I believe we will continue to find direction in the market with the news due out next week.

The Federal Budget is due out on May 12th, posed to reveal the typical boost from tax receipts. However, the governments stimulus package will lead to a $400 billion deficit for the year.

Wal-Mart is due to release earnings on May 13th, which I believe will uncover the true consumer sentiment. EPS for the retailer are forecast to be up 10% from a year ago. I think this data will confirm a shift in consumer spending from larger, brand-name stores to the discount stores. Later on in the week (May …

Next week will reveal a lot about the state of our economy:

Institute for Supply Management data - April 1st.
The institutes’s data for March suggests a drop to 48.0 which would signal that the economy is close to falling into a recession.

Joint Economic Committee Meeting - April 2nd.
Ben Bernanke is set to testify before the congressional Joint Economic Committee on the out look of our economy. The committee will discuss whether our economy is already in a recession or heading into one.

Earnings: Best Buy and RIM - April 2nd.
Earnings reports for Best Buy (BBY: chart, web, Y!) and Research in Motion (RIMM: …

Walgreens reports earnings - March 24th
What a difference a day makes. Leap year is going to be particularly good to Walgreens (WAG: chart, web, Y!).

On Monday the drugstore chain reports second-quarter earnings, and those numbers garner help from one extra day’s worth of business in February. Same-store sales rose 8.3% in February, and analysts expect that February 29th sales will push the EPS up to 67 cents.

Oracle Insight - March 26th
Oracle (ORCL: chart, web, Y!) is scheduled to report fiscal third quarter earnings after the market closes on the 26th. Normally I don’t follow Oracle, but …

It has become clearly evident that the Fed works weekends.

Last night the Fed announced an emergency quarter point discount rate cut to 3.25%, and on top of that, offered to lend money to a longer list of firms than ever before.

The rare weekend move came as J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM: chart, web, Y!) sealed a deal to buy Bear Stearns (BSC: chart, web, Y!) for just $2 a share backed by up to $30 billion borrowed from the Fed. The Fed board gave its approval to that unique funding arrangement, which guarantees JP Morgan against …

A few events to remember for next week:

Goldman Sachs reports earnings - March 18th, 8:30am
Goldman Sachs finished out 2007 in good shape with shares exceeding analysts predictions. However, Goldman’s true isolation from mortgage backed securities will be revealed in earnings for the next several quarters. With the bail out of Bear Stearns, I’m sure the street will be on pins and needles to see how well Goldman is fairing in this volatile market place.

Federal Open Market Committee meeting - March 18th, 9:00am .
Traders in interest rate futures have a 3/4% cut in the fed funds rate in mind and increasing evidence that the U.S. economy may be …

I was watching Chris Matthews’ show this morning, and he was pinging both a republican and a democrat about how the government was handling the latest downturn in the economy. I didn’t catch the republicans response, but I did note that the democrat took to lambasting President Bush, saying that the President didn’t understand the full effect of these economic problems, and went on to criticize him for trying to sugar coat the economic problems we’re facing today in the finance markets.

My first reaction was in agreement. How could the President stand there and tell me that everything is rosy!? I’m outraged!

Then, my cup of coffee kicked …

Between yesterday and todays market action, I’m becoming more and more encouraged that we’re getting closer to the bottom of the market fallout. I’m not sure why I feel that way, because another part of me feels that another shoe may drop, and we’ll be in for another decline.

I heard a comment recently on the radio that there has never been a recession in an election year, mostly due to the fact that those running for re-election become more focused on the needs of the people they represent (i.e. the economy) as those are the people that elect them. Not sure how true that is, but I …

Back in January, General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz called global warming a “total crock of s—.” when talking to a group of reporters in Texas.

Of course, this completely outraged those who are trying to change global economic policy, and in effect requiring billions of dollars in capital spending, based on a measly 100 years of climate data.

Naturally, no one in global warming party is standing up to defend him, and many ignorant to the world of science have called for his removal from GM. Well, Bob fired back:

In a posting on his GM blog on Thursday, Lutz said …

Read more…

Venezuela has taken steps to fortify their dominance in the oil and gas market, and has said it will suspend oil shipments to Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM: chart, web, Y!). This is an obvious attempt by Hugo Chavez to thumb his nose at the United States, however I’m not sure what his true motivation is: money or power… perhaps both.

You see, the crude oil coming out of Venezuela is heavy crude high in sulfur, making it very difficult to refine in comparison to light sweet crude. The high sulfuric content wreaks havoc on industrial components due to its highly caustic and corrosive …

Big Ben opened his big mouth again today, and it seems his outlook on the economy is getting a bit more bearish each time his voice hits the airwaves.

Testifying today at the Senate Banking Committee, he said he now expects “sluggish growth” in the economy but predicted a “somewhat stronger pace” later in the year. He went on to attribute his stronger pace forecast to rate cuts and fiscal stimulus.

He threw in the caveat that housing and labor markets could deteriorate more than anticipated, emphasizing that “downside risks to growth remain.”

It seems that Bernanke is drawing criticism from Washington from both Republicans and Democrats, arguing that the recent efforts …