The Week Ahead: A busy week of economic reports are on the agenda for the markets this week and could cause increased volatility. Monday starts with existing home sales for August. Tuesday has consumer confidence figures for September. Wednesday, the durable goods orders and new home sales for August come out. Thursday, weekly jobless claims and final 2nd quarter GDP numbers should give clues to underlying economic strength. Finally, Friday brings personal income and spending for August.

Stocks to Watch: At Hewlett Packard (HPQ) the board shake up with Patricia Dunn resigning and new chairman Mark Hurd stepping in has the stock coming off an important top. The AT&T (T) merger with Bell South (BLS) has been approved and T shares could rise to the mid 30's before long term resistance is reached. CVS shares look vulnerable due to significant discounting announced by Wal-Mart (WMT) and Target (TGT) regarding generic drug pricing. Finally, look for the IPO of Shutterfly (SFLY) to open trading between $13-$15 a share.

Special Note: The end of the 3rd quarter this week has many analysts looking for S&P companies to increase earnings by 14% slightly lower than the 2nd quarter, but still double digit growth. Best performing sectors expected are: Basic Materials, Financials, and Energy. Worst performing sectors will likely be Health Care and Consumer Staples. The market has probably discounted these numbers and is looking at the 4th quarter and beyond. A mixture of longs and shorts in different sectors is a good idea going forward.


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

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