11.9% to $4.42 today. Bill Collectors were powered by Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: AACC). This name appreciated nearly 11% on the day and closed at $6.16. The top performer in the Generic drug space was Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MNTA), up 12.67% on the session.

Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/news.php?st=p&id=5137800 for the full story.

It can pay to catch rising stars.

Our regularly published Wall Street week ahead article has been engineered to prepare you for the period's scheduled market-moving events.

With GDP and the Employment Situation Report on tap, the market will face the toughest test of its resiliency yet starting on Wednesday. The vessel that is the stock market has thus far sailed through some harsh weather, albeit after taking on a flood of water initially as the iceberg of economic reality brushed her port side. This week's first quarter GDP report offers possible confirmation of economic contraction. Economists, while mostly saying one thing in the public forum, quietly hold a consensus expectation for growth in Q1.

Is this a pipedream or hot air meant to keep client funds in managed portfolios... we estimate the latter. Despite the published expectation, the market probably anticipates contraction in Q1, so bad news might not shake the ship. The degree of bad news though, could certainly take the titanic under for a moment or two.

Since employment lags as an economic indicator, this month's report threatens to be the worst yet. On Friday, the last day of trading heading into the weekend, the potential also exists for sell-off and yet another retest. We'll truly see how slalwart the latest capital surge is through the Wednesday to Friday period.

The Week Ahead

Monday

The first of the tax rebate checks roll out Monday, and not soon enough for many. The Greek's Main Street read of the situation is that things are getting pretty tough out there. Last week's consumer confidence reading might not have been as full of as much overreaction as contrarians want to find in it. There's a strong case to be made for buying stocks when Main Street is sure things are horrible because of the lag of Main Street opinion as an economic indicator.

While the first day of the week is devoid of economic data, it will offer the European Commission's spring economic forecasts for 2008-2009. Yanks will be mostly concerned with how this plays for the U.S. dollar. A good portion of the portfolio management community is anticipating the dollar to strengthen against the euro this year, according to Barron's Big Money Poll seen in this week's copy. Also, we should not discount the interest of American exporters in seeing ongoing European economic health (read avoiding recession).

The United Nations is starting a semiannual meeting within which it will focus on the food crisis and climate change. Funny (sad actually) how these problems of the future that the majority of us use to ignore have all of sudden become serious to us.

Regulators will start a two-day examination of the Bank of America ( NYSE: BAC), Countrywide Financial ( NYSE: CFC) deal. Still in the height of earnings season, the slate includes: Alberto-Culver ( NYSE: ACV), American Dental Partners ( Nasdaq: ADPI), American Safety Insurance ( NYSE: ASI), Atheros Communications ( Nasdaq: ATHR), Axis Capital ( NYSE: AXS), BE Aerospace ( Nasdaq: BEAV), CH Energy ( NYSE: CHG), Choice Hotels ( NYSE: CHH), China Petroleum & Chemical ( NYSE: SNP), CNA Financial ( NYSE: CNA), Cognex ( Nasdaq: CGNX), Covance ( NYSE: CVD), Digi Int'l ( Nasdaq: DGII), Fair Isaac ( NYSE: FIC), Flowserve ( NYSE: FLS), FMC Technologies ( NYSE: FTI), FPL Group ( NYSE: FPL), Gen-Probe ( Nasdaq: GPRO), Hanger Orthopedic ( NYSE: HGR), Hartford Financial ( NYSE: HIG), Humana ( NYSE: HUM), IHOP ( NYSE: IHP), JDA Software ( Nasdaq: JDAS), Kaydon ( NYSE: KDN), Loews ( NYSE: LTR), Manitowoc ( NYSE: MTW), Microchip Technology ( Nasdaq: MCHP), Olin Corp. ( NYSE: OLN), PrePaid Legal ( NYSE: PPD), RadioShack ( NYSE: RSH), Rent-A-Center ( Nasdaq: RCII), Saur-Danfoss ( NYSE: SHS), Silver Wheaton ( NYSE: SLW), Sinopec Shanghei Petrochemical ( NYSE: SHI), SOHU.com ( Nasdaq: SOHU), Southern Copper ( NYSE: PCU), STMicroelectronics ( NYSE: STM), SYSCO Corp. ( NYSE: SYY), The Hanover Insurance Group ( NYSE: THG), Travelzoo ( Nasdaq: TZOO), Tyson Foods ( NYSE: TSN), Verizon ( NYSE: VZ), Visa ( NYSE: V), Wm. Wrigley ( NYSE: WWY) and many more.

