Stocks have had a nice run of it of late, but will it continue this coming week? The economic data that will be released this week as well as the earnings reports will have a lot to do with the direction of the stock market for the coming week.
On the economic data side of things this week, though there are several smaller numbers coming out throughout the week, all eyes will be focused on the nonfarm payrolls number being released Friday the 5th. Last month the nonfarm payrolls number came in far short of expectations, which spooked the market. The market is expecting a bounceback in the employment market, with the average 
expectation for this Friday's number sitting at 100,000 jobs gained. The bulls will likely be hoping for a fairly soft number so that the Federal Reserve will be more likely to continue to cut rates, but a very soft number like last month's is very negative for the markets.
Earnings season doesn't kick into high gear for a couple more weeks, but some big names will be reporting this week.
Tommorrow morning Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) reports before the opening bell. Walgreen shares have traded in a tight trading range the entire year, staying between $43 and $48 a share. Palm Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) will report after the bell tommorrow, with analysts expecting the company to earn less than they did in the same period last year.
Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE:STZ) will report Thursday morning. The beverage makers stock has performed quite poorly over the past year, and investors are certainly hoping for a nice boost from the earnings report.
The biggest tech earnings report out this week will undoubtedly be Research in Motion Limited (Nasdaq:RIMM). RIMM shares have more than doubled in the past six months, and have risen nearly 500% from January 2006 levels.
The past week was the last one of the third quarter, and the bulls received a nice boost from the "window dressing" that generally occurs in the final week of an up quarter. This week is a whole new story, and market watchers will be watching very closely to see just how the market gets things started.
Keep an eye on the trading volume, which has slacked off in the past couple of days. Decreased volume in the up days is concerning to some technical analysts. Economists and investment strategists will continue to watch the recessionary fears vs the inflationary fears, as we have talked about in the past.
This week marks the beginning of the fourth quarter, which can generally be quite good for stocks. Time will tell how this fourth quarter ends.
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