The Week Ahead: Large upward revisions in the July and August employment reports combined with September's improved numbers has many wondering if further interest rate cuts are necessary especially since wages shot up as well. The FOMC Minutes will be released Tuesday so watch for clues to Fed action or not later this month. The bond market will be closed Monday. The August trade deficit numbers are out on Wednesday. September import prices are due Thursday while the PPI, retail sales, and business inventory figures are released Friday.

Stocks to Watch: The kick-off of earnings season starts Thursday with Alcoa's (AA) numbers. Look for .65 a share as the company takes a 3rd quarter charge for the sale of certain assets. Staffing firms rallied on news of the September jobs report. A few names include: Administaff (ASF), Labor Ready (LRW), Manpower (MAN), and Robert Half International (RHI). Clearwire (CLWR) is down on worries the Wimax deal may fall apart with Sprint's new management. Noble Energy (NBL) will replace Archstone Smith in the S&P 500.

Special Note: A couple of momentum considerations going forward include the lagging advance decline line since the recent rally began in August as the major indexes have reached new highs. The NYSE advance/decline line has barely retraced half of its low made in August. Also, the small cap advance/decline line remains weak. Other considerations are the lagging performance of the financial services, banks and homebuilders. The rally to date is also unconfirmed by the DOW Transports and Utilities.


Commentary provided by Barry Ward, Registered Principal, NobleTrading.com, Inc.

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