Tuesday

After Friday's Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment report, which showed sentiment at its lowest level in more than 25 years, the Conference Board will also report on April consumer confidence Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Bloomberg's consensus of economists anticipates a measure of 62.0, versus 64.5 when measurement was last taken in March.

The ICSC-UBS offers its weekly take on chain-store sales earlier that morning. We recorded the first contraction of weekly same-store sales, on a year-to-year basis, last week and nobody noticed. We view the outlook bleak for the retail space, but the stimulus package rebate checks are coming just in time. The Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting Tuesday. Of international interest, Japanese markets will be closed.

The heavy earnings schedule includes Advent Software ( Nasdaq: ADVS), AGCO ( NYSE: AG), Allianz SE ( NYSE: AZ), Archer Daniels Midland ( NYSE: ADM), Avon Products ( NYSE: AVP), Ballard Power Systems ( Nasdaq: BLDP), Banco de Chile ( NYSE: BCH), Bemis ( NYSE: BMS), Boston Properties ( NYSE: BXP), Boyd Gaming ( NYSE: BYD), Buffalo Wild Wings ( Nasdaq: BWLD), Burlington Northern Santa Fe ( NYSE: BNI), Carpenter Technology ( NYSE: CRS), CommScope ( NYSE: CTV), Convergys ( NYSE: CVG), Corning ( NYSE: GLW), Daimler AG ( NYSE: DAI), DaVita ( NYSE: DVA), Deutsche Bank ( NYSE: DB), Domino's ( NYSE: DPZ), Echelon Corp. ( Nasdaq: ELON), Energizer ( NYSE: ENR), Express Scripts ( Nasdaq: ESRX), FEI Co. ( Nasdaq: FEIC), Flextronics ( Nasdaq: FLEX), Group 1 Automotive ( NYSE: GPI), Harris ( NYSE: HRS), Holly Energy ( NYSE: HEP), ICON plc ( Nasdaq: ICLR), K-Swiss ( Nasdaq: KSWS), Kensey Nash ( Nasdaq: KNSY), LCA-Vision ( Nasdaq: LCAV), Lear ( NYSE: LEA), Lithia Motors ( NYSE: LAD), Martha Stewart ( NYSE: MSO), Mastercard ( NYSE: MA), Medco Health ( NYSE: MHS), National Instruments ( Nasdaq: NATI), Office Depot ( NYSE: ODP), Oil States Int'l ( NYSE: OIS), Panera Bread ( Nasdaq: PNRA), Plantronics ( NYSE: PLT), Renaissance Re ( NYSE: RNR), Techne ( Nasdaq: TECH), Temple-Inland ( NYSE: TIN), McGraw Hill ( NYSE: MHP), TheStreet.com ( Nasdaq: TSCM), Titan Int'l ( NYSE: TWI), Under Armor ( NYSE: UA), United Rentals ( NYSE: URI), Valero Energy ( NYSE: VLO), Vishay Intertechnology ( NYSE: VSH), Waste Management ( NYSE: WMI) and many others.

Wednesday

If one day can define a week, Wednesday looks like the day. The market will get its toughest resiliency test yet when first quarter GDP is reported. Economists are widely discussing recession while quietly maintaining forecasts that indicate otherwise. Bloomberg's consensus of the double-talkers indicates expectations for 0.3% growth this quarter. You can't record recession when you get growth, so one has to wonder if the media is only taking speakers with extreme views, and only the view that sells advertising. It wouldn't be the first time would it...

The Greek is saying one thing and forecasting it too. We think Q1 will fall short of the consensus figure, into negative territory. However, we note that we do not have a model or dedicated staff to forecast this figure, and are basing this estimation on our memory of the data we follow on a regular basis and its "contractionary" overtones over the last three months. Don't knock it, as it's perhaps this small distance and our insight that have allowed us to avoid the paralysis that over analysis can lead to sometimes. The Greek is a big fan and beneficiary of due diligence (i.e. doing your homework, but it's equally critical to be able to weed the noise from the important information - insight). Many are good at tracking numbers and plugging them into spreadsheets, while reporting the news, while also poor at forecasting the future based on data knowledge.

Also on Wednesday, that favorite group of economic crime fighters we all admire, the Justice League, also known as the Fed and its FOMC, will make its latest decision on its target rates. Most expect the Fed to cut the fed funds target rate by a quarter point, and to also adjust the discount rate lower a quarter point. The tide of market sentiment has definitely turned, and the market now wants to see some caution from the Fed. Commodity prices are really starting to concern the market, so even free money is no longer welcome.

