Treasury Auctions, Retail Sales, The Fed’s Exit, Consumer Sentiment

The week ahead is a particularly slow one. The only major releases are the Trade Balance on Wednesday and Retail Sales report on Thursday. Plus, Friday will see February’s first measure of consumer confidence.

With little fresh data to anticipate, the fear is that markets will continue on their downward path this week. Since January 19 the Dow has shed 5.6% while the S&P 500 has lost 6.9%.

One hour before the opening bell, however, equity markets are looking stable. Dow futures are up 10 points to 10,012 and S&P 500 futures are up 3.08 points to 1,066.

Meantime, WTI Crude oil is starting the week 15 cents higher at $71.34 per barrel and Spot Gold is up $1.90 to $1,068.20. The US dollar, by contrast, is lower against the majors after hitting the highest level since the summer of 2009 last Friday.

In news from the weekend,  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told ABC’s This Week the U.S. will “absolutely not” lose its AAA-rating. “That will never happen to this country,” he added. 

The Week Ahead…

Monday:

No significant data released.

Treasury Auctions:

• 11:30 â€