What's Going on This Week....

Monday Feb 25

-- Lowe's Companies and Nordstrom report earnings, shedding more light on consumer spending. Lowe's is expected to post a 56% drop in fourth-quarter earnings per share, Nordstrom a slight drop.

-- Fed Governor Randall Kroszner will discuss risk management at the Global Association of Risk Professionals Annual Risk Convention in New York.

-- Fed Governor Frederic Mishkin discusses stabilizing inflation in Greenville, N.C.

Tuesday Feb 26

-- H.J. Heinz is expected to report earnings of 66 cents a share, flat from a year ago. Retailers Home Depot and Macy's are likely to post declines of 14% and 4%, respectively.

-- The January producer price index, offering the latest read on inflation, is expected to jump 0.4%, while the core index adds only 0.2%.

-- Analysts will ponder "The Future of Coal-Fired Power Generation: What Does the Market Think?" during a seminar presented by the New York Society of Security Analysts.

-- Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will discuss the economy and monetary policy at the University of North Carolina.

-- Deputy U.S. Trade Representative John Veroneau will discuss "The Challenges of Global Sovereign Investment" at a meeting in New York sponsored by the U.S. Council for International Business.

Wednesday Feb 27

-- Fed Chairman Bernanke delivers his semi-annual testimony on monetary
policy before the House Financial Services Committee.

-- The horrid housing market is expected to produce a first-quarter loss of
44 cents a share for Toll Brothers, down from a 33-cent gain last year.

-- Analysts estimate durable goods sales fell by 3.5% in January, a big
change from December's 5.2% increase.

-- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods opens its two-day regional bank conference in
Boston.

-- Wachovia kicks off its three-day homebuilding and building-products
conference in Las Vegas.

Thursday Feb 28

-- The first read on the fourth quarter's gross domestic product is
reported, with analysts expecting a rise of only 0.7%.

-- Fed Chairman Bernanke makes his second presentation on monetary policy,
this time before the Senate Banking panel.

-- American International Group is expected to announce fourth-quarter
earnings after the market closes. It previously disclosed that outside
accountants were forcing a $5.2 billion write-down for the third quarter.
Investors wonder if there will be more.

-- Robbins & Myers will split its stock two-for-one.

-- Genoptix is expected to sell 4.2 million shares held by existing
shareholders through Lehman Brothers.

Friday Feb 29

-- January's personal income growth is expected to fall to 0.2%, from 0.5%
in December, while consumer spending is expected to remain at 0.2%.

-- Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart discusses subprime mortgages.

-- Treasury auctions: M63

Companies That Are Raising Their Dividends...

Here is a list of companies who have announced that they will raise their dividend this quarter:

AMB Property Corp-AMB
Avista Corp-AVA
Blackrock Inc-BLK
Canadian Pac Railway-CP
Coca-Cola Co-KO
Equus Total Return-EQS
FBL Fin'l Group A-FFG
Foot Locker Inc-FL
Genuine Parts Co-GPC
Integrys Energy Group-TEG
Interface Inc A-IFSIA
Kimberly-Clark Corp-KMB
Nam Tai Electronic-NTE
Nordstrom Inc-JWN
Nu Skin Enterprises - NUS
Nucor Corp-NUE
PPL Corp-PPL
Pacific Cont'l Corp-PCBK
RenaissanceRE Hldg-RNR
Rogers Communications B-RCI
S.Y. Bancorp-SYBT
Sealed Air Corp-SEE
Sherwin-Williams-SHW
Tennant Co-TNC
Tim Hortons Inc-THI
UST Inc-UST
Westar Energy Inc-WR
World Wrestling Entertainment-WWE

Barron's Says Disney is Undervalued....

Barron's says Disney (DIS) stock as cheap as it's been in the last 20 years. While not immune to a U.S. economic downturn, investors and analysts have overcompensated for the company's cyclical exposure: Only 22% of Disney's revenue is from reception-vulnerable advertising. Theme parks, which contribute another 30%, continue to see solid booking trends, with an 89% occupancy rate last quarter.

Trading at 14.4 times next years' earnings, shares are at their lowest point in 18 years. The multiple is about equal with that of the S&P 500 average, which sounds ok until you realize Disney normally trades at an average 30% premium. Even better, CEO Robert Iger has succeeded in building a Disney "more diversified, better- managed, less cyclical and more disciplined in its brand development and capital-allocation strategies" than the company Walt built. Iger's 'franchise'-centric philosophy has executives focused on developing brand franchises, such as the exceptionally successful Hannah Montana, whose secondary products become revenue producers for other Disney units.

Morgan Stanley's Benjamin Swinburne gives the company a sum-of-parts value of $43/share ($32.57), which he equates to a $36 stock price after applying a 15% conglomerate discount.