The Employment Cost Index for the first quarter is also scheduled for early morning reporting, but what do we want to learn from it? That's the tough question. With all costs rising, don't we want compensation to likewise rise so that Americans can afford to spend money this summer? But, if this very important cost component rises, it could also add to inflation fears, and rightly so. The cost index is expected to have increased by 0.8%, quarter to quarter, in Q1.

The ADP Employment Report for April is due for release early Wednesday morning, but the GDP figure will render it mute just fifteen minutes after. Still, the prelude to the Employment Situation Report on Friday is widely followed and very important.

At 9:45 a.m., the National Association of Purchasing Managers - Chicago will offer its Business Barometer Index, with expectations for a measurement of 47.5 for April. That compares to 48.2 in March, both measures indicating economic contraction (sub - 50.0).

Wednesday's busy slate will also contain the regular mortgage activity and petroleum status reports, as well as the Farm Prices Report at 3:00 p.m. No shortage of information to swallow on Wednesday, so we'll offer a wrap up of the data and its consequences Wednesday evening.

The earnings schedule will not let up either, with news arriving from: Akamai Technologies ( Nasdaq: AKAM), Alcatel-Lucent ( NYSE: ALU), Allegheny Energy ( NYSE: AYE), Allied Waste ( NYSE: AW), Amkor ( Nasdaq: AMKR), Asset Acceptance ( Nasdaq: AACC), Atmel ( Nasdaq: ATML), Avalonbay Communities ( NYSE: AVB), Beckman Coulter ( NYSE: BEC), Cabot ( NYSE: CBT), Cabot Oil & Gas ( NYSE: COG), Cache ( Nasdaq: CACH), CACI Int'l ( NYSE: CAI), CalDive Int'l ( NYSE: DVR), Centex ( NYSE: CTX), Cincinnati Bell ( NYSE: CBB), Colgate-Palmolive ( NYSE: CL), Corinthian Colleges ( Nasdaq: COCO), Cummins ( NYSE: CMI), Dean Foods ( NYSE: DF), Diebold ( NYSE: DBD), First Solar ( Nasdaq: FSLR), Fiserv ( Nasdaq: FISV), Furniture Brands ( NYSE: FBN), Garmin ( Nasdaq: GRMN), General Motors ( NYSE: GM), Hess Corp. ( NYSE: HES), IAC Int'l ( Nasdaq: IACI), Ingersoll-Rand ( NYSE: IR), International Paper ( NYSE: IP), JDS Uniphase ( Nasdaq: JDSU), Jones Apparel ( NYSE: JNY), Kellogg ( NYSE: K), Kraft Foods ( NYSE: KFT), Las Vegas Sands ( NYSE: LVS), LoJack ( Nasdaq: LOJN), Micros Systems ( Nasdaq: MCRS), Millipore ( NYSE: MIL), Morton's Restaurant Group ( NYSE: MRT), Murphy Oil ( NYSE: MUR), National Oilwell Varco ( NYSE: NOV), Novo Nordisk ( NYSE: NVO), OfficeMax ( NYSE: OMX), Olympic Steel ( Nasdaq: ZEUS), ONEOK ( NYSE: OKE), Procter & Gamble ( NYSE: PG), Psychiatric Solutions ( Nasdaq: PSYS), RehabCare ( NYSE: RHB), Sanofi-Aventis ( NYSE: SNY), SAP AG ( NYSE: SAP), Sealed Air ( NYSE: SEE), Southern Co. ( NYSE: SO), Starbucks ( Nasdaq: SBUX), Sunoco ( NYSE: SUN), Symantec ( Nasdaq: SYMC), Tetra Tech ( Nasdaq: TTEK), The Brinks Co. ( NYSE: BCO), Thomas & Betts ( NYSE: TNB), Time Warner ( NYSE: TWX), Visteon ( NYSE: VC), West Marine ( Nasdaq: WMAR) and more.

Thursday

Take a breath and get ready for another heavy dose of economic data on Thursday. The first bit of news arrives at 6:00 a.m. with the Monster Employment Index, followed by the 7:30 reporting of the Challenger Job-Cut Report. We do not expect to see significant improvement or reason to celebrate arriving from any of the jobs data. Weekly initial jobless claims are set for release also, with consensus expectations set at 360K. We saw a bit of a break off from this year's trend last week, but we would not expect that to prove any indication of inflection point. Employment measures should lag other indicators, and they've just started to deteriorate over the last few months.

Personal Income and Outlays are set for 8:30 release, and this very important barometer will offer insight into the status and spending habits of the American consumer. Bloomberg pegs expectations for the March measurement at increases of 0.3% for both income and consumption. Both these figures would prove reassuring to the stock market if they prove true. Motor vehicle sales are also set for release and will provide some information on the big ticket spending habits of Americans. Despite Ford's ( NYSE: F) recent success, we're not expecting much from the overall industry.

