The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed last week down over 55 points from Monday’s open. The VIX closed at 20.97 on Friday, as volatility has been very present in the first month of the new year.

Some believe it’s due to the strengthening of the dollar, causing multi-national corporations to come up soft during earnings and lower their guidance. Others are watching the financial situation in Greece closely. Will they reject further austerity? Default on their debt? Fall out of the Euro? Or come to some type of resolution?

The reality is that Greece is not that important to the Euro. However, they could create a snowball effect in other countries, more specifically, Italy and Spain, who are also facing economic hardships.

We’ve got a couple more weeks until we find out how the Greek situation will unfold. With that said, expect to see more choppiness and volatility in the market.

Interestingly, Crude oil futures prices exploded on Friday. The United States Oil Fund ETF, USO, had its largest gain over the last year, closing at 17.82 (+6.83%)

We’ve got a busy week in respect to earnings this week. Notable earnings releases include: XOM, APC, UPS, CMG, GILD, MRK, RL, GM, GMCR, UA, DNKN, KORS, TWTR, P, YELP, ATVI, LNKD and GPRO.

Key economic events to watch next week include:

• 2/2: Personal Income at 8:30 AM EST., ISM Mfg Index 10:00 AM EST.
• 2/5: International Trade at 8:30 AM EST., Jobless Claims at 8:30 AM EST.
• 2/6: Employment Situation at 8:30 AM EST.

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