What Will the First Week of Spring 2023 Bring Investors?
The week started out with Swiss authorities having persuaded UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) on Sunday to buy Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.S). UBS will pay 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) for 167-year-old Credit Suisse and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses in a deal backed by a massive Swiss guarantee. It is expected to close on the deal this year.
The main focus of investors this week is still expected to be the two-day FOMC meeting and rate decision on Wednesday. While the need to dampen inflation hasn’t changed, weakness in the banking system, in part brought on by weaker asset prices which occurs naturally with higher rates, may cause the Fed to adjust its approach.
Monday 3/20
- No Economic numbers are to be released
- 5:24 PM ET, Spring 2023 begins.
Tuesday 3/21
- 9:00 AM ET, The first day of a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins.
- 10:00 AM ET, Existing Home Sales for February are expected to rise to a 4.17 million annualized rate after January’s lower-than-expected 4.0 million rate.isting home sales in
Wednesday 3/22
- 10:30 AM ET, The Energy Information Administration (EIA) Petroleum Status Report, provides weekly information on petroleum inventories in the U.S., whether produced here or abroad. The level of inventories helps determine prices for petroleum products.
- 2:00 PM ET, FOMC statement released. It has been a year since the Fed began its tightening post FOMC meetings and is expected to raise rates again. However, the statement after the meeting should yield clues as to the impact, if any, weakness in banks has on the path forward for the Fed.
- 2:30 PM ET, Federal Reserve Chair J. Powell will hold a press conference to discuss the Fed’s decision.
Thursday 3/23
- 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims Jobless for the week of March 18 are expected to come in at 195,000 versus 192,000 in the prior week.
- 10:00 AM ET, New Home Sales are expected to fall to 645,000 after surging to a 670,000 annualized rate in January.
- 4:30 PM ET, The Federal Reserves Balance Sheet now includes the new Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) announced last Sunday.
Friday 3/24
- 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders are expected to post a 1.5% rise in February boosted by an easy comparison against January’s 4.5% decline which was impacted by lower aircraft orders.
- 9:30 AM ET, The ST. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard is expected to give a public address. Bullard has been an outspoken hawk among Fed regional Presidents.
What Else
The markets are focused on the Fed announcement Wednesday, and holding its collective breath to see if there will be more bank closures and forced sales, or if there are only a few banks impacted by weak balance sheets.
On Tuesday there will be a live online event that is part of the Take Away series by Noble Capital Markets. This event will feature select mining companies from the PDAC mining conference held earlier this month. Learn more about the no cost event here.
For institutional or individual investors in New York or South Florida, there may be the opportunity to listen to the management of some interesting companies (no cost). Entravision (EVC) will be presenting in New York on March 23, and management of Maple Gold Mines (MGMLF) is making themselves available to meet investors on March 25 in Miami. Get more information here on attending.
Managing Editor, Channelchek
Sources
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20230319a.htm
https://us.econoday.com/articles.aspx?cust=us&year=2023&lid=0