Coming Week: Searching for Signs

Wall Street may be approaching a holiday slowdown, but the action in the coming week likely will be spirited.

In addition to inflation data and big-name earnings, the market will be watching the Federal Reserve's last meeting of 2006 for clues about what the central bank plans to do in 2007.

In recent weeks, economic data have been pointing to a slowdown in the economy, creating concerns about a so-called hard landing scenario. At the same time, the data raised many traders' hopes that the Fed will cut its target rate early next year. ...