Weekend Reading: Earnings Rush

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

It was the best week in more than two years for the major U.S. indices. The Dow and the S&P 500 gained 3.2% and 4.2%, respectively, while the Nasdaq advanced 4.9%. As always, it was a combination of things, but it helped that banks like Lehman(LEH - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) were newly seen as able to find fresh funding.

Looking forward to next week, it will be all about first-quarter earnings as reporting season gets underway. With a recession likely and consensus earnings forecasts falling quickly, the test will be whether investors have factored in the likely weakness, or if things are worse than they think. I tilt slightly in the direction of thinking investors are too nervous, but it's a close call.

Turning to economic indicators, the National Association of Realtors will report February pending home sales Tuesday. Also Tuesday, the Fed is scheduled to release minutes from its March FOMC meeting. Thursday will bring international trade data for February. On Friday Reuters and the University of Michigan will release their consumer sentiment survey.

As for earnings, one big sector to watch will be retail, as it will tell us whether consumers are retrenching. Several chains are reporting earnings next week, including Circuit City(CC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Bed Bath & Beyond(BBBY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Rite Aid(RAD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). Other retailers, such as Target(TGT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), won't be reporting earnings, but they do plan to release same-store sales numbers for March, providing further clues about the consumer.

Finally, here are some articles and papers worth reading:

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• Hurricane price tags soaring on crowded U.S. coast. (Reuters)
• Societe Generale moves on from L'affaire Kerviel. (Risk)
• Carbon as the new gold. (IDD)
• Barron's picks Wyeth(WYE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Carnival(CCL - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). (Barron's)
• Housing crisis is hitting the Mortgage Banking Association itself. (The Washington Post)
• Managing Housing Sector Boom-Bust Cycles. (International Monetary Fund)
• Ken Fisher is taking a lot of heat for his bullishness, and he likes it (Forbes)
• Wall Streets moves in herds, in both directions. (The New York Times)
• The boomtown mirage in Arizona. (The New York Times)
• Inside the run on E*Trade(ETFC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) (Fortune)
• Foreclosure crisis reaches into rural communities, too. (USA Today)
• The Mortgage Bust Goes Global. (The New York Times)
• Profile of Nassim Taleb. (Bloomberg Markets)
• U.S. could escape with no more than a mild recession. (Bloomberg)
• Fixing finance could be worse than the problem. (The Economist)
• Deep financial cuts loom across Massachusetts. (The Boston Globe)
• Sam Zell sees himself as sort of an industrial Viagra. (Globe and Mail)
• Housing stocks have turned a (temporary) corner. (The Washington Post)
• How hedge funds are pushing the boundaries of computational science. (Alpha)
• Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) plays hardball with Yahoo!(YHOO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr). (New York Post)

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