The Week Ahead on Wall Street

Economic Data

More economic data points are released this week, which will help investors get a better picture of how the pandemic impacted the United States in April. Here’s what to watch:

There are no major economic reports scheduled for today but the conference Board Employment Trends Index will be published. Since 1973, the nonprofit research group has aggregated eight labor market indicators that highlight underlying trends in employment conditions. The index plummeted in March and is likely to show an even greater decline in April.

Tomorrow, the NFIB Small Business Index, Consumer Price Index, and core CPI reports are published. All releases will highlight April figures. The former will shed light on the health of small businesses in the US, which make up roughly half of the country’s private workforce. The latter reports will highlight inflation trends. Investors will have an eye on these reports—especially as the Fed continues to inject historic amounts of money into the economy to help cushion the blow from coronavirus.

On Wednesday the Producer Price Index is released. The PPI, as it is known, illustrates price changes in the manufacturing space. Similar to the CPI, it helps investors understand inflation trends.

On Thursday, the Import Price Index is published, but Wall Street will continue to have its eye on the initial jobless claims report. These weekly figures have been heartbreaking, but investors are taking solace in the fact that they’ve been steadily decreasing since the end of March.

On Friday, retail sales figures for April are released. In March, retail sales tumbled 8.7%, which was the biggest decline since 1992. April’s figures could be worse as it was the first full month of large-scale lockdowns around the country. May’s Consumer Sentiment Index will also be published today.

Earnings

Earnings season continues this week as companies in various sectors hand in their latest reports and detail how COVID-19 impacted their businesses. Below are a few names to keep an eye on this week. They include giants in the hospitality, auto, e-commerce, real estate, and online gambling spaces. Combined, their results will help contextualize the pandemic’s impact on certain sectors of the US economy.

Investors will be checking in on Marriott International Inc. (MAR) today as the hotel industry superpower reports earnings. Over the past decade, the company has shifted its focus to managing and franchising hotels instead of owning them. This led the company’s profits to soar from 14% after the Great Recession to 70% in recent years. Though Marriott has been battered by COVID-19, along with the rest of the travel industry, investors are hopeful that the company will prevail thanks to its portfolio that spans the value chain and its profitability pre-pandemic.

Tomorrow, Toyota Motor Corp (TM) hands in its report card. Last week was a big one for the carmaker as it slowly restarted some of its American operations with new public health precautions in place. These new measures include barriers between employees, face mask requirements, and temperature checks upon entering buildings.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (BABA) reports earnings on Wednesday. The e-commerce company, sometimes referred to as “the Amazon of China” has had some setbacks due to coronavirus, but also gained new customers while China was in lockdown. Investors will be curious to see how the company has fared as the Chinese economy begins to reopen.

On Thursday, Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM) will report. The Toronto-based company manages real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, and other investments. The company just launched a $5 billion program to prop up retail businesses that have suffered due to coronavirus-related store closures. Investors will be eying this report to see how the company’s holdings weathered coronavirus closures.

To round out the week, DraftKings (DKNG), a sports betting company, will report on Friday. Despite the lack of live sports due to coronavirus, DraftKings’ clients have been betting on everything from TV shows to table tennis to the NFL draft in recent weeks. The company went public at the end of April, and investors will be interested to see the impact of this decision.

Want to keep an eye on how stock prices might react after these earnings reports are released? Add these companies to your watchlist in the SoFi app.

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