The stock market has been on the upswing, but few investors are relaxing just yet. This week’s data on housing, retailers and labor costs will give Wall Street an idea of whether the economy is weakening or inflation is accelerating — or both.

Wall Street had a case of the winter blues in January, and understandably. With banks reporting huge losses, uncertainty brewing about whether the economy is in recession, and Americans struggling to keep up with their debt payments, there was nowhere to go but down. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index recorded its worst January since 1990.  Read more