Weekend Reading: Suburban Blight

02/24/08 - 03:03 PM EST

Welcome to another edition of Weekend Reading. First a look back at the week that just finished, then a look forward to the week ahead, and finally a summary of articles and papers worth reading.

Last week was saved by the bell, with Friday's end-of-day Ambac(ABK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)-fueled rebound taking the markets into the green. For the week, the Dow advanced 0.3% percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the ever-contrarian Nasdaq lost 0.8%. Just a reminder: For the year, the major indices are still in crummy shape, with the Dow down 6.7%, the S&P 500 off 7.9% and the Nasdaq in the red a whopping 13.2%.

Looking forward to the week ahead, most people think it's going to be messy. We have a spate of economic news, and it's likely to be lousy, just as it's been lately. But it's worth remembering that the next batch of economic news will have to be materially worse than currently expected for it to be a real drag on the markets.

Scheduled economic indicators include existing-home sales on Monday, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices Tuesday and new-home sales Wednesday. All are expected to be crummy. Also on the docket next week are the producer price index (Tuesday), durable goods orders (Wednesday) and personal income and spending (Friday).

Turning to earnings, Toll Brothers(TOL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) plans to report Wednesday, followed by Freddie Mac(FRE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Thursday. Other companies reporting next week include retailers Nordstrom(JWN - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), RadioShack(RSH - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Target(TGT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Home Depot(HD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Gap(GPS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).

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The usual suspects are queued up to challenge the Fed's efficacy. (Bloomberg)
Barron's is bullish, picking Celgene(CELG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Disney(DIS - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Marvell Technology(MRVL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). (Barron's)
More Americans Are Giving Up Golf. (The New York Times)
African economies are growing faster than at any time in recent history. (IMF)
In era of delays, airport hotels gain popularity. (The Boston Globe)
Suburbia's March to Oblivion. (The New York Times)
Rivals getting ready for concerted fight against Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)-Yahoo!(YHOO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) merger. (Times of London)
Hedge fund king Cliff Asness loses his Midas Touch. (Fortune)
AQR hedge fund lost almost 15% through mid-February. (Bloomberg)
Another high-flying hedge fund collapses. (Fortune)
Arizona's $4 billion solar deal. (Fortune)
Financial companies' unwillingness to connect the credit dots prolongs crisis. (Reuters)
China eyes slower money, credit growth in 2008. (Reuters)
Fed's Fisher warns on growth but wary of inflation. (Reuters)
Homeowners losing equity lines of credit in large numbers. (The Washington Post)
Food takes bigger bite from wallet. (Chicago Tribune)
Big changes in investment banks' payouts in 2007, with far more paying stock, not cash. (IDD)
New competition belatedly emerges for ratings agencies. (IDD)
Sprint Nextel's(S - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Wake-Up Call. (BusinessWeek)
Texas is chasing a new boom market in wind power. (The New York Times)
Gas costs force Americans to cut back on driving. (The Boston Globe)
Price of new build homes in U.K. 'set to crash'. (Telegraph)
Maybe Microsoft should stalk SAP(SAP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), not Yahoo!. (The New York Times)
Are suburbs the next urban slum? (Atlantic)
Brazil's commodity-producing behemoth. (Time)
Critics of Microsoft's deal for Yahoo growing. (New York Post)
The much-ballyhooed Apple(AAPL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) iPhone SDK will be late. (BusinessWeek)
iPhone unlocking has become fast and point-and-click. (iGreed)
Warren Buffett doesn't notice naked people when playing bridge. (CBS News)