The Week Ahead: More troubling credit woes continue to plague the markets as Wachovia writes off $1.1 billion for sub-prime loans and Capital One showed a significant increase in delinquencies for October. Crude oil is testing the $100 barrel level, treasuries are rising on the possibility of a rate cut in December, and the dollar is hitting record lows. Noteworthy reports will be Tuesday's pending home sales, Wednesday's PPI, retail sales, and business inventories, Thursday's CPI and crude oil inventories, and Friday's industrial production and capacity utilization numbers.

Stocks to Watch: Estee Lauder (EL) rose sharply on news it will increase its dividend by 10% to .55 and added $20 million to its stock buyback plan. Also a former P&G executive was named as COO. Dolby Labs (DLB) revenues rose 26% in the 4th quarter and earnings rose substantially as the stock continued its current leg higher but appears top heavy. Priceline.com (PCLN) exploded thru $100 a share as its 3rd quarter earnings more than doubled from a year ago. Finally, China's largest drug store chain China Nepstar (NPD) had a successful IPO on Friday.

Special Note: The Dow Industrials and S&P 500 have penetrated the 200 day moving average as they did in both March and August. The previous two times significant bounces ensued as the developing theme was the credit problems related to sub-prime loans. The underlying story remains the same but seems to be getting bigger and more complex. The Nasdaq now appears to be breaking down too after bell weather Cisco Systems reported a dramatic drop in orders from banks and retailers indicating the credit and housing concerns are spilling over to the overall economy.


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

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