Last week the Dow was off 125.88 points or 1.1% to 11370.69. The S&P 500 was off 2.82 points for the week, just a 0.2% decline to 1257.76, and the Nasdaq was up 1.2 percent at 2310.53.

Crude oil finished the past week at $123.26, a level not seen since May. It has lost more than 15% in the last three weeks. Despite the steep 4.8% drop in crude oil in the past week, stocks fail to advance but retreated instead, as renewed fears about financial companies and the economy overturned gains.

Looking at the Dow weekly chart, after hitting the resistance at the 11700 levels and pulling back from all its gain to close for the week at 11370.69 forming a shooting star bearish reversal. This week will tell whether the recent bullish rebound was actually a bear trap.

The key data expected in this coming week includes the home prices index and consumer confidence, released Tuesday. Wednesday’s data includes the ADP employment report and oil and gasoline inventories. Weekly jobless claims are reported Thursday as usual. Q2 GDP is also reported that day, along with the employment cost index. Chicago PMI is also released Thursday.

Media, telecommunications, consumer staples and energy are among the sectors reporting earnings in the week ahead.

On Monday, AMGN, KFT, TSN and VZ report. Tuesday, CL, SNE, SAP, X and VLO report. Wednesday, SBUX, V and MT report. Thursday, XOM, MA, K and MOT report. CVX, TOT, NYX, CI, and CLX report Friday.

Can corporate earnings stir up a buying spree? Remember not to be misled into buying options prior to the earnings releases; you should consider only buying after the earnings are released instead. Be patient, wait for the IV to shrink first or else you will be paying for overpriced options.

“The four most dangerous words in investing are, its different this time” - Sir John Templeton

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