Lackluster Market Expected

We will likely get another lackluster trading session today given the absence of anything meaningful on the economic calendar. The major item on the calendar coming up is the February jobs report coming out on Friday. We will get a preview of the Friday report in Wednesday’s ADP reading. The jobs report is the key catalyst that will give this market a clear directional thrust going forward.

In addition to waiting for the jobs report, today’s market action will also likely show some anxietyaboutthe Thursday deadline for Greece’s private creditors to agree to the bond swap. This deal will help the Greek government bring down its debt load by about €100 billion and pave the way for the second bailout by the IMF/EU/ECB troika.

Greece has the legal capacity to force a deal on the bondholders should the overall participation rate falls below certain threshold levels. The more likely scenario is that Greece will be required to invoke ‘collective action clauses’ to force a bond swap later this week and the broader market will generally view the development favorably. Investors want the second bailout to go through so that they can put Greece behind them and look at the bond-swap deal as the means to that end.

In corporate news, Nutrisystem ( NTRI - Snapshot Report ) reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, though the home delivery weight-loss company’s revenue came ahead of expectations. Shares of Yahoo ( YHOO - Analyst Report ) will also be in the news following reports by a tech blog indicating that the company’s new CEO is contemplating a major restructuring initiative. Pipeline major El Paso ( ) had to delay the shareholder vote on its pending merger with Kinder Morgan ( KMI - Analyst Report ) to allow more time for its shareholders to weigh criticism of the deal by a Delaware judge.