Good Sunday and welcome to Weekend Reading. First a look back at the week that just finished, then a look forward to the week ahead, and then a summary of some articles and papers worth reading.
It was the first down week in a month. After three weeks of gains, the major U.S. indices all fell last week. The
Dow and the
S&P 500 lost 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively, while the
Nasdaq was down 1.3%.
The causes of this week's declines were many, but record-high gas prices helped. Weak real estate news assisted as well, as did mixed retail chain results.
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Looking forward to next week, it will likely start off tepid. Late Friday
FedEx (FDX) guided down, blaming high oil prices and a weakening economy. It is hard to imagine that this continuing economic weakness, oil-related and housing-related, won't keep weighing heavily on the markets next week. About the only ray of light is an indication of a tiny crack on OPEC's united supply front, but that's much to build arally around.
Turning to economic indicators, next week is active. We will see import prices, retail sales for April, business inventories and the consumer price index. We will also end the week with a preliminary consumer sentiment reading for May.
As for earnings,
Whole Foods Market (WFMI) and
Applied Materials (AMAT) report Tuesday, followed by
Autodesk (ADSK) Thursday and
British Airways (BAIRY.PK) on Friday.
Finally, here are some articles and papers worth reading:
Editor's note: To access some of these stories, registration or a subscription may be required. Please check the individual links for the site's policy.- Busting the non-cartel in semiconductors. (Bloomberg)
- Ethanol is creating a food nightmare that the next president must deal with. (Bloomberg)
- Barron's picks Supervalu, AIG and Dr. Pepper Snapple. (Barron's)
- Solar industry in California is chasing madly after workers. (San Francisco Chroncile)
- Macroeconomic crises since 1870. (NBER)
- FedEx Corp. Revises Earnings Guidance: Financial News. (BusinessWire)
- Lehman, like many sell-side firms, newly has a chiefmeteorologist. (Fortune)
- GE's exit from boat and recreational lending is bad. (Reuters)
- American housing's map of misery. (The Economist)
- Nuclear, tidal energy to supplement fossil fuels. (Oil & Gas Journal)
- Pimco's long view on the markets. (BusinessWeek)
- Paul Volcker says Ben Bernanke is over-reaching. (Bloomberg)
- Elon Musk and rise of Tesla. (Bloomberg)
- Commercial real estate is following residential into the tank. (Bloomberg)
- In mortgage market, 'walkaway' homeowners may be urban myth. (LosAngeles Times)
- Why won't people change their behavior in light of high oil prices? (Forbes.com)
- Oil costs to offset stimulus package. (The Washington Post)
- Bill Miller is humbler with his streak ended (The NewYork Times)
- A peek behind prices at the pump. (The New York Times)
- Samsung seeks knocking in memory market. (EETimes)
- Where Do Alphas Come From? (SSRN)
- Japan's Great Leap Backward. (FarEastern Economic Review)
- An oil bubble to rival the tech boom. (Factset)
- Russia foreign investors unfazed by squabbles with West. (Reuters)
- A handy way of visualizing market movements. (Finviz)
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