Coming Week: Holidays Really Are Over

While the week ahead is laden with economic data, the results may have little shock value, with most of the negativity priced in.

But any extreme difference from Wall Street expectations, or specifics about the Obama administration's proposed stimulus package, could fuel either a rally or a selloff as the market zigzags through its sideways pattern and the recession continues to unfold.

Next week's docket includes December retail sales, which the Street expects to have declined by 1%; price indices for producers and consumers, which are estimated to have fallen 1.7% and 1% last month, respectively; and data showing industrial firms producing fewer goods and using less of their capacity.

The Mortgage Bankers Association will also release its weekly report on mortgage applications, which some investors have been watching closely. The data provide some color on whether the housing market is settling in at the trough, whether consumers are taking advantage of sharply lower mortgage rates and whether lenders have been providing access to loans.

Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist for RidgeWorth Capital Management, says there may also be some overhang from Friday's bleak employment news. The Federal Reserve's Beige Book report on Wednesday will also get "more than passing reference," he believes, because the market is hungry for news about the country's economic direction.

"Obviously there'll probably be some aftermath from what we had this week, some confirmation that retail sales in December were weak, and we'll be told that industrial production was down," says Gayle. "But that's going to all be pretty much baked in the cake."