After a bullish Monday, the market will prepare to digest numbers from both the 20-city Case-Shiller Index and the Consumer Confidence Index on Tuesday. Here's a breakdown on what these numbers could mean for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Case-Shiller continues to crumble?
The Case-Shiller numbers will detail price moves for January, as the report has a two-month lag. The last Case-Shiller Index reported a 4% decline for December home prices, and the market expects another 3.8% decline for January. Predicting a housing bottom has become a pastime for many investors who are looking to invest in real estate-related stocks such as Home Depot
Continued lowered prices will keep eroding the Case-Shiller from its highs during the housing boom:
Case-Shiller HPI: Composite 20 Chart by YCharts
Consumer confidence holds steady?
The market expects the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index to weigh in at 70.1, down from last month's 70.8. These are both significantly better than January's confidence at 61.5, with last month's large improvement from fewer consumers stating that business conditions were bad and fewer saying that jobs were hard to get.
Improved consumer-confidence numbers may keep the market roaring, as could Ben Bernanke's comments yesterday that "continued accommodative policies" could be used to push unemployment lower and boost consumer demand. His comments helped push Coca-Cola
Later in the week
Look for numbers on initial and continuing jobless claims, a revised GDP estimate for the fourth quarter, and trends in personal incomes.
But remember ...
The daily moves of the Dow don't mean much for long-term investors looking to outperform the market. Even a solid company may tick down when the market bears bad news, but over several years the daily moves mean little. To reveal three such solid stocks that will help you construct your retirement portfolio, along with the habits needed to build wealth far into the future, read our free report: "3 Stocks That Will Help You Retire Rich" -- it's free!
