Which five stocks are we watching this week?
The three major stocks indexes all fell during trading on Friday. The Dow dropped 1.42 percent, the S&P 500 dropped 1.66 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.02 percent. For the week, the Dow lost 1.2 percent, the S&P 500 lost 2.5 percent, and the Nasdaq lost 2.7 percent. Civil fraud charges lodged against Goldman Sachs (GS) put investors on edge. The possibility of criminal charges hangs over the company and, with it, even more uncertainty about the stability of the banking industry.
The uncertainty that the Goldman Sachs issue will bring to the coming week’s trading, as well as the impact of the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the unresolved monetary predicament of Greece will all weigh on the financial markets. Next week’s market indexes are likely to exhibit greater signs of volatility.
On Monday, the ISM manufacturing index will be released. The reading for April is expected to be at 60, up from the March reading of 59.6. Figures for April U.S. auto sales will also be available. Analysts have forecast a 20 percent increase over the same month last year, and an annualized rate of 11.4 million vehicles.
On Wednesday, the ISM services sector index will be released. April’s figure is expected to be at 56, a gain over the March figure of 55.4. On Thursday, most major retailers will make public same-store sales figures for the month of April. With no major holidays to draw shoppers into stores, analysts expect only slight gains in sales.
Friday will bring the non-farm payrolls report. Economists expect 190,000 new jobs to have been created in April, the second consecutive month to log an increase. The unemployment rate, however, is expected to remain at 9.7 percent.
Also on Friday, Warren Buffet will release earnings figures for Berkshire Hathaway. Investors will be interested not only in the profitability of his investments, but in any hint they can glean about the direction his investments may take.
Stocks to Watch
We're watching five stocks for continued strength this week. The five stocks:
Concho Resources Inc. (CXO)
Edison International (EIX)
FPL Group, Inc. (FPL)
Frontline Ltd. (FRO)
Sunoco, Inc. (SUN)
Dave Mecklenburg is the Editor-in-Chief of TigerSharkTrading.com.