Monday's Market Minute: This Week's Focus: Earnings & Consumer Spending

The focus for investors and traders will shift from inflation after the higher-than-expected figures last week to earnings and consumer spending habits. We have the Empire State Manufacturing Index data and the Fed’s Patrick Harker speaking Monday, then on Tuesday we have Retails Sales, Industrial Production, Housing Market Index, and we’ll hear from Federal Reserve policy makers John Williams and Tom Barkin.

Into the second half of the week, we have more Fed chat to watch out for with a handful of names scheduled to speak, as well as Housing Starts & Permits, and Beige Book. Also, keep an eye on more economic data including Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales, Leading Indicators, and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index. 

With the banks kicking off another round of earnings last week, we saw the best 3Q profits ever from Citigroup C, Wells Fargo WFC, and JPMorgan Chase JPM. The attention will again be on financials this week with Bank of America BAC, Goldman Sachs GS, Discover DFS, and American Express AXP front and center. We’ll also hear from Lockheed Martin LMT, Johnson and Johnson JNJ, United Airlines UAL, Netflix NFLX, Tesla TSLA, and CSX CSX just to name a few. 

Lastly, with the ongoing war in the Middle East, crude oil and gold should both be watched. While still relatively contained, both were bid up last week in reaction to the geopolitical tensions. The focus will be on market implications should we see an incursion into Gaza, so watch crude and gold closely if we see the situation broaden and other countries get involved.

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