Financial Options

After last week's bad labor market reports and big job loss numbers Friday, Monday will kick off with a bang with the Conference Board's release of the Employment Trends Index. Various other factors led to a rally in spite of the bad employment report Friday – we'll see if that holds on Monday or if profit taking sets in on the reminder of bad news as the only major indicator of the day.

With Veteran's Day Tuesday, the next major indicators aren't due out until Thursday when the big event will be the foreign trade statistics from the Commerce Department. Though exports have been a bright spot in the US economy this year, the worldwide spread of recession is likely to take a toll. The dropping trade deficit was one sign that the US was heading into an economic slowdown; unfortunately that's likely to reverse course without indicating the opposite.

Retail sales are due out Friday and expected to show a decline of about 1%. With gas prices down, relative calm in the stock market compared to September and the retailers starting holiday sales early, there is room for a positive surprise, though serious problems in consumer confidence leave open the possibility that things could be even worse than expected.

*See more information on the Financial Roadmap series here. Earnings reports are companies of interest, NOT recommendations.