The Institute for Supply Management will issue its Manufacturing Index for April at 10:00 a.m. Bloomberg's consensus indicates a measurement of 48.0, versus last month's measure of 48.6, again both indicating economic contraction. Manufacturing showed early weakness in this economic downturn, despite the benefits of a weak dollar for multinationals based in the U.S.

Construction spending, due for release at 10:00 a.m., will likely get lost in the flood of data. This is a been there, done that bit of news, and the market will find no surprise in poor result and no hope in positive surprise, in our estimation. Bloomberg's consensus is expecting construction spending to have declined 0.9% in March, after a decrease of 0.3% in February.

Thursday's earnings schedule includes Affiliated Computer ( NYSE: ACS), Annaly Capital ( NYSE: NLY), Ansys ( Nasdaq: ANSS), Apache ( NYSE: APA), Apria Healthcare ( NYSE: AHG), Atmos Energy ( NYSE: ATO), Bebe Stores ( Nasdaq: BEBE), Black Hills Corp. ( NYSE: BKH), Burger King ( NYSE: BKC), Cabelas ( NYSE: CAB), Callaway Golf ( NYSE: ELY), Cardinal Health ( NYSE: CAH), Cephalon ( Nasdaq: CEPH), Chesapeake Energy ( NYSE: CHK), Chiquita Brands ( NYSE: CQB), CIGNA ( NYSE: CI), Cirrus Logic ( Nasdaq: CRUS), Clorox ( NYSE: CLX), Coinstar ( Nasdaq: CSTR), Comcast ( Nasdaq: CMCSA), CVS Caremark ( NYSE: CVS), Digital River ( Nasdaq: DRIV), Dynamic Materials ( Nasdaq: BOOM), Eastman Kodak ( NYSE: EK), Elizabeth Arden ( Nasdaq: RDEN), Expedia ( Nasdaq: EXPE), ExxonMobil ( NYSE: XOM), Haemonetics ( NYSE: HAE), Helmerich & Payne ( NYSE: HP), Hercules Offshore ( Nasdaq: HERO), Jones Soda ( Nasdaq: JSDA), Marathon Oil ( NYSE: MRO), MetLife ( NYSE: MET), Mine Safety Appliances ( NYSE: MSA), Monster Worldwide ( Nasdaq: MNST), National Fuel Gas ( NYSE: NFG), Nicor ( NYSE: GAS), Noble Energy ( NYSE: NBL), Odyssey Re ( NYSE: ORH), Patterson-UTI Energy ( Nasdaq: PTEN), Pride Int'l ( NYSE: PDE), ResMed ( NYSE: RMD), Sepracor ( Nasdaq: SEPR), St. Mary Land & Exploration ( NYSE: SM), Sun Microsystems ( Nasdaq: JAVA), First American ( NYSE: FAF), Timberland ( NYSE: TBL), Tyco Int'l ( NYSE: TYC), Websense ( Nasdaq: WBSN), Williams Cos. ( NYSE: WMB) and many more.

Friday

We would be remiss not to focus on the Employment Situation Report, which has the ability to undo or make the entire trading week. As recession likely takes grip of the economy, portfolio managers the world over will closely monitor the employment situation to take measure of the possible depth of decline. If employers can withstand a bit, consumer spending might also recover sooner. Still, in a competitive marketplace, with margins getting squeezed from the cost of component commodities and energy, corporations are most likely to place the good of their firm ahead of the good of the whole, for their job's sake. We anticipate the employment situation will deteriorate further through most, if not all of the year. Bloomberg's compilation of experts sees a loss of 75,000 jobs in April, with the unemployment rate slipping to 5.2% from 5.1% the month before. Average hourly earnings are seen rising 0.3%.

Factory orders, due for release at 10:00 a.m., are expected to have increased 0.3% in March, after a 1.3% decrease in February. The earnings schedule includes Agrium ( NYSE: AGU), Ameren ( NYSE: AEE), Apartment Investment & Management ( NYSE: AIV), BorgWarner ( NYSE: BWA), Chevron ( NYSE: CVX), Consolidated Edison ( NYSE: ED), Duke Energy ( NYSE: DUK), EOG Resources ( NYSE: EOG), Federal Signal ( NYSE: FSS), KBR, Inc. ( NYSE: KBR), Lubrizol ( NYSE: LZ), MDU Resources ( NYSE: MDU), Nortel Networks ( NYSE: NT), Sempra Energy ( NYSE: SRE), Viacom ( NYSE: VIA), Weyerhaeuser ( NYSE: WY) and more.

