The Upcoming Week

The upcoming week is interesting. On Monday the Democrat Convention, WikiLeaks and all, in Philadelphia begins, Gilead Sciences and Kimberly Clark announce their earnings; and Secretary of State John Kerry attends a summit to put the world all at ease about the South China Sea turmoil.

Tuesday brings the Case-Shiller home prices report for May and the June new home sales; consumer confidence for July and the biggie, the Federal Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting when the focus will center on will they or won't they and when, a game Fed watchers by now are quite familiar with. For what's it's worth, the consensus is they won't until possibly September. What would this all be without that word, possibly.

Durable goods day for June is Wednesday; another biggie here, the FOMC ends its gathering and announces its decision on interest rates, giving a whole lot of underemployed Fed watchers something to contemplate and gaze over for a few days besides their navels. And who would want to miss this, the President will address the Democrat convention. There's no word yet whether he'll discuss those WikiLeaks.

Thursday is Hilary day as she accepts the mantel as the Democrat nominee for the upcoming fall slugging match. Stand-up comics should take note, this fall promises much good material for your future gigs. We understand John Steward will be tied to his television with some kind of bungee cord. CBC, Dow, Ford and some others report earnings.

And finally, Friday, (Whew! That's a long week.) it's second quarter GDP time. We know most could hardly wait. This, too, is more navel contemplating material for those underemployed Wall Street savants who are mostly frustrated wannabe English majors who love parsley with their daily reading fare. The Bank of Japan speaks on, guess what, interest rates as many economists--you recall those people, the ones who so accurately tell us what all the nuts and bolts mean--expect a new round of monetary stimulus. Not to be upstaged, a San Francisco Fed governor speaks out on--get this topic--"What's Left in the Fed's Tool Kit." The Fed owns a tool kit? And the same day the Dallas Fed President breaks some bread with New Mexico bankers. Well, they don't call it the Land of Enchantment for nothing.