aus amiland gibts heut aber nicht viel ;-))
The upcoming week is likely to be quiet -- at least on the business-news front -- due to the Christmas holiday, but sentiment is building that the market might rally into the end of the year. On Friday, the major indexes were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 25.88 to 8579.11, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.60 to 887.90 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 11.95 to 1564.32.
Monday brings earnings from Circuit City (CC: 25.73, 0, 0%), which has filed for bankruptcy protection, as well as Walgreen (WAG: 12.36, 0, 0%). Technology company Red Hat (RHT: 2.63, 0, 0%) also reports.
On Tuesday, Micron (MU: 9.92, 0, 0%) and American Greetings (AM: 3.67, 0, 0%) release their earnings results.
On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, most financial markets close at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Thursday is Christmas Day, and most markets are closed entirely.
Friday looks to be especially quiet on the earnings and news front, as many market participants are likely to take an extended Christmas weekend. With the lighter volume for the holiday week, volatility could be higher than usual.
Other issues to watch in the week ahead include developments on the auto industry after General Motors (GM: 2.83, 0, 0%) and Chrysler were promised $14.3 billion in aid from the U.S. Treasury, and Ford Motor (F) looked to be in line for money if needed.
Also, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has asked Congress to tap the second $350 billion from the initial $700 billion bailout fund, Treasury bonds continue to trade at historically low yields and oil is under $40 a barrel -- all worth keeping an eye on in the coming trading sessions. |