Financial Options

Not a lot happening in the week ahead , which will be shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and only has two major economic indicator releases scheduled. In addition to the economic indicators, markets will pay close attention to the petroleum inventory report from the Department of Energy after last weeks unexpected decline in crude inventories. If inventories fail to rebound and colder weather sets in across the northern US, oil prices will likely halt their downtrend. A big jump in inventories even with a return to normal weather patterns could see oil slide further.

Monday, the Conference Board releases its index of leading economic indicators for the US. Regional investors may also be interested in the leading indicators for Spain, also on Monday,; Australia on Tuesday, and Germany on Wednesday.

Wednesday, the Conference Board releases its index of help wanted advertising. Last week, the Help-Wanted Online Data Series showed a decrease of 1.79% in online job advertisements from September to October. The Help Wanted Index rose 1% in September, while the Online Index fell 4.4%.

Major retailers will also give a first look at their Black Friday performance over next weekend. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, is the official kickoff of the Christmas shopping season and typically the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. Analysts will be dissecting the Christmas season as it barely gets under way.