No way around it: Markets face an uneasy week
Along with uncertainty built around higher oil prices and interest rates, investors will start to cope with news about Middle East violence and a flood of earnings reports.
Last week, investors first faced having to cope with stressed economic realities and higher oil prices.
Then, the Hamas-Israel War bullied its way into markets' psyches.
To say everyone is concerned is an understatement.
Corporate CEOs rarely say much about the world about them. Jamie Dimon did on Friday.
In his company's third-quarter earnings report, the JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Free Report CEO noted: "The war in Ukraine compounded by last week’s attacks on Israel may have far-reaching impacts on energy and food markets, global trade, and geopolitical relationships. This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades."
Dimon's comments came as the banking giant reported generally upbeat third-quarter results.
Related: Why can't the IPO market calm down?
The results for the week and even in the first two weeks of October have not been disastrous, a relief after a tough September.
The major averages finished the week with small gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) - Get Free Report climbed 0.8%. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^IN) - Get Free Report rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (^COMPX) - Get Free Report eked out a 0.2% gain. The 10-year Treasury yield finished at 4.63% after hitting 4.86% a week earlier -- the highest yield for the note since mid-2007.
Crude oil jumped 5.8% on Friday. Gold surged 3.11%. JPMorgan was up 2.1% on the week. But Boeing (BA) - Get Free Report, vulnerable to higher oil prices and global realities, fell 1.2%.
Waiting for an invasion
Israel was massing its forces in advance of an attack on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas attack that started on Oct. 7.
That an invasion has not started may help explain why stocks futures were trading higher late Sunday. Oil prices, meanwhile were flat.
Nonetheless, investors and the financial world will be including those tensions, along with the continuing Ukraine-Russia war, as they calibrate investment decisions.
The week will feature economic reports that can move markets and a host of earnings reports that will attract attention, including Tesla's (TSLA) - Get Free Report, third-quarter report on Wednesday.
Tesla shares fell 3.9% last week in part because of concerns about global tensions and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers and as well as such giants as Mercedes-Benz (DDAIF) - Get Free Report.
A week of big economic reports
On tap are:
Tuesday: Retail sales for September. Expect a small gain for the month.
Wednesday: U.S. housing starts for September. The consensus is for a 1.38 million seasonally-adjusted rate, up a little from August's 1.283-million-unit rate, the lowest level since June 2020. Home sales have been pressured by the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policy.
Wednesday: The Fed's Beige Book report, a narrative description of economic conditions around the United States.
Thursday: Jobless claims. This weekly report has shown repeatedly this year how tight labor conditions have been.
Thursday: Leading economic indicators for September. This report was down slightly in August and expected to be lower this time.
Thursday: Existing home sales from the National Association of Realtors. As with housing starts, existing-home sales have been squeezed by higher rates and the reluctance of homeowners with low-rate mortgages to sell.
The earnings season ramps up
The rest of October and into November will see hundreds of reports from Corporate America. The season starts mostly with banks, transportation companies and more industrial companies.
They shift to reports from big tech companies and energy giants in the following few weeks. Big retailers come at the end of the season.
This week will see 546 reports, which is a light week. There will be 513 reports on Nov. 2 alone.
Monday: Financial-services giant Charles Schwab (SCHW) - Get Free Report is probably the biggest.
Tuesday: Bank of America (BAC) - Get Free Report, Lockheed Martin (LMT) - Get Free Report, Goldman Sachs (GS) - Get Free Report, United Airlines (UAL) - Get Free Report, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Free Report.
Wednesday: Tesla (TSLA) - Get Free Report, Procter & Gamble (PG) - Get Free Report, Netflix (NFLX) - Get Free Report, casino giant Las Vegas Sands (LVS) - Get Free Report.
Thursday: Communications giant AT&T (T) - Get Free Report, airline giants American Airlines (AAL) - Get Free Report and Alaska Air Group (ALK) - Get Free Report, railroad giants Union Pacific (UNP) - Get Free Report and CSX (CSX) - Get Free Report.
Friday: American Express (AXP) - Get Free Report and oil-services company Schlumberger (SLB) - Get Free Report.
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