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 an upbeat week for the major markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.5%, the S&P 500 index up 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%. Blame the gains on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his "love note" to the market. Inflation was lower, he said, and growth should continue nicely. However, higher oil prices dampened the market's positive tone somewhat.

The coming week will be shortened by the Presidents Day holiday on Monday. This week's optimism likely will hold, so long as there aren't any big negative surprises on the data front. The most important reports for the market concern inflation and retail sales. They include Wal-Mart's(WMT Quote) quarterly earnings release, scheduled for Tuesday, and the January consumer price index, which is due out Wednesday. The Reuters consensus is for a 0.1% increase in CPI. Also scheduled for Wednesday is the index of leading economic indicators. The median forecast is for a 0.2% gain.

Finally, here are some articles and papers worth reading:

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• JetBlue(WMT Quote) continues to cancel flights, as last week's troubles escalate. (The New York Times)
• DaimlerChrysler's(DCX Quote) Chrysler unit is the perfect leveraged buyout target. (Bloomberg)
• A post-Daimler Detroit? (The Economist)
• Toyota's(TM Quote) journey to world auto domination. (The New York Times Magazine)
• Hyundai is leading the pack of suitors for Chrysler. (The Sunday Times of London)
• GM(GM Quote) cuts $600-million from ad spending. (AdAge.com)
• Wal-mart report should give clues on current fiscal year. (Reuters)
• The dollar has its worst week in two months. (Reuters)
• AMD(AMD Quote) faces cash crunch and LBO. (EE Times)
• Parched Australia has become a nation of water misers. (Reuters)
• Homebuilders' confidence highest since last June. (MarketWatch)
• We're set for a new housing boom. (Forbes columnist Kenneth Fisher)
• Subprime loans causing problems in the economy. (Investor's Business Daily)
• The energy industry is still struggling with alternative fuels. (Oil & Gas Journal)
• Financial advice would be easier to follow if it didn't contradict itself so often. (Bloomberg)
• Chinese businesses are cashing in, but it's complicated. (The Washington Post)
• Growth stocks are soaring, but stay with value. (The Boston Globe)
• Yale's David Swensen is a portfolio manager on a mission. (The New York Times)
• What a $10,000 ticket on Singapore Airlines buys you. (Los Angeles Times)
• Ben Bernanke had to suffer through a lot of political posturing this week. (Bloomberg's Caroline Baum)
• Barron's picks Relational Investor's Ralph Whitworth, Timken(TKR Quote) and Electronic Arts(ERTS Quote). (Barron's)
• Research: Predicting the S&P CNX Returns. (SSRN)
• Research: Cross-sectional implications of informed trading. (The Journal of Finance)
• Research: How legal insider trading contributes to market efficiency. (SSRN)

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