One Heck of a Week Ahead

There is an old Wall Street adage that reads "sell in May and go away."  Its based on the historical concept that stocks tend to do most of their moves from Labor Day to Memorial Day and then slow down when the weather gets nice.

The credit and mortgage crisis has changed this.

Investors now know that with negative headlines on housing and credit able to cross at any time, any day, its more important than ever to be engaged in the news flow every day, every week.

This week is a great example.  There are a flurry of economic reports that will provide a clear picture of the health or illness of many segments of the American economy. 

Monday: ISM manufacturing index

Tuesday: Monthly auto sales

Wednesday: ADP employment report - which is now being just as closely watched as the government's monthly payroll data

Thursday: Weekly jobless claims

Friday: Monthly payroll report and consumer credit figures

We also get earnings from a few homebuilders (Toll Brothers, Hovnanian), retailers (Gander Mountain, Collective Brands, Williams Sonoma) and bananas (Del Monte) and booze (Brown-Forman).

My point -- this is one of those weeks where if you 'went away' you may wish you hadn't.