Lack of Data from the U.S. Continues, and Investors Focus on Companies’ Earnings 

We reached the middle of the weak dear reader and still the scene in the United States is relatively free of key data, this week seems to be calm, still that doesn’t mean that the news released regarding the economy itself or about other major economies around the world or even about the repercussions of the Egyptian political crisis didn't have the effect on U.S. markets.

First, we should indicate that U.S. companies keep disclosing its financial results for the 4th quarter of 2010, taking into account, the relatively strong performance of the companies, the thing that pushed stock indexes to keep rising through the past six days, which led the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest level since June 2008.

Noting dear reader that confidence over the outlook of the U.S economy was starting to build up gradually, where the U.S economic recovery level seems to have gained some momentum lately following the slowdown witnessed in various economic sectors through the 2nd half of 2010.

On the other hand, we should note what is happening in Egypt, since we shouldn’t exclude global events when talking about the U.S. economy, where the political crisis in the Middle East affected investors’ trading intermittently and relatively, as the protesters are still standing in al-Tahreer Square in the Egyptian capital Cairo, demanding President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

At last we note that the U.S. economy is still far from fulfilling a full recovery amid the worst recession since WW II, and it’s certain that the economy needs more time to stabilize and to reach safety, where the recovery is still expected to undergo gradually through the 2nd half of 2011.