March 29, 2015 The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed the week negatively, down four out of five days. However, a four-day losing streak was snapped on Friday, closing at 2,060. With that said, we saw a jump in market volatility. The VIX opened up the week in the low 13s and close on Friday above 15. We saw lows below 13 and a high slightly above 17 during the week.

The markets all of a sudden appear to be trading choppy, with the bulls and bears wrestling again for control. There are important things to keep in mind going into this week. The first, the end of the first quarter is ending. We could see some “window dressing” as fund managers jockey to sell losers and buy stocks that have performed well. Second, this is a shortened week, the markets are closed on Friday, in honor of Good Friday.

Given these two events, we wouldn’t be surprised if the action is slow and the volume light. Here’s what the schedule looks like this week:

Economic Data:

30 March 2015- Personal Income and Outlays 8:30 AM ET
1 April 2015- ISM Manufacturing Index 10 AM ET
2 April 2015- International Trade 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
3 April 2015- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Conferences:

31 March 2015- Bank America 2015 New York Auto Summit

Key Earnings:

30 March 2015- CALM
31 March 2015- CONN
1 April 2015- MON
2 April 2015- KMX and MU