Please see our disclosure at the Wall Street Greek website.

Despite a rocky ride last week, stocks ended up pretty much where they started the period. The activity was symbolic of the overriding confusion that pervades the market today. Investors are faced with a conundrum. While they attempt to gauge the economic condition, forecast its future and anticipate stock market action, they also have to contend with a rare phenomenon. You see, in times of economic deterioration, price pressure typically eases as a natural consequence. However, while the broad indices including the Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are well off their October 2007 highs, commodity prices are breaking records. That’s unheard of!

Actually, it’s not, but it’s rare. Stagflation is the term for it, and it reared its ugly head from the murky depths last week. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Index, which measures Philly area manufacturing, posted a negative 24.0 reading. This matched the weak figure seen in the New York manufacturing sector not long before. The news was not so troubling in isolation, or at least not surprising, but it became disconcerting when the Philly Fed reported its manufacturers continue to see input price increases and also continue to raise their own prices, despite product demand softness.

Investors have a choice between two devils though. If manufacturers do not pass through price increase, their margins get squeezed and they must consider more significant cost consolidation in the form of plant closures and layoffs. Perhaps signifying that they have borne all they could, prices are now rising on the consumer level. Manufacturers are already right alongside housing in terms of the rate they have been shedding jobs. Price increases are manifesting in the food industry and across manufacturing now. Last week’s reporting of the Consumer Price Index only confirmed what we have seen anecdotally, as prices increased more than expected in January.

So what’s so scary about this Greek?

Well, the Federal Reserve is in the process of cutting interest rates with a goal to inspire economic expansion. By lowering rates, the cost of borrowing decreases and things are supposed to get easier for everyone. Of course, after the subprime debacle, lenders have otherwise tightened lending standards. Still, rate cuts lower the cost of capital for corporations and are a positive for their share values, usually.

What’s different this time, or what’s thought to be different, is globalization has reached a critical threshold, and economic decoupling has set forth. Now, developed markets are still tightly tied to America, and that’s why the U.K. and Europe are seeing similar slowdowns to ours. However, in the large emerging markets of India, China and others, domestic market demand has gained traction. Even as the United States slows, these important consuming populations, driven by an emerging middle class, continue draining global commodity resources.

Capital Finds Profit

While The Greek believes this unique change is playing a role, we also expect capital flows are exacerbating that impact. Capital finds profits you see, and with the availability of new exchange traded funds (ETFs), more investors can now participate in commodity investment. As a requirement, many of these funds must own the underlying commodity, and investor demand in ETFs drives substantially higher and synthetic demand for the commodities. The Greek believes an important cure for this potential driver of stagflation or hyperinflation will have to be increased regulation of ETFs. Otherwise, the return of high interest rates driven by inflation could stymie the global economy and even eventually lead to wars over basic resource supplies.

The Week Ahead

The coming week will offer key housing, consumer and producer data to swallow.

Monday

Existing home sales are set for Monday report and new home sales for Wednesday. Recent market reaction to housing data has been one indicative of overriding bearish sentiment. Investors have come to expect poor results, and do not generally penalize home builders or the broader market for weak information any longer. This sets the stage for upside surprise eventually, but it’s still early for that in our view. Bloomberg's survey of economists pegs existing home sales for January at an annual pace of 4.84 million, compared to 4.89 million in December.

The Fed goes on parade this week, and Governors Mishkin and Kroszner will serve as Co-Grand Marshals. The two will take separate podiums on Monday. The day's most noteworthy earnings reports include Healthcare Realty Trust ( NYSE: HR), LDK Solar ( NYSE: LDK), Lowe’s ( NYSE: LOW), Nordstrom ( NYSE: JWN) and Sotheby’s ( NYSE: BID).

The remainder of the earnings schedule includes FirstEnergy ( NYSE: FE), Henry Schein ( Nasdaq: HSIC), Human Genome Sciences ( Nasdaq: HGSI), ONEOK Inc. ( NYSE: OKE), Shiloh Industries ( Nasdaq: SHLO), Silver Wheaton ( NYSE: SLW), Zebra Technologies ( Nasdaq: ZBRA) and more.

Tuesday

The Fed parade continues on Tuesday, when Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn grabs a microphone. Remember it was Kohn who set the pace when Bernanke seemed lost in neutrality.

The Producer Price Index for the month of January will hit the wires on Tuesday, but this news should reflect what we have already seen from regional Fed districts. Also, last week’s CPI report was more important, in our opinion, as it showed the prices borne at the consumer level. Still, January's PPI is expected to show an increase of 0.3%, and to post a rise of 0.2% when excluding food and energy price change.

