THIS WEEK

Major business events and economic events scheduled for the coming week (some dates are tentative):

MONDAY:

WASHINGTON -- Treasury closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

TUESDAY:

Nothing planned.

WEDNESDAY:

WASHINGTON -- Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the financial crisis; Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be treasury secretary.

THURSDAY:

WASHINGTON -- Commerce Department releases housing starts for December, 8:30 a.m.; Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates.

FRIDAY:

Nothing planned

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS