Catalysts to Watch New circuit breakers/trading curbs; Greece has a bond payment due May 19 and Portugal has one on May 20

Catalysts to Watch

· Tech - the JPMorgan Tech conf runs Mon-Wed in Boston   

· New circuit breakers/trading curbs due to be announced by the SEC today

· There will be hearings on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on Wed and on the May 6 market plunge on Thurs. 

· In Europe, Greece has a bond payment due May 19 and Portugal has one on May 20. 

· Spain bond auction – the country sold bills this morning; will sell up to EU3.5B in 4% ’20 bonds on May 20.  Bloomberg 

· G20 - vice finance ministers and deputy central bankers will convene in Berlin Wednesday to discuss the European sovereign debt crisis and other issues of mutual concern – Fox Business

· Europe to rollout new 5-year telecoms plan on Wed – NYT 

· US politics – a bunch of important primaries due on Tues.  See this article for recap: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37386.html

· Fed Update - something to keep in mind - we will get the minutes from the Apr 27-28 FOMC meeting tomorrow, May 19 (2pmET).  Note that this meeting was held before the peak of the European credit crisis of a couple weeks ago, and therefore may sound a bit more hawkish vs. current market sentiment….

· GE – will be speaking at the EPG conf tomorrow – this will be in focus

· Germany could unveil new short selling restrictions – announcement could come tonight – Reuters 

Economics Calendar – daily view

· Wednesday, May 19th: US (MBA Mortgage Applications, CPI, FOMC Meeting Minutes); Eurozone (BoE Meeting Minutes, Eurozone Construction Output); Other (Australia Westpac Consumer Confidence, Japan IP, GDP).

· Thursday, May 20th: US (Jobless Claims, Leading Indicators, Philadelphia Fed); Eurozone (UK Retail Sales, Eurozone Consumer Confidence); Other (Swiss ZEW).

· Friday, May 21st: US (n/a); Eurozone (German GDP, IFO, Eurozone Current Accounts); Other (BoJ Meeting & Interest Rate Decision, Canada CPI, Retail Sales).

Corporate Events Calendar To Watch

· Tues May 18: earnings after the close (WSTL, HPQ, ADI, IMOS, GRRF, PLAB).  Analyst meetings (ALB, RHB, NLC, WTM, CAH, HCP, GLRE, AFL)

· Wed May 19: earnings before the open (CHS, HRL, BRC, CTRN, TGT, DE, BJ, EV).  Earnings after the close (OPXT, AMAT, ADSK, ARUN, NTES, BRS, HOTT, PETM, SNPS, LTD, GYMB, AAP).  Analyst meetings (ARMH, AFL, OXY, SYK, POT, AMCC) 

· Thurs May 20: earnings before the open (GME, TDW, BKE, SPLS, WSM, MF, CSC, ROST); earnings after the close (CPWR, FL, INTU, ARO, MRVL, CRM, WTSLA, ZUMZ, FMCN, VRGY, PSUN, RRGB); analyst meetings (GG, FSR, BA, TRV)

· Fri May 21: earnings before the open (FRO, London Stock Exchange, TECD).  Mid-Q updates (LSTR) 

Economics Update

· Inflation readings – the headline PPI came in dwn 0.1% vs. the St looking for a 0.1% increase.  On a core basis, the reading came in 0.2% vs. the St 0.1%. 

· Housing – housing starts came in at 672K vs. the St at 650K.  this is the second consecutive positive housing data point (on back of yesterday’s NAHB survey).