Heat Hot;Market Cool

The Miami Heat overpowered the New York Knicks 99-89 Friday night at American Airlines Arena in Miami,bringing their record up to 14-5.After missing six games with a bad ankle,Dwayne Wade returned to the court for Miami.The story here is Dwayne Wade,said commentator and NBA great Magic Johnson.He makes everybody on the Heat team that much better.Wade scored 28 points on the night.
New York's Billy Walker was outstanding from a distance,shooting a career high seven three-pointers,ending up with a total of 21 points.As a team,the Knicks hit a remarkable 18 threes on the evening.They did little else well,however,missing their star Carmelo Anthony,who was sidelined with wrist and thumb injuries.
The market was nondescript this week,with the broadly based S&P 500 Index basically flat with a tiny weekly gain of 0.07%.Several mixed earnings reports were received from the likes of Ford,3M and AT&T,and GDP growth was a disappointing 2.8,missing the estimate of 3.0 for Q4 2011.So far this earnings season,only 59% of reports have exceeded estimates,which is below average.
Next week,earnings from Exxon Mobil,Pfizer,Qualcomm and Sony are on the calendar,as well as the important monthly readings from the Institute for Supply Management and the January employment report.The sports scene will be in the grip of pre-Super Bowl excitement as the New York Giants and New England Patriots complete their preparations for the mega American football game.
The S&P futures dropped 2.80 Friday evening,and bond index futures rose.
Exxon Mobil(XOM),Pfizer(PFE),Qualcomm(QCOM),Sony(SNE)

Heat Dominate Magic

On a glittering night in Miami,the Miami Heat were dominating the Orlando Magic 79-55at the end of the third period.Dwayne Wade led the scoring with 26 points,having hit several 3-point shots,while team mates LeBron James and Chris Bosh scored 13 and 9 points respectively.
West of Boulder,Colorado,residents were feeling actual heat.They were evacuated because of wildfires driven by warm wind.Two fires had consumed 130 acres,driving 170 from their homes.
Back east,two tropical storms churned in the Atlantic.Shary was beginning to shear Northeast,away from the U.S.,while Tomas looked more dangerous,being more likely to intensify in the Caribbean.
The market was subdued on Friday,as investors contemplated a week of big events ahead of them.Tuesday brings the midterm election,and Wednesday the Federal Reserve could issue the parameters of more asset purchases to stimulate the economy,which is only growing at a 2% clip.Next Friday,the big employment numbers are released by the Labor Department.
Stock futures were indecisive this evening,with the Dow futures up,but the NASDAQ down and the S&P flat.Bond futures fell.
Update:The final score was Miami 96,Orlando 70.Wade finished with 26 points,and James and Bosh scored 15 and 11 respectively.Dwight Howard led Orlando's scoring with 15 points.