Weekend Reading

Turning to financial reports, it is another light week. Some companies to watch include Texas Instruments(TXN Quote), Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote), Bear Stearns(BSC Quote) and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote).

Finally, here are some articles, papers and books I believe are worth reading.

• Iran forecasts oil to hit $80 a barrel this year. (Reuters)
• Consumer spending forecast to slow this year. (Reuters)
• CFOs are gloomy about the U.S. economy this year. (CFO)
• Hedge funds are increasingly correlated to the broader markets. (New York Times)
• Some $120 trillion in sovereign wealth funds could derail globalization. (Bloomberg)
• Christmas '07 toy outlook is big on plush-plus-online. (NY Post)
• Refinery utilization rates have recently been lower than normal for this time of year. (EIA)
• Barron's picks Victoria's Secret (Limited Brands(LTD Quote), Cisco(CSCO Quote) and Wyndham(WYN Quote). (Barron's)
• CFOs and hedge fund activists in uneasy relationship. (CFO)
• People will need to save more as reforms cut pensions. (OECD)
• Prices in real estate foreclosure auctions no better than traditional sales. (NY Times)
• Two interesting new books on the economics of sushi. (NY Times)
• Apple's(AAPL Quote) Worldwide Developer Conference is Monday, and the iPhone sales manual has been leaked. (InformationWeek)
• How CNBC's stock-picking contest went awry. (BusinessWeek)
• Banks sell the riskiest CDO components to pension funds. (PDF: Bloomberg)
• Research: The interval of observation is crucial in analyzing stocks (SSRN)
• Genentech(DNA Quote) is under pressure in its core cancer market. (San Francisco Chronicle)
• General Electric's(GE Quote) green gamble. (Globe & Mail)
• U.K. pension fund schemes are selling en masse. (Telegraph)
• Wyeth's(WYE Quote) anti-Alzheimer's research gets very positive mention. (NY Times)
• Stock market bubbles and bubble echoes. (NY Times/Hulbert)
• Whole Foods(WFMI Quote) is about to get a SoCal boost as rest of industry set to strike. (Reuters)

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