Some investors described Friday's pullback as relatively modest and unsurprising given the six-week rally. In fact, this week, optimism among individual investors rose to its highest level since January 2011, according to the American Association of Individual Investors.
"There's a feeling that [a Greek debt deal] is further from reality than some people thought yesterday," said Bob Gelfond, chief executive of MQS Asset Management in New York. "Put that on top of the fact that the stock market has had a pretty good run for weeks and maybe it's entitled to take a day off."
Social gaming company Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) is due to release its first earnings report since going public last month. After a busy initial public offering week, new issuance is expected to slow though Brightcove Inc. and Ceres Inc. are expected to go public next week.
The Federal Reserve is expected to vote on Capital One Financial Corp.'s (COF) $9 billion bid to buy ING Direct USA on Monday afternoon.
Zynga To Post First Earnings Results Since Going Public
Zynga is due to release its fourth-quarter results Tuesday, marking its first earnings release since the social game maker went public in January. Facebook Inc. in its IPO prospectus last week disclosed 12% of its revenue last year came from Zynga, which has impressed analysts and investors. Zynga's business model is largely based on Facebook's success--Zynga received 93% of its revenue last year from virtual goods it sold on the social network.
Other companies due to report next week include door-to-door beauty products company Avon Products Inc. (AVP), auto maker General Motors Co. (GM), cable operator Comcast Corp. (CMCSA, CMCSK), hotelier Marriott International Inc. (MAR), upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc. (JWN) and media company CBS Corp. (CBS).
Brightcove, Ceres Expected To Go Public Next Week
After a busy week in which seven IPOs traded higher in the U.S., new issuance will slow for a while as more companies put the finishing touches on their year-end financial reports.
With most prospectuses for IPOs lacking data more recent than the third quarter of 2011, firms hoping to launch deals will hit a deadline next week, after which their documents must show freshly audited results from the fourth quarter. Without those numbers, they can't go public, and as a result, issuance will likely be lighter for the next several weeks.
One firm that managed to complete its year-end results on Monday is online video software provider Brightcove Inc., and it is planning to sell $60 million through a listing on the Nasdaq and begin trading this coming week under the symbol BCOV.
Another launch possibility could be Ceres Inc., with a fiscal year that ends Aug. 31, which relieves it from the need to refresh its financials in the same time frame as companies using the calendar year ending in December. Ceres is a holdover from this past week, when it originally targeted its launch.
Fed Expected To Vote On Capital One Bid To Buy ING Direct On Monday
Federal Reserve officials are expected to vote on Capital One's controversial bid to buy ING Direct USA, the biggest bank deal since the recent financial crisis, next week.
A planned meeting on the proposed acquisition was rescheduled from this week to Monday afternoon.
Capital One's $9 billion plan to buy ING Groep NV's (ING, INGA.AE) U.S. online-banking business has met strong criticism from consumer groups. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition argues that the acquisition would make Capital One so risky and complex that it would put the U.S. financial system in danger.
Capital One's proposal is one of the first bank mergers to face a new Fed review that weighs a merger's impact on the financial system--a test required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul designed to help prevent a repeat of the recent financial crises.
Price Reports, Housing Data Due
Two major price reports will be released next week, with the producer price index due Thursday and the consumer price index on Friday.
The producer price index, which measures the change in how much manufacturers and wholesalers pay for goods and materials, fell slightly in December from November. The consumer-price index, which measures the change in how much Americans pay for everything from groceries to automobiles, was unchanged in December from the prior month.
Investors will look for signs of recovery from the hard-hit housing sector with the National Association of Home Builders' February index due for release Wednesday and reports on January housing starts to be released Thursday. The closely watched NAHB confidence index jumped to 25 in January. Meanwhile, U.S. home building retreated in December amid a drop in apartment construction, a sign the housing market's recovery will continue to be rocky.
American International Toy Fair Kicks Off Sunday
The annual American International Toy Fair will be held between Feb. 12 to Feb. 15 in New York City, an event that draws more than 1,100 manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents to showcase their latest toys and entertainment products. The toy fair showcases action figures, games and puzzles, infant and preschool toys and video games, among other products. The event will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, as well as some showroom locations throughout the city.
WaMu Seeks Chapter 11 Plan Confirmation
With more than three years of work and $7 billion on the line, Washington Mutual Inc. will try for the third time to secure court approval of its creditor-payment plan.
The company behind the biggest bank collapse in U.S. history on Thursday will ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., to sign off on its $7 billion Chapter 11 plan of reorganization. The court has already rejected two earlier proposals.
The plan, which will turn the company into an insurance operation, relies on a settlement that has stayed in place even as the plans themselves have been shot down. Washington Mutual settled an array of legal disputes with J.P. Morgan & Chase Co. (JPM), which bought Washington Mutual Bank after its failure, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which brokered the deal. The three-way settlement splits up valuable tax refunds, cash and other assets.
Xi To Make First Official Trip To The U.S.
Xi Jinping, the man widely expected to become China's top leader this year, will take his biggest step into the international spotlight when he meets President Barack Obama on Feb. 14 on his first official visit to the U.S. as vice president.
The White House said Xi will meet Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in Washington, and also visit Iowa and California--unusual additions to the itinerary for a Chinese heir-apparent. The widely anticipated visit could help him boost his stature at home while offering U.S. officials a rare chance to learn more about him before he takes over as Communist Party chief in a once-a-decade leadership change in the autumn.
It will also help to set the tone for relations between China and the U.S. over the next decade. Xi will be the most senior Chinese leader to visit the U.S. since Obama announced in November a new strategic focus on Asia to counterbalance China's growing assertiveness in the region.
Conferences
Among the significant conferences next week are Barclays Bank PLC Big Data Conference on Monday in San Francisco; the Biotechnology Industry Organization CEO and Investor Conference Monday and Tuesday in New York; the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Technology and Internet Conference Tuesday through Thursday; and the Sterne Agee Financial Institutions Investor Conference Monday through Wednesday in Orlando.
Also scheduled are the Stifel Nicolaus Transportation Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday in Key Biscayne, Fla.; the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Insurance Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in New York; and the Leerink Swann Global Healthcare Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in New York. (source http://online.wsj.com/ )
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