The Week Ahead

The markets were closed today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The S&P 500 closed last week below its 50-day moving average. We opened the week at 2028.26 and closed at 2019.42. However, there was a lot of volatility in between. For example, our low during the week was 1998.12 and the high was 2056.93.

The VIX, closed last week at 20.55. The low was 17.65 and the high was 23.43.

All eyes will be on the ECB this week, as they are expected to announce another round of QE on January 22nd. Traders will be watching if this does happen, and if it does, they’ll be reacting to the size of the QE program. In addition, they’ll be watching the precious metals markets and how they react to the ECB announcement.

Crude oil prices seem to be stabilizing somewhat. Their high during last week was $48.50 and low was $46.36, closing at $48.50 per barrel.

In addition, traders will be focusing on housing starts numbers, which are set to be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 8:30 AM est.
On Thursday, Jan. 22, jobless claims numbers will be announced at 8:30 AM est.
On Friday, Jan. 23, existing home sales will be announced at 10:00 AM est.

Some other key events to watch for this week.

Notable earnings tomorrow include: HAL, DAL, BHI and CREE

We’ll be back on Wednesday, Jan. 21, with a mid-week recap.