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Debt Ceiling, Retail Sales and Housing : Advisor Briefing for the Week of May 16, 2011

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May 16, 2011 • Reprints

The big market-moving news for this week began Monday morning when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announcing that the United States has reached its debt limit. Other news for the week that may move the markets is more clarity on consumer behavior in the form of multiple earnings reports from big retailers, including Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target, and data on housing, along with leading economic indicators from the Conference Board.

European debt issues have been complicated by the arrest of IMF chief and French presidential hopeful Dominique Strauss-Kahn; his arraignment is due to occur in New York on Monday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Geithner deliver separate high-profile speeches during the week, and in central bank-land, the Fed releases minutes of its April FOMC meeting while the Bank of Japan at week’s end holds two days of policy meetings.

Watch for onsite reporting on AdvisorOne of IMCA and NAPFA’s annual meetings by Investment Advisor’s John Sullivan and Research’s Gil Weinreich.

All times are Eastern.

Monday, May 16

European Union finance ministers hold two days of meetings, focusing on Greece and Portugal debt issues.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn to be arraigned in New York on sexual assault charges.

8:00 AM:         IMCA’s 2011 Annual Conference convenes in Las Vegas. Watch for onsite reporting by Research magazine Editor Gil Weinreich.

9:00 AM:         Endeavor lifted off in the penultimate flight in NASA’s space shuttle program.

9:00 AM:         Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks at Conference Board conference at Georgetown University on “New Building Blocks for Jobs and Economic Growth.”

12:00 PM:       Housing market index (HMI) for May released by National Assn. of Homebuilders.

2:00 PM:         U.S. Senate convenes for a period of morning business; House is adjourned until May 23.

Retailer earnings: JC Penney, Lowe's

Tuesday, May 17

7:00 AM:          Housing starts for April released by U.S. Commerce Dept.

9:15 AM:          April industrial production numbers released by Federal Reserve.

10:00 AM:        "Financing 21st Century Infrastructure" hearing by Senate Committee on Finance

5:00 PM:          Speech by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on “The Economy and our Fiscal Challenge,” at Harvard Club in New York.

Retailer earnings: JC Penney, Lowe's

Wednesday, May 18    

8:00 AM:          Opening of NAPFA National Conference in Salt Lake City. Look for reporting from the conference by Investment Advisor Editor John Sullivan.

9:30 AM:          “The State of the Securitization Markets” hearing, Senate Banking Committee, Subcommittee on Securities Insurance, and Investment

10:00 AM:        Open meeting focusing on credit ratings agencies by the SEC.

10:30 AM:         Weekly petroleum status report from the Energy Information Administration.

2:00 PM:           Federal Reserve releases minutes of the April FOMC meeting.

Retailer earnings: Target, Staples

Thursday, May 19

7:00 AM:              Existing home sales for April released by National Association of Realtors.

7:00 AM:              Manufacturing index for April released by Philadelphia Federal Reserve.

7:45 AM:              Weekly new unemployment insurance claims from the Labor Dept.

10:00 AM:            Leading economic indicators for April from the Conference Board.

Retailer earnings: Gap, WIlliams Sonoma

Friday, May 20.

Concluding day of monetary policy meetings by Bank of Japan.

About the Author
James J. Green, AdvisorOne

James J. Green, AdvisorOne

Jamie Green is Group Editorial Director of the Investment Advisory Group at Summit Business Media, with overall editorial responsibility for AdvisorOne.com, launched in October 2010, and Investment Advisor and Research magazines, monthly print magazines which have served advisors of all kinds for more than 30 years. He can be reached at jgreen@sbmedia.com

He has nearly 30 years experience in print and electronic journalism, with nearly 14 years covering the investment advisory industry. In the 1980s he was editor of Tele/Scope, a pioneering electronic news service based in New York that covered telecommunications business and research, and was editor of Telecommunications Research, a monthly journal. In the 1990s he worked for nine years at The New York Times, where he was editor of TimesFax, an electronic version of the newspaper of record now known as TimesDigest. While at The Times, he led the editorial team that expanded distribution of TimesFax to remote corners of every continent on Earth, to every ship in the U.S. Navy, to scores of cruise ships, and to the international space station.

He joined what was then Dow Jones Investment Advisor in 1999 as managing editor, was appointed Executive Editor of Investment Advisor magazine in 2000, Editor in 2002, Editor-in-Chief in 2005, and Editorial Director of Investment Advisor and Wealth Manager in 2008 before assuming his current position in 2009.

He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Hyacinth College in Granby, Mass., and studied theology on the graduate level at St. Anthony-on-the-Hudson, Rensselaer, N.Y.

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