The International Council of Shopping Centers will post its weekly same-store sales figure on Tuesday morning. Growth accelerated a bit in the prior week's report, up to 1.9% year-over-year.

Consumer confidence will be measured on Tuesday through the Conference Board’s survey of February. The consensus is looking for a measure of 81.3 this time around, versus 87.9 in January. As confidence and consumer spending ease, we've been expecting tough times to befall retailers, and they have. Sharper Image ( Nasdaq: SHRP) has filed for bankruptcy, following up store closures and layoffs at Macy's ( NYSE: M) and Talbots ( NYSE: TLB). A slew of retailers are set to report this week, including Macy's on Tuesday.

Some of the other earnings reports you will want to prepare for include DISH Network ( Nasdaq: DISH), Domino’s ( NYSE: DPZ), Foster Wheeler ( Nasdaq: FWLT), H.J. Heinz ( NYSE: HNZ), Home Depot ( NYSE: HD), Papa John’s ( Nasdaq: PZZA), RadioShack ( NYSE: RSH), Target ( NYSE: TGT), American Dental Partners ( Nasdaq: ADPI), Asset Acceptance Capital ( Nasdaq: AACC), Astec Industries ( Nasdaq: ASTE), Autodesk ( Nasdaq: ADSK), AutoZone ( NYSE: AZO), CV Therapeutics ( Nasdaq: CVTX), Dycom ( NYSE: DY), El Paso ( NYSE: EP), Frontier Oil ( NYSE: FTO), Health Care REIT ( NYSE: HCN), Helios & Matheson ( Nasdaq: HMNA), Herbalife ( NYSE: HLF), K-Swiss ( Nasdaq: KSWS), Lionbridge Tech ( Nasdaq: LIOX), Masimo ( Nasdaq: MASI), Medarex ( Nasdaq: MEDX), Office Depot ( NYSE: ODP), Overseas Shipholding ( NYSE: OSG), Reliant Energy ( NYSE: RRI), Sanderson Farms ( Nasdaq: SAFM), Sempra Energy ( NYSE: SRE), Sonic Solutions ( Nasdaq: SNIC), Star Bulk Carriers ( Nasdaq: SBLK), Superior Energy ( NYSE: SPN), Tenet Healthcare ( NYSE: THC), TETRA Technologies ( NYSE: TTI) and more.

Wednesday

The Fed parade climaxes Wednesday and Thursday when Chairman Bernanke addresses the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee in successive order. Durable Goods Orders for January are set for Wednesday release, and are expected to show a significant drop-off of ordering activity. Bloomberg's consensus is looking for a 3.5% decrease in orders month-to-month. New home sales for January are seen setting a slightly lower mark, to an annual pace of 600K. This compares to 604K in December.

Wednesday also of course brings the regular reports on mortgage activity and petroleum inventory. Both matter this time around. With long rates rising and spreads widening, recently decent mortgage activity could now find a brick wall. Oil prices have risen despite large inventory building. Rumblings out of OPEC about a possible March production cut may be aiding that a bit, and certainly the Turkish incursion into Northern Iraq and refinery explosion in the U.S. helped support prices last week. As this past news gets older, we have to wonder how oil prices can hold up. T. Boone Pickens, for one, also sees oil prices softening from here. Or, is inflation the key catalyst now, and if Iran continues to defy the U.N., perhaps the floor is not too far a trip.

Wednesday's earnings slate includes Aqua America ( NYSE: WTR), Boyd Gaming ( NYSE: BYD), Dollar Tree ( Nasdaq: DLTR), Eagle Bulk Shipping ( Nasdaq: EGLE), General Maritime ( NYSE: GMR), Limited ( NYSE: LTD), Noble Energy ( NYSE: NBL), Salesforce.com ( NYSE: CRM), Toll Brothers ( NYSE: TOL), Charter Communications ( Nasdaq: CHTR), Checkpoint Systems ( NYSE: CKP), Cogent Communications ( Nasdaq: CCOI), Dress Barn ( Nasdaq: DBRN), Edison Int'l ( NYSE: EIX), Flowserve ( NYSE: FLS), IHOP ( NYSE: IHP), LifeCell ( Nasdaq: LIFC), MasTec ( NYSE: MTZ), McDermott Int'l ( NYSE: MDR), Millennium Cell ( Nasdaq: MCEL), Mylan Labs ( NYSE: MYL), Nortel ( NYSE: NT), Owens Corning ( NYSE: OC), Public Storage ( NYSE: PSA), RR Donnelley ( NYSE: RRD), Southwest Gas ( NYSE: SWX), Synovis Life Technologies ( Nasdaq: SYNO), Teekay Corp. ( NYSE: TK) and others.

