Week Ahead Market Report: 7/19/2010
Monday, July 19, 10:52 AM ET

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Good morning, I’m KRISTIN BIANCO, with the “Week Ahead Market Report” for July 19, 2010.

In overseas equity markets this morning, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index moved lower by 0.8 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 tumbled lower 2.9 percent and China’s Shanghai Shenzen jumped up by 2.1 percent.

The German DAX is edging higher by 0.5 percent. Britain’s Footsie 100 is up 0.5 percent.

U.S. S&P 500 index futures were trading slightly UP by 0.4 percent in pre-market action.

Crude oil is flat on Monday morning, trading just over $76 a barrel.

Spot gold was trading down 0.7 percent early on Monday morning, at around $1,185 an ounce.

President Obama is scheduled to sign the financial regulation bill on Wednesday, setting restrictions on Wall Street including tighter inspection by federal regulators and consumer protection laws.

On the economic front, housing starts come out on Tuesday and are expected to edge back from the 593,000 reported for May to a 580,000 annual rate in June.

Building permits will also be released and are expected to fall further to 563,000 for June after falling sharply to an annual rate of 593,000 in May.

Existing home sales for June will come out on Thursday. Observers are expecting an annual rate of 5.26 million sales in June, down sharply from the 5.66 million sales rate reported for May.

On Friday, the Conference Board’s Leading Economic Indicators index is scheduled to be reported with analysts expecting a 0.2 percent loss.

Earnings season will be in full swing this week with over 500 companies reporting second quarter earnings.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) will post profits after the market closes on Monday, with analysts expecting $2.58 per share.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) will post second quarter profits on Tuesday before the market opens, with a consensus estimate of $1.24 per share.

Also on Tuesday, Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) will report before the market opens. The consensus number is 66 cents a share.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) will also report on Tuesday before the market opens. Analysts are expecting 73 cents per share in earnings.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) posts profits on Tuesday as well with analysts expecting $4.72 a share.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) will report profits on Wednesday before the market opens with a consensus estimate of 74 cents per share.

On Thursday, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is scheduled to post profits after the market closes, with analysts expecting 46 cents per share for the second quarter.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F) will report earnings on Friday before the market opens with expectations of 37 cents per share. And Verizon (NYSE:VZ) is expected to post 57 cents per share in profits on Friday.

Join us on Friday for the “Weekly Market Wrap” and have a wonderful week.