Last week was a much more subdued week compared to most of the rest of February. The S&P 500 ($SPX) (SPY) closed up a little over 1% with it just being a slow grind of a week. Earnings only had a little impact on general market movements and the stocks that did miss showed some pretty aggressive comebacks over the next few days.
This week we still have earnings to look at, but similar to last week it's unlikely that any of them will drastically move the overall market. We also have Powell testifying, some inflation data, and Non-Farm payrolls out Friday.
Here are 5 things to watch this week in the Market.
Earnings
Still in the public eye are earnings, and while many of the big movers are behind us, we still have some to watch this week. Tuesday before the open Target (TGT) reports and similar to Walmart this name could be a view of things to come. If their foot traffic is decreasing and average purchases have decreased it could be an indicator that the economy is as rosy as some of the numbers say.
Broadcom (AVGO) and Costco (COST) report on Thursday after hours and these are important for different reasons. Broadcom recently bought VMware but has promised to hike prices, sometimes by up to 10x the current rate. This could be a huge mistake as many places are looking to push towards open source, or it could end up being a huge benefit like Netflix (NFLX) when they implemented account restrictions. Costco's earnings will be more in the vein of Target in that foot traffic and sales numbers could be important information, especially given the size of their demographic reach.
ISM Service PMI
On Tuesday we have ISM services PMI which is an indicator of industry expansion or contraction. The last several releases have all been over 50, which indicates expansion but just barely. Given all of the concerns about the economy lately, if this comes in as a miss or under 50, we could see the market start to sell. If this comes in at expectations or over we could see the market start to rally.
JOLTS Job Openings
The Job openings number is out at 10 am on Wednesday and could provide some short-term volatility to the market. Jobs are often seen as a leading economic indicator so watching how many openings there are could be a further clue about economic health. Also important is to watch for any previous month's revisions that might change the previous outlook on the market.
Powell Testifying
We have Powell testifying at the Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report in the House this week as well. He will Speak on Wednesday and Thursday starting at 10 am Eastern. While its unlikely he will say anything incredibly profound during the testimony, he is still the lead Central Banker for the country and what he says about the economic status of the country and his plan for rates could provide some volatility in the market.
Non-Farm Payroll
Non-farm Employment Change or Non-farm Payrolls for short is due out Friday at 8:30. This is usually regarded as a solid temperature gauge for how the workforce is doing. We are expected to come in 190K jobs but if the last few months are any indication we could be in for a huge beat. The last few times we have beat the market went on to really rally during the day so it's possible this time is no different. The other thing to watch for is if any revisions are made to last month's numbers, as it could be that things aren’t as healthy as they seemed on the surface.
Best of luck this week and don’t forget to check out my daily options article.
On the date of publication, Gavin McMaster did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
