Weekend Reading

Good Sunday morning, and welcome to Weekend Reading. As always, here are some articles and papers worth reading. First, however, a look back at the week that just finished, and a look forward to the week ahead.

It was a mixed week on the major markets, with the Dow and the S&P 500 more or less flat, and the Nasdaq Composite declining more than 2%. While oil fell during the week, tech stocks were a problem, with bad news from Motorola(MOT Quote) and IBM(IBM Quote) taking much of the zip out of sector. Click here for the weekly performance of the big indices.

Turning to economic indicators, the coming week will be a busy one. The main numbers to watch will be existing home sales, on Thursday, and new home sales, on Friday, for reads on the all-important housing sector. Also, durable goods orders are due out Friday. And President Bush plans to deliver his State of the Union address Tuesday, in which he is expected to discuss taxes and environmental policy.

Turning to earnings reports, it will be an over-the-top week. Among the hundreds reporting fourth-quarter earnings, we have Pfizer(PFE Quote), Johnson & Johnson(JNJ Quote), Abbott Laboratories(ABT Quote), Bank of America(BAC Quote), Wachovia(WB Quote), and DuPont(DD Quote).

Finally, here are some articles and papers worth reading:

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• Oodles of unease about collateralized debt obligations. (FT)
• U.S. oil demand dipped 1.1% in 2006. (Oil & Gas Journal)
• Nutty naked-shorts scrap is heating up again. (The New York Times)
• $2/gallon gasoline seen around the U.S. (EIA)
• Record warmth in North Atlantic waters. (Reuters)
• Bernanke: Budget action needed before retirement "storm". (Reuters)
• The struggle to fix Sears. (Advertising Age)
• Self-service ad agencies set to transform the advertising business. (Advertising Age)
• The diabetics market continues to burgeon. (Los Angeles Times)
• Inflation concerns are bubbling up again. (The Economist)
• Bullishness about technology abounds despite this week's speed wobble. (Globe and Mail)
• Cable companies look well positioned. (The New York Times)
• Microsoft's power is waning, and the relative indifference to Vista shows it. (The Economist)
• Enhanced index funds are getting lots of attention -- and critics. (The New York Times)
• New IPCC climate change report set for Feb. 2 contains dire warnings. (The New York Times)
• You are what you expect: Optimism and pessimism are crucial drivers of behavior. (The New York Times)
• How Steve Jobs blew his iPhone keynote. (ComputerWorld)
• BusinessWeek imagines the green corporation. (BusinessWeek)
• The secrets to university endowment investing success. (The Economist)
• Estimating the value of a Jobs-less Apple. (The New York Times)
• The number of Americans with traditional phone lines continues to drop rapidly. (AP)
• Research: Macroeconomic impacts of aging in the U.S. (FRB)
• Research: Climate change and the insurability of disasters. (NBER)

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