Tuesday's Market Minute: A Busy Holiday-Shortened Week

This morning, the focus for investors and traders is on geopolitical tensions, inflation concerns, economic data, and earnings. Let’s begin with the unease and volatility in markets with Russia's president Vladimir Putin continuing to advance troops near the border of Russia and Ukraine after declaring two separatist regions and sending troops into those areas. The action has prompted world leaders to consider sanctions. The turmoil and uncertainty it creates sent global indices sharply lower overnight; they’ve recovered and are off the extreme lows into the U.S. cash open, but many feel the recent volatility is here to stay.

Inflation remains front and center as well. Over the weekend, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman suggested a 50bps rate hike at the March meeting could be in the cards. She stressed the importance of economic data in the Fed’s decision-making process and said at this point, it was too early to tell if the Fed would need to be that aggressive next month.

Which brings us to the economic data due out this week; keep an eye on the housing numbers and Consumer Confidence due out this morning. Later in the week, we have GDP, Durable Goods Orders, and Personal Income and Spending, as well as a few Fed speakers to possibly provide further insight as to what to expect in the coming weeks as far as rates here in the U.S.

And lastly, earnings: keep an eye on Macy’s M and Home Depot HD this morning. Throughout the week, we have Lowe’s LOW, TJX TJX, Hertz HTZ, eBay EBAY, Wayfair W, Moderna MRNA, Foot Locker FL, Etsy ETSY, and Alibaba HKG: (9988) to name a few – all of which could move markets, especially with the indices already on edge with everything else that’s going on.