The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed the week higher. We opened the week at 2020.76 and closed at 2051.82. However, there was a lot of volatility in between.

The VIX, closed the week in the mid teens at 16.66.

Crude oil prices seem to be stabilizing somewhat. However, the intra-day volatility remains relatively high. For example, this week we saw a range of 45.56 to 47.78.

The market clearly reacted positively to the ECB announcement earlier this week. However, we’re seeing the futures market sell off this evening, after the reaction to the Greek elections. In addition, the Euro fell to 11 year lows.

It will be interesting to see how traders react Monday morning. In addition, traders in the Northeast will be following the weather, which may or not affect the volume. Early indications are that Winter Storm Juno maybe one of the worst in history.

Also, traders will be focusing on these events:

• On Tuesday, Jan. 27, durable goods orders at 8:30 AM est., new home sales at 10:00 AM est.
• On Wednesday, Jan 28, FOMC Meeting announcement at 2:00 PM est.
• On Thursday, Jan. 29, jobless claims numbers will be announced at 8:30 AM est.
• On Friday, Jan. 30, GDP numbers at 8:30 AM est.

Some other key events to watch for this week.

Notable earnings next week include: DD, PFE, AAL, BMY, PG, FCX, JNPR, YHOO, VMW, EAT, T, HES, EMC, BA, FB, QCOM, COH, COP, HP, CL, VLO, POT, DOW, BRCM, GOOG, AMZN, V, MA and CVX to name a few.

We’ll be back on Wednesday, Jan. 28, with a mid-week recap.