Looking Ahead: September 17 through September 21, 2012

Stocks soared on news that the Federal Reserve is launching another round of quantitative easing. Whether profit taking will follow the beginning of this week remains to be seen. Besides the Fed action, the German Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the ESM — but with caveats. Data from China disappointed, showing weakness — especially in the country’s bilateral trade with the EU. This coming week appears to be calmer. The Bank of Japan meets. Expectations now are that the BoJ will expand its easing program, following the Fed. The major data are the flash purchasing managers’ indexes that will be released Thursday for China, Germany, France, the Eurozone and the United States. Investors also will be watching Japan’s merchandise trade data for new clues to global growth.