Looking ahead to next week

Today's economic data wasn't all that bad, but China and Europe are driving the action. We'd be down a lot more but America is actually getting healthier, and our companies have strong fundamentals, unlike Europe. On the other hand, if you're company even knows where China is on the map, it's selling off today. Anything related to China is getting swept up in talk of what could be the hardest "hard landing" in history. Throw in an SEC investigation into the balance sheets of Chinese ADR's, most of which are traded on the Nasdaq, and you have a real problem. I forever the optimist don't think it will unfold like this, but it's not the time to be buying anything Chinese. Next week we get a slew of economic data, starting the week with the ISM Index, then construction spending, auto sales, truck sales, and factory orders. At the end of the week we get the big ones, Nonfarm payrolls and Unemployment. We'll see if the US data moves the market, or if it's still all about China and Europe. My guess is on the latter with one caveat, Apple (AAPL). If you read my blog you know next Tuesday, Tim Cook will release the much anticipated iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S. It's hard for me to say whether the market will like the phone or not until it's unveiled, but if Apple (AAPL) gives us a positive surprise or two, I think it can take the tech sector up along with it. ARM Holdings (ARMH) and Broadcom (BRCM), both of which are down close to 2% today, will be great ancillary plays off any good Apple (AAPL) news.

This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. DAK was long AAPL, BRCM, and ARMH at time of publication but positions can change at anytime.