Hello, and Happy Valentines Day!
This is Mark Vickery, subbing for Sheraz Mian while he is away.
Earnings season begins to wind down this week and economic news is relatively light for the next couple days. Perhaps check in on how 1-800-FLOWERS and The Hershey Company are doing this Valentine’s Day (Hallmark is a private company), but we also suggest you take the extra time today to tell your loved ones how you feel about them. Call your mom. Awwww…
Today, President Obama presents his budget for fiscal 2012, expected to be released at 10:30 Eastern Time today (though much has come out in the press already this morning). It looks to cut $1.1 trillion from the budget over the next ten years — 2/3 from spending cuts and 1/3 from increased taxes. Apparently it neither gouges entitlement spending nor makes strong cuts in Defense, but this is, after all, an opening salvo. We’ll see how things change once Congress gets its hooks into it.
Retail sales figures (including auto sales) and the Empire State Index are due out tomorrow. Housing starts and the PPI come out Wednesday, and jobless claims and the CPI are slated for Thursday. But today, there is little for investors to chew on.
Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepping down last Friday has given hope to additional democratization for Arab states in Northern Africa and the Middle East, but the market will have to wait for any major news headlines to emerge which might have an impact on the markets.
MGM Resorts reports earnings before the bell today, and Marriott International reports after trading hours. Otherwise, we’re winding down the amount of December-quarter companies left to post quarterly earnings numbers.
In short, not a lot moving the markets today. Futures are thus flat at this hour.
Mark Vickery
P.S. What is Zacks Ahead of Wall Street? To find out more about Zacks Ahead of Wall Street, click here.
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