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Historically, December is the best month of the year, although the market took a breather last week after five straight up weeks. There shouldn’t be too much news this week. A few milestones could fall. The Dow has a shot of breaking 11000. Also, oil might hit $60 a barrel. Next week will have another Federal Reserve meeting, but a rate hike is fully expected. Here’s what’s on tap for this week:

• Cisco Systems holds a three-day analyst conference beginning Monday; chipmaker Altera holds a two-day analyst meeting starting Monday as well.

• On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management releases its November read on the services sector of the economy. The index is expected to have fallen to 59.3 in the month, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com, from 60.0 in October.

• October factory orders, due Tuesday, are expected to have risen 1.5 percent in the month after falling 1.7 percent in September.

• Brocade, a maker of gear for computer data storage, reports earnings Tuesday morning. The company is expected to have earned 5 cents per share, according to First Call estimates, versus 7 cents a year ago.

• Texas Instruments issues its mid-quarter update after the close Wednesday; rival Intel issues its mid-quarter update after the close Thursday.

• Toll Brothers reports earnings Thursday morning. The homebuilder is expected to have earned $1.66 per share versus $1.11 a year ago.

• The first read on December consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is due Friday. The index is expected to have risen to 84.0 from 81.6 in November.

• Wholesale inventories are expected to have risen 0.4 percent in October after rising 0.6 percent in September. That report is due on Friday.

Posted by edelfenbein at December 5, 2005 5:43 AM