A Big Week Ahead for the Dow

Alex Dumortier, CFA, The Motley Fool
Updated

Leave it to an Austrian skydiver and an energy drink company to make the world dream. Watching Felix Baumgartner's record- and sound-barrier-breaking jump from the edge of space on Sunday was pretty exciting.

On the macroeconomic front, this is a pretty quiet week with regard to central-bank actions and economic data, although it will be interesting to see the housing-starts and building-permits data due on Wednesday. Last week, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the housing market has "turned the corner." He's not as bullish as Roger Altman, former Treasury secretary and chairman of investment banking boutique Evercore Partners. In a commentary posted on the Financial Times website last Thursday, Altman wrote that the turn, which "is occurring now ... should become a boom by 2015."

I don't know about the "boom," but Citigroup's (NYS: C) third-quarter results, released this morning, lend credence to the "turn": Profits at the bank's North American consumer banking unit rose 18% year on year on increased mortgage revenue.


The Dow (INDEX: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (INDEX: ^GSPC) are up 0.1% and 0.04%, respectively, as of 10:20 a.m. EDT. But this is a big week for the indexes, with 12 of 30 Dow components and 79 S&P 500 components reporting results. For the Dow, these include:

  • Tuesday: International Business Machines, Intel, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson

  • Wednesday: Bank of America, American Express

  • Thursday: Verizon, Travelers, Microsoft

  • Friday: McDonald's, General Electric

We'll be covering each of these companies, so be sure to check in at Fool.com for our take on what the results mean for business-focused investors. If you want to find out which three Dow stocks dividend investors need, be sure to click here to request your free report.

The article A Big Week Ahead for the Dow originally appeared on Fool.com.

Alex Dumortier, CFA has no positions in the stocks mentioned above; you can follow him @longrunreturns.
The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel. The Fool has created a bear call spread position on American Express. The Fool has on Intel. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Intel, and Coca-Cola. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a diagonal call position in Johnson & Johnson. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a synthetic long position in International Business Machines. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended writing puts on Intel. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a write covered strangle position in American Express. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

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