The housing market got a bit of bad news Monday morning, with pending home sales falling faster than expected in January.

Consumer confidence has been on the rise over the past couple of months, but that boost in confidence did not carry over to pending home sales, which were down 2.8% during the month of January.

With earnings season in full swing, the FOMC meeting on interest rates, the GDP estimate, and housing numbers due out, the coming week is shaping up to be a busy one. So here's a peek at what's on the economic calendar.

Monday

Quarterly reports from American Express (AXP) and McDonald's (MCD) will highlight Monday. Amgen (AMGN), CSX (CSX), Halliburton (HAL) and Texas Instruments (TXN) are also expected to report strong earnings results.

U.S. stock futures are lower this morning as investors await economic data on weekly jobless claims and home sales. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 21 points to 11,765.00, while S&P 500 futures declined 1.3 points to 1,277.20. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1.75 points to 2,292.75.

U.S. stocks dropped Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping 12.64 points, or 0.11%.

Economic data on weekly jobless claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Data on existing home sales, leading indicators for December and the Philly Fed index for January will be released at 10 a.m. ET.

Google (GOOG) is projected to report Q4 EPS of $8.07 on revenue of $6.05 billion.

UnitedHealth (UNH) reported its Q4 EPS of 94 cents, beating the consensus of 84 cents. UNH reported its Q4 revenue at $24 billion, versus the estimates of $23.75 billion.

According to Standard & Poor's (S&P) Case-Shiller home price index, home prices are falling faster in the nation's largest cities.

The index dropped 0.6% in September compared to August (some are reporting 0.7%), with 18 of the cities recording monthly price declines. The largest drop was reported in Cleveland, Ohio, which saw prices drop 3% compared to a month earlier. The only two cities where prices increased were Washington DC (thanks mainly to government spending) and Las Vegas (which has been battered in recent reports).

Among the quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for the earnings results from Tyson Foods (TSN). The Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer reported on its sustainability efforts and also was named McDonalds' (MCD) supplier of the year during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to have doubled from a year ago to 56 cents per share.

Tyson is also expected to post revenue of $7.8 billion for the three months that ended in September, which is 7.4% more than in the same period of fiscal 2009. And the consensus estimate for the full year calls for earnings of $2.08 per share (+87.0%) and revenue of $28.7 billion (+7.3%). Tyson's earnings have been better than expected in recent quarters, beating consensus estimates by as much as 24 cents per share.

Tuesday morning started off on a bearish note, which intensified after the latest news release from the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index. The index reported that home prices dropped 0.2% during August, which brought an end to four straight months of gains.

The Case-Shiller home price index was termed "disappointing" by those compiling the data. In 15 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the index, home prices dropped compared to July. In addition, the data showed that annualized price growth slowed to 1.7% from July's 3.2%. The only cities that showed an increase in home prices were Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Washington D.C.

Alcoa (AA), Marriott (MAR) and Yum! Brands (YUM) kick off the new earnings season this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for moderate year-over-year earnings and revenue growth in the third quarter from each of these dividend payers.

Note that Marriott and Yum! Brands have exceeded consensus estimates in recent quarters and have First Call consensus buy recommendations as well. They are also trading near their 52-week highs, while Alcoa shares are closer to the 52-week low despite a 22% rise in the past three months.

During June, home prices increased for the third-straight month, lending a bit of momentum to the bulls Tuesday morning. The problem is that the downward tide of the market was too much for this news to overcome, but taking this news in conjunction with other news could put a positive spin on the day.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index posted a 1% increase in June compared to May. Comparing the number to a year ago, the index increased 4.2%. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the second-quarter numbers were 4.8% better than the first quarter. Of the 20 cities surveyed, 17 saw monthly price increases -- Las Vegas was the only city where prices fell.

Wednesday morning got off to a slow start for the market as a whole, and the July home sales report didn't going to help matters much. According to the Commerce Department, new home sales plummeted 12.4% in July compared to June.

The drop brings the seasonally adjusted annual sales pace to 276,600, far short of the expected pace of 330,000. Not only is this pace short of the expected result, but it is the slowest pace on record, which dates back to 1963.

Oil prices have rebounded from yesterday's sell off, despite a larger than expected increase in oil inventories last week.

As we noted yesterday, analysts were expecting to see a 250,000 barrel increase in reserves last week, but the Department of Energy reported today that inventories actually rose by a much greater 2.4 million barrels.

Today was one of the days where the only way to know where it would really end up was to have a crystal ball or time machine with a 4:00 PM destination. The only real data was existing home sales, and the overseas markets offered enough continued weakness and uncertainty that the news flow almost did not even matter. The three major stock indexes all spent at least some time in positive territory despite the woes of the day.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,066.57 -126.82 (-1.24%)
S&P 500 1,073.63 -14.06 (-1.29%)
Nasdaq 2,213.55 -15.49 (-0.69%)

Top Analyst Calls

The housing market continues to improve, and March was a very good month for new home sales.

New home sales were up by 26.9% during the month, which is the biggest one month increase in 47 years, with home buyers taking advantage of the tax credit that is about to expire.

According to an Associated Press survey of leading economists, jobs and home values will stay unstable into 2011. The survey indicates that the recovery is going to continue trudging along through the year, which should prompt the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates near zero. Three-fourths of the economists surveyed believe that the interest rates will stay low until the final quarter of 2010.

Other highlights from the survey (if you can call them highlights) include the belief that the unemployment rate will stay "stubbornly high" during the next two years. The group believes that the unemployment rate will drop to 9.3% by the end of this year and will drop to 8.4% at the end of 2011.

The race is on for first-time home buyers to close their contracts before April 30. That is when the $8,000 first-time home buyers credit ends. Buyers who are selling a home and buying a new home are eligible for $6,500.

This last minute rush has bumped up the National Association of Realtor's Pending Home Sales Index 8.2% to 97.6, from 90.2 in January. The index is 17.3% higher than February 2009.

The housing market is still in the doldrums. Existing home sales fell .6% in February to an annual rate of 5.02 million, as reported by the National Association of Realtors.

This number is important because existing home sales account for 90% of the market. The Obama administration extended the first-time home buyer program until this June 30 for contracts signed before April 30. So far there has been little or not bump up in sales

Another disheartening statistic is a jump of 9.5% in previously owned homes on the market to 3.59 million. At this rate it would take 8.5 months to sell these homes.