- Market Commentary -

February 1, 2010 (FinancialWire) (By Genevieve Hawkins) — Wall Street suffered a setback in the first month of 2010 and with oil giant Exxon (NYSE: XOM) set to report next week, the slide appears poised to continue.

Last week the Dow declined 1.1%, while the S&P 500 dropped 1.7% and the Nasdaq slid 2.6% in a continuation of a downward trend for 2010. Concern about lackluster earnings reports and economic data will plague investors for the next several months at minimum.

Corporate earnings reports will be coming out in droves in the coming week, including for Exxon and shipping giant UPS. Many investors are more concerned about the fate of government debt loads now that Greece’s problems have signaled the potential for a wave of defaults. The powers that be may have to hold back the floodgates as concerns about a double dip recession have quickly spiraled.

All signs point to another stock market slide in the coming week. For this reason alone, the market may inexplicably stage a huge rally.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=genevieve+hawkins to see more commentaries by Genevieve Hawkins.]

The FirstAlert(tm) “Money Index” is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the combined NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX 25 Most Actives and combined NYSE, NASDAQ and AMEX greatest Percentage Losers and Percentage Winners (weighted against pure monetary loss/gain) indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing, as well as the general focus of the market. The most recently published FirstAlert(tm) Money Index Synopses are accessible via FinancialWire.net (at http://www.financialwire.net/?s=index+synopsis). The data providing the basis for the FirstAlert(tm) Money Index is provided courtesy of Stock Smart, and complete Stock Smart charts and closing summaries are directly accessible via a dedicated Investrend.com webpage (at http://www.investrend.com/fa-index).

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Personal Income & Consumption Spending for December (8:30 a.m.), ISM Index for January (10 am et0, Construction Spending for December (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 3&6-month bills (11:30 a.m.).

The FirstAlert(tm) Events Calendar showcases RZ at C TRADE Energy & Environment Conference; SD at Credit Suisse Group Energy Summit.

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.livescience.com/technology/cell-phone-photos-100130.html

Quote of the Day: “No woman can be handsome by the force of features alone, any more than she can be witty by only the help of speech.” Langston Hughes

Today is: Freedom Day, Give Kids A Smile Day.

Happy Birthday: Victor Herbert, John Ford, S. J. Perelman, George Beverly Shea, Boris Yeltsin, Don Everly, Garrett Morris, Sherman Hemsley, Terry Jones, Jessica Savitch, Bill Mumy, Lisa Marie Presley, Pauly Shore.

Today in History: Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet patented the steamboat in 1788. In New York City the Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time in 1790. Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was published for the first time in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862. Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary was published in 1884. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began operations in 1920. Frenchman Charles Rigoulet was the first weightlifter to lift over 400 pounds (181 kg) in the “clean and jerk” method in 1929. Convicted bank robber Patty Hearst was released from prison in 1979 after her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas upon reentry killing all seven astronauts on board in 2003.

[FirstAlert(tm) was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information. The opinions expressed in FirstAlert(tm) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

FinancialWire(tm) is committed to serving the financial community through true journalism and providing relevant resources to investors. Standards-based, independent equity research on numerous public companies is available through the Investrend Research Syndicate (http://www.investrend.com/reports) written by FIRST Research Consortium (http://www.investrend.com/FIRST) member-providers. Free annual reports and company filings for companies mentioned in the news are available through the Investrend Information Syndicate (at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279). FinancialWire(tm), in cooperation with the Investrend Broadcast Syndicate, also provides complete, daily conference call and webcast schedules as a service to shareholders and investors via the FirstAlert(tm) Network’s “FirstAlert(tm) Daily” (http://www.financialwire.net/news-alerts/).

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) website (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php). Contact FinancialWire(tm) directly via inquiries@financialwire.net.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.