Thursday

GDP for the fourth quarter will be re-reported, adjusted after the advance report showed just 0.6% growth. A significant revision higher or lower would be important to the stock market.
The consensus is looking for a slight increase to 0.7%. Weekly initial jobless claims have been trending higher, and the four-week moving average jumped more than 10K last week. Bloomberg's consensus is looking for a small increase in the weekly figure to 350K.

The natural gas report should arrive just on time Thursday at 10:30. Natural gas, which had been lagging oil as stocks filled, has had a noticeable increase of late. At $9.32/MMBtu, a spike is forming.

Thursday's earnings include AIG ( NYSE: AIG), BEA Systems ( Nasdaq: BEAS), Del Monte ( NYSE: DLM), Dell ( Nasdaq: DELL), Freddie Mac ( NYSE: FRE), Gap ( NYSE: GPS), Sears ( Nasdaq: SHLD), Smithfield Foods ( NYSE: SFD), Sprint Nextel ( NYSE: S), Viacom ( NYSE: VIA), XM Satellite Radio ( Nasdaq: XMSR), Avici Systems ( Nasdaq: AVCI), Barr Pharmaceuticals ( NYSE: BRL), Bidz.com ( Nasdaq: BIDZ), Cablevision ( NYSE: CVC), Cal Dive Int'l ( NYSE: DVR), Cell Genesys ( Nasdaq: CEGE), Cepheid ( Nasdaq: CPHD), Cooper Tire ( NYSE: CTB), Deckers Outdoor ( Nasdaq: DECK), Deutsche Telekom ( NYSE: DT), FTI Consulting ( NYSE: FCN), Gmarket ( Nasdaq: GMKT), Hansen Natural ( Nasdaq: HANS), Hospira ( NYSE: HSP), King Pharmaceuticals ( NYSE: KG), Kohl's ( NYSE: KSS), Leap Wireless ( Nasdaq: LEAP), Live Nation ( NYSE: LYV), Mentor Graphics ( Nasdaq: MENT), Revlon ( NYSE: REV), Rowan Cos. ( NYSE: RDC), Scientific Games ( Nasdaq: SGMS), Sycamore Networks ( Nasdaq: SCMR), United Rentals ( NYSE: URI), UTStarcom ( Nasdaq: UTSI), West Marine ( Nasdaq: WMAR) and others.

Friday

Just when you thought the Fed was out of gun power, Atlanta Fed President Lockhart addresses subprime mortgages. Consumer confidence will be measured for the second time this week through Friday’s reporting of February confidence by the University of Michigan. Bloomberg's consensus sees confidence inching higher to 70.0, from 69.6 in January.

Perhaps the most important report of the week, Personal Income and Outlays for January will be posted on Friday morning. The market will be concerned about both figures, with income hoped to be moderate and indicating a non-threatening wage inflation scenario. Personal consumption of course will help investors gauge how well the consumer is holding up. In January, weekly same-store sales data recorded by the International Council of Shopping Centers was relatively weak, so the same news should be found in personal outlays. Perhaps the most important piece of information from the report will arrive in the PCE Deflator, the pricing gauge viewed most important by the Federal Reserve. The Fed targets a rate between 1-2%, but will likely tolerate a higher rate if necessary in times of economic strife, according to member white papers. The market probably doesn't remember that fact though, so watch out.

After sad news from both Philly and New York area manufacturing, the National Association of Purchasing Managers - Chicago, is expected to show the Midwest teetering on the fence of contraction and expansion. Bloomberg's consensus is projecting a measure of 50.0 for February. With commodity prices rising across the spectrum, the Farm Prices Report at 3:00 p.m. Friday should not be overlooked.

Friday's earnings include Petrobras ( NYSE: PZE), Service Corp. ( NYSE: SCI), Coeur d'Alene Mines ( NYSE: CDE), Mine Safety Appliances ( NYSE: MSA), Royal Bank of Canada ( NYSE: RY), Southern Union ( NYSE: SUG), The Progressive Corp. ( NYSE: PGR), Westar Energy ( NYSE: WR) and more.

We hope we have provided another valuable weekly market-moving event planner, and suggest checking in with us during for our daily previews.

