Coming Week: Searching for Signs

"Due to the declining dollar, I fully expect another production cut announcement coming out of this meeting even though prices have risen from the $56 level in October to the current $63 level," says Oaktree's Pavlik. "Crude oil is priced in dollars and as the value of the dollar drops, the purchasing power of the OPEC members drops in kind."

The most potentially market-moving report for the week comes Friday, with the release of November's consumer-price index. Economists anticipate the CPI will rise 0.2%, compared with a drop of 0.5% in October. The core CPI, which excludes food and energy, also is expected to rise 0.2%.

Aside from the CPI, Friday's economic lineup also features capacity utilization and industrial production figures for November. Both are expected to remain unchanged month over month, with utilization remaining at 82.2% and productivity gains at 0.2%.

Finally, the New York Empire State Index is on tap for Friday, with economists looking for a drop to 20 from 26.7 last month.

Final Burst of Earnings

Traders looking to put some stocks in their stockings will be treated to one final week of big-name earnings before the holiday slowdown begins in earnest.

On the financials side, two big-name brokers will be dishing out their latest profit figures. Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) will be releasing results on Tuesday, and analysts expect earnings of $5.91 a share, up from the investment bank's profit of $3.35 a share a year ago.

Bear Stearns (BSC Quote) steps up to the plate Thursday with its fourth-quarter figures. According to First Call, Wall Street projects earnings of $3.31 a share, up from $2.90 last year.

Several retailers also will be in the spotlight. Most notably, Best Buy (BBY Quote) will reports its third-quarter figures Tuesday, and Wall Street will be looking to see if a recent flat-screen TV price war with Wal-Mart (WMT Quote) and Circuit City (CC Quote) has cut into the consumer electronics giant's margins.

Analysts expect Best Buy to report earnings of 35 cents a share, up from the 28 cents a share the retailer posted last year.

Other retailers on tap for the week include Dollar General (DG Quote) on Tuesday and Costco (COST Quote) and Pier 1(PIR Quote) on Thursday.

In the tech sector, look for earnings from Adobe Systems(ADBE Quote) and Ciena(CIEN Quote) Thursday.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting