Weekend Reading

Good Sunday morning, and welcome to Weekend Reading. As always, here are some articles and papers worth reading. First, however, a look back at the week that just finished, and a look forward to the week ahead.

It was an upbeat week for the major markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.5%, the S&P 500 index up 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%. Blame the gains on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his "love note" to the market. Inflation was lower, he said, and growth should continue nicely. However, higher oil prices dampened the market's positive tone somewhat.

The coming week will be shortened by the Presidents Day holiday on Monday. This week's optimism likely will hold, so long as there aren't any big negative surprises on the data front. The most important reports for the market concern inflation and retail sales. They include Wal-Mart's(WMT Quote) quarterly earnings release, scheduled for Tuesday, and the January consumer price index, which is due out Wednesday. The Reuters consensus is for a 0.1% increase in CPI. Also scheduled for Wednesday is the index of leading economic indicators. The median forecast is for a 0.2% gain. ...