Financial Options

With no other major indicators due out Monday, the spotlight will go to the Conference Boards Employment Trends Index and a scheduled speech by Ben Bernanke. The Bernanke speech will likely be the more closely watched; unless the index reveals some undiscovered sign of unemployment heading close to the double digits, the recent positive trend in jobless claims is likely to carry more weight.

The devil is always in the surprises when it comes to financial markets, but every indication is that Wednesday's release of retail sales is going to bring more good news. Once again US consumers are ignoring the doomsayers and leading the world out of the economic doldrums, as predicted here,

The big news this week will be in the inflation department, starting with the Import/Export Price Indexes by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Wednesday. The BLS will also release the Producer Price Index (PPI) on Thursday and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Friday. At this stage, the things to look for are signs of import inflation and inflation at the wholesale level (PPI) as the danger at the retail level (CPI) are still more in the deflation camp. Finally, the capacity utilization data from the Federal Reserve's industrial production report on Friday will likely show inflation pressues at the manufacturing level well controlled.

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