Barring some dramatic – and unforeseen – news this week, expect investors to tread water until Thursday, when the government is expected to release the results of the bank stress tests it conducted on the 19 largest U.S. banks.

Only one of the 19 financial institutions that received a bank stress test would require additional capital, the controversial government initiative has reportedly concluded.

Executives from credit card issuers, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and American Express Co. (AXP), met with President Barack Obama last Thursday to make their case against new limits on transfer fees and higher interest rates.

“How do you feel now?” asked a reporter for a local investment magazine. “I mean, you’re a contrarian…and you were right about so much?”

Not a fan of socialism? Me either. But, if the federal government has to backstop free market excesses with taxpayer dollars, how will it eventually unravel the veil, or tarp of intervention? Or should it? The answers are about to unfold before our eyes.

While many analysts expect U.S. corporate earnings and overall economic data to remain weak by historical standards, there may well be enough of an improvement over the prior months and quarters to spark some optimism that there are better times ahead.

One of the most accurate forecasters of the global economic crisis, Nouriel Roubini, said last week that last September’s spree of bank takeovers deepened the crisis because it made the already-too-big banks even bigger.

On Feb. 5, we knocked the ball out of the park with our recommendation on Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). After getting pummeled by the worst recession since 1930, it’s heartening to see that at these valuations, and with the massive disequilibrium that’s affecting so many market sectors, we can rewarded much more than during normal times.

Corporate earnings will take center stage again this week as certain financials hope to follow last week’s upbeat announcement by banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) with some decent earnings reports of their own.

While the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) couldn’t possibly compete with the G20 summit in terms of headline-grabbing power, the organization did join with the world’s top leaders in breaking some good news that fueled the stock market’s fire.