@ Wall Street
Greece had another up-and-down week?up on Sunday after the Greek parliament approved an austerity package, down on Wednesday after distrustful eurozone finance ministers demanded further written commitments from Greece?s political leaders, and up again on Friday after German Chancellor Merkel, Italian Prime Minister Monti and Greek Prime Minister Papademos voiced optimism over the bailout package?s approval.
Eurozone finance ministers will meet next week in Brussels, and will probably agree on a package that at a minimum will avoid a March default. Details on how the bailout money will be distributed still need to be ironed out. On Friday, Congress showed that it can overcome partisanship after all, approving an extension of the payroll tax cut and emergency unemployment benefits.
The latest economic reports were mostly in line with expectations and mostly positive. Retail sales in January grew at their strongest pace since October. Homebuilder sentiment continued to improve in February, and housing starts in January climbed to their second highest level in more than three years. The initial claims four-week average fell to its lowest point since April 26, 2008. Manufacturing production had another solid month in January. Finally, both producer and consumer prices rose slightly in January.
Home sales and consumer sentiment are on the docket in the upcoming week. Good weather and momentum should propel both new and existing home sales higher in January. Consumer sentiment in February should be slightly lower than in January, but probably a little better then the preliminary February reading.
