“I believe the very best money is made at the market turns. Everyone says you get killed trying to pick tops and bottoms and you make all your money by playing the trend in the middle. Well for twelve years I have been missing the meat in the middle but I have made a lot of money at tops and bottoms.” – Paul Tudor Jones.

1. Possible Homeland Security Shutdown — Homeland Security spending authority expired last Friday, leading to a partial shutdown of the department unless Congress approves new funding. The $39.7B budget is stalled in Congress over Obama’s recent executive orders that lift the threat of deportation from millions of undocumented immigrants.
2. European Commission Accepts Greek Economic Measures After Review — Bloomberg, Euro-region finance ministers approved Greece’s package of new economic measures and paved the way for an extension to the country’s bailout agreement. Greece will secure a four-month extension to euro zone funding, keeping its financial system afloat.
3. Banks Face U.S. Manipulation Probe Over Metals Pricing — U.S. officials are probing at least 10 major banks for the possible rigging of precious-metals markets, even though European regulators shelved a similar investigation after finding no evidence of wrongdoing. The DOJ is scrutinizing the price-setting process for gold, silver, platinum and palladium in London, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened a civil investigation.
4. Obama Vetoes Keystone Pipeline Bill — President Obama swiftly vetoed a bill approving TransCanada’s (NYSE:TRP) Keystone XL oil pipeline, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period. Immediately after receiving the veto message, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to override it by March 3.
5. China drops Apple, Cisco from Government Purchases — MarketWatch, China has systematically removed several leading foreign technology brands from its list of suppliers for government contracts over the past two years. Some of the companies are – Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Apple Inc. (AAPL), Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS) and Intel Corp.’s (INTC).
6. Q4 GDP Revised to 2.2%, Versus Expected Growth of 2.1% — CNBC, Gross domestic product expanded by a 2.2% annual clip in the final three months of 2014, down from an initial read of 2.6%. Consumer spending was very strong as outlays jumped a revised 4.2% in the fourth quarter, down from a preliminary estimate of 4.3%. That was the largest gain since 2010.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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