U.S. Economy Week Ahead

Goldman and Morgan Stanley are expected to post another big quarterly write-downs on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively after their recent conversion into bank-holding companies. The Wall Street Journal expects "More Pain at Goldman and Morgan Stanly".

The Fed is expected to lower their target for the overnight federal funds rate by at least a half-point to a record low of 0.5% at the end of a two-day meeting, on Tuesday. If everything goes as expected, the Fed needs to find out some other ways to boost the sluggish economy.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is likely to cut oil production to stem recent price declines. OPEC May Cut Production By 1.5 Million Barrels A Day. The meeting is on Wednesday in Algeria. Let's watch closely at the movement of the oil price for the week ahead.

More data on inflation and the housing market will be released next week, with the November Consumer Price Index on Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders' December Housing Market Index on Monday and a government report on November housing starts Tuesday.