Weekly View Friday 15 January 2010...

Remember the market's closed Monday.

Weekly Review:
Last week wasn't the best of weeks for the bulls, as profit-taking and sell-the-news reactions are setting in. Last week was also options expiration week. Earnings season really began. I took starter longs in CRE (common stock), CBI, and FUQI (call spreads).

Weekly Preview:
So is this just a garden-variety pullback in a bull market, or is it the start of a more sinister reversal? It's a pullback until the market proves otherwise, and I'm playing it accordingly by looking to stock up on long exposure.

Earnings season really picks up steam this week. Big names including C for Tuesday morning; BAC, COH, CSX, IBM, MS, STT, USB, and WFC for Wednseday morning; CAL, EBAY, ED, ESI, FCX, FFIV, FITB, GS, ISRG, KEY, LM, LUV, PCP, PNC, PPG, SBUX, STX, UNH, and UNP for Thursday morning; AXP, BBT, BNI, COF, EXC, GE, GOOG, HBAN, HOG, IGT, JCI, KMB, MCD, PBCT, SLB, STI, and WDC for Friday morning; and AKS, AMGN, CNH, DGX, ETN, HAL, and SEE for Monday morning. Note that when I say, "For [blank] morning," I mean the stock reports earnings either after the close the previous day or before the open on that day.

For a preview of this week's major economic announcements, I'll send you here. Michael McDonough does a better job of summing this stuff up than I could. Since this is a stock-picking blog versus an economics blog, I typically won't talk about this kind of stuff. Also, for a better preview of the week's market-related events, I'd recommend going here. TheStreet.com typically has a good weekly preview article for more stock-related events.

I ran the screens this weekend and the results were as follows:

Five stocks showing over four screens of interest (some and strong), four of which are on the watchlist.
15 stocks showing four screens of interest (some or strong), two of which are on the watchlist.
75 stocks showing three screens of interest (some or strong), three of which are on the watchlist.
27 stocks showing two screens of strong interest, one of which is presently on the watchlist.

Position: Long CBI, CRE, FUQI

Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation and is presented for informational purposes only.