Coming Up On Wall Street

Good morning. At 9:30 a.m. it is 17 degrees and sunny here in Upstate NY. Its been a busy weekend, lots of activity including holiday parties. In the middle of all that we are taking care of the new puppy. She's doing really well.

Three areas will be affecting the direction of the markets in the upcoming week.

First there is the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis and how it continues to play out. Notice that several Eurozone countries will be downgraded by the Standard & Poors.

Second there will be a slew of economic reports including the final reading on the third quarter GDP. Truth is the American corporate economy is running well, the main street economy is a different story as we know.

Third, because it is the holidays, many investors are on vacation and therefor trading will be light. When trading is light it tends to be a bit more volatile in both directions.

CNN: Stocks: The quiet storm

...there is widespread speculation that Standard & Poor's will soon downgrade France and other eurozone governments, after the ratings agency put 15 members of the currency bloc on review earlier this month.


Next week brings the government's final reading on U.S. Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter.


...investors will be looking for signs that consumers are willing to spend big this holiday season.

Reuters: Time short for S&P to end 2011 higher

Stocks have been whipsawed as investors weigh the threat from the euro zone crisis against modest improvement in U.S. economic data and stocks that many regard as cheap.