The Week Ahead: The governments plan to freeze interest rates for some sub-prime loans eased investors concerns about credit markets. The focus now will be the Fed's accommodations for easing rates at Tuesday's FOMC meeting. Before that pending home sales will be announced Monday and wholesale inventories on Tuesday. The trade deficit figures, import prices, and oil and gas inventories are released Wednesday while the Producer Price Index and business inventories are out on Thursday.

Stocks to Watch: Belt tightening by consumers is expected to crimp profits at American Express (AXP) and Capital One (COF) as both were downgraded by major brokerages. First Marblehead Corp. (FMD) has rising default rates and will cut its quarterly dividend as the stock attempts a bounce off of recent lows. Imax Corp. (IMAX) is to install 100 IMAX digital systems at 33 major AMC theatres as its stock blasted higher. Smith and Wesson Holdings (SWHC) warned 3rd quarter results will be at breakeven lowering its outlook for the 2nd time in 2 months.

Special Note: The stock market has rallied significantly enough ahead of the Federal reserve meeting to warrant a pause. Of particular importance is the waning volume associated with the recent rally and several technical measures near overbought levels including short-term stochastics. Many times the initial move the market makes after a Fed announcement is a false start and the opposite will occur that day or a few days later. Traders and investors can anticipate a gyrating stock environment this week.

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