On Tap Today: Greenspan Addresses Congress; January Retail Sales Released

Today the market looks to Fed chairman

Alan Greenspan for guidance as he delivers his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony, in which he'll speak about current economic conditions and deliver his predictions for 2001. In a separate story,

TheStreet.com's

David Gaffen provides some

insight into the possible implications of today's testimony.

As for economic data, several spending indicators hit the Street today, led by the January

Retail sales report. This timely indicator measures the total number of sales at retail businesses; it typically moves markets.

Following closely on the heels of the retail sales report are the

BTM-UBSW Weekly Chain Store Sales Index and the

Redbook Retail Average.

In earnings news, semiconductor big shot

Applied Materials

(AMAT) - Get Report

announces earnings for its fiscal first quarter. Wall Street expects the company to post earnings of 63 cents a share, compared with 24 cents a share a year ago.

Shares of Applied Materials traded up 3.5% to finish at $44 yesterday.

All that and a few lockup expirations will make for a busy day on Wall Street.

Expected Earnings Reports

This table includes S&P 500 companies only. Dates are as expected according to First Call/Thomson Financial, and may change. The full week's earnings calendar is published separately .

Economic Data

(

Forecasts are from

Reuters

. Times are Eastern. For a longer-term economic calendar and more, see

TSC's

Economic Databank.

)

8:30 a.m.: Retail sales for January. Source: Census Bureau. Forecast: +0.6%. Previous: +0.1%. Ex-autos: Forecast: +0.4%. Previous: unchgd.
9 a.m.: BTM-UBSW Weekly Chain Store Sales Index for the week ended Feb 10. Source: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg. Forecast: n.a.. Previous: -0.1%.
10 a.m.: Greenspan testimony. Source: Federal Reserve. The Fed Chairman testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on the economy and monetary policy, an appearance formerly known as Humphrey-Hawkins.
10:30 a.m.: Redbook Retail Average for the week through Feb. 10 vs. January. Source: LJR Redbook Forecast: n.a.. Previous: +2.2%.

IPO Lockups Expiring

(TheStreet.com's

Michael Falbo, who writes for

TSC's

ipoPros.com subsidiary, keeps a close eye on lockup expirations every week. For more on lockup expirations and why they matter, check out Ben Holmes' primer on the subject. The full current lockup expiration list is published separately. For information on IPO pricings, filings and aftermarket activity, plus a calendar of upcoming IPOs, check out

TheStreet.com's

IPO data section.

)

Conferences and Meetings

Robertson Stephens Tech 2001 Conference (Day 2)