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UPGRADES
Cascade CAE DA Davidson Neutral » Buy
Texas Industries TXI BB&T Capital Mkts Hold » Buy
Clean Harbors CLHB Wedbush Morgan Buy » Strong Buy
Gilead Sciences http://finance.google.com/finance?q=c Credit Suisse Neutral » Outperform
St. Jude Medical STJ BMO Capital Markets Market Perform » Outperform
C.R. Bard BCR BMO Capital Markets Market Perform » Outperform
Health Management HMA Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Bed Bath & Beyond BBBY JP Morgan Underweight » Neutral
Agilent A Banc of America Sec Neutral » Buy
Rigel Pharms RIGL Fortis Bank Reduce » Buy
Realty Income O Wachovia Underperform » Mkt Perform
El Paso EP Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Nalco NLC Citigroup Hold » Buy
Ecolab ECL Citigroup Hold » Buy
Landstar System LSTR Bear Stearns Peer Perform » Outperform
Maxygen MAXY MDB Capital Group Neutral » Buy
DIRECTV DTV Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Overweight
Lam Research LRCX Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Overweight
Vulcan Materials VMC UBS Sell » Neutral
Salesforce.com CRM UBS Neutral » Buy

DOWNGRADES
Huron Consulting HURN JMP Securities Mkt Outperform » Mkt Perform
CB Richard Ellis CBG JMP Securities Strong Buy » Mkt Outperform
Technology Investmt Cap TICC Jefferies & Co Buy » Hold
Asset Acceptance Capital AACC Jefferies & Co Buy » Hold
Encore Capital ECPG Jefferies & Co Buy » Hold
Portfolio Recovery Assoc. PRAA Jefferies & Co Buy » Hold
Silicon Image SIMG AmTech Research Buy » Neutral
Teva Pharm TEVA AmTech Research Buy » Neutral
Hibbett Sporting HIBB Wedbush Morgan Buy » Hold
OmniVision OVTI Needham & Co Buy » Hold
UnitedHealth UNH Stifel Nicolaus Buy » Hold
Shuffle Master SHFL Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Network Appliance NTAP UBS Buy » Neutral
IBM IBM UBS Buy » Neutral
Motorola MOT RBC Capital Mkts Outperform » Sector Perform
Valspar VAL Citigroup Hold » Sell
Rohm and Haas ROH Citigroup Buy » Hold
Best Buy BBY Bear Stearns Outperform » Underperform
Pearson Plc PSO Lehman Brothers Equal-weight » Underweight
Goodrich GR Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Orbcomm ORBC UBS Buy » Neutral
UAL Corp. UAUA Soleil Buy » Hold
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Here are the late Friday and early Monday calls

UPGRADES

TD Ameritrade AMTD UBS Neutral » Buy
Merrill Lynch MER UBS Neutral » Buy
McMoRan Expl MMR JP Morgan Neutral » Overweight
PG&E PCG Deutsche Securities Hold » Buy
Electronic Arts ERTS Bear Stearns Peer Perform » Outperform
AnnTaylor ANN DA Davidson Neutral » Buy
Insituform Tech INSU Canaccord Adams Sell » Hold
St. Mary Lnd/Expl SM KeyBanc Capital Mkts / McDonald Hold » Buy
Gulfmark Offshore GLF CapitalOne southcoast Hold » Buy
Telefonica S.A. TEF Lehman Brothers Underweight » Equal-weight
OdysseyRe ORH Ferris Baker Watts Neutral » Buy
Transocean RIG Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Ensco ESV Wachovia Mkt Perform » Outperform
Assured Guaranty AGO Calyon Securities Neutral » Buy
AMBAC Fincl ABK Calyon Securities Add » Buy
Amylin Pharms AMLN Cowen & Co Underperform » Neutral



DOWNGRADES

Luminent Mortgage Capital LUM JP Morgan Neutral » Underweight
CheckFree CKFR JP Morgan Overweight » Neutral
Penn Va GP Hldgs PVG RBC Capital Mkts Outperform » Sector Perform
Independent Bank IBCP RBC Capital Mkts Sector Perform » Underperform IMPAC Mortgage IMH Deutsche Securities Buy » Hold
Nortel NT Charter Equity Buy » Mkt Perform
Ditech DITC First Albany Buy » Underperform
PNM Resources PNM RBC Capital Mkts Sector Perform » Underperform
Owens & Minor OMI Credit Suisse Outperform » Neutral
Silicon Image SIMG Longbow Buy » Neutral
Portfolio Recovery Assoc. PRAA First Analysis Sec Overweight » Equal-Weight
Asset Acceptance Capital AACC First Analysis Sec Overweight » Equal-Weight
SPSS Inc SPSS Cowen & Co Neutral » Underperform
Radiation Therapy Services RTSX Cowen & Co Outperform » Neutral

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