The Week Ahead – Inflation Data Worries and Election Outcome

Federal Reserve President Speeches With Elections and CPI to Shape the Week’s Trading

Yes, the stock markets are open on Veterans Day (Friday). But bond trading, which the stock market has been more keenly focused on this year, will be taking the day off along with other U.S. government services. Equity traders can get a sense of interest rate sentiment on Friday by turning to the Chicago Board of Options and viewing tickers ZF=F (5 yr. USTN), ZN=F (10 yr. USTN), ZB=F (30 yr. USTB).

All markets are open on Election Day, and the outcome, as measured by House seats and Senate seats distributed among the major political parties, has the potential to be market-moving.

It’s a quiet week for economic numbers, except for Thursday, when the CPI report is released. This has the potential of changing those calling for a 50 bp hike at the next meeting to up their expectations or those still forecasting 75bp to lower their call. Certainly, the Fed governors will be watching this and all measures of inflation up to the December 14-15 meeting. There are a number of Fed governors speaking this week; this could alter the tone; however, the next meeting is far out into the future.

Election Day.

Monday 11/7

  • 3:00 PM ET the amount of consumer installment credit for September, including credit cards, auto loan, and student loans outstanding, indicate current consumer spending and borrowing patterns. The markets tend to ignore this number as we are already in November and this report measures September
  • 3:40  PM ET, the Federal Reserve Bank Presidents Mester (Cleveland) and Collins (Boston), will be speaking. Both are considered fairly hawkish.
  • 6:00 PM ET, the Federal Reserve Bank President Harkey (Philadelphia) will be speaking.

Tuesday 11/8

  • Election Day.
  • Meet the Management; Noble Capital Markets hosts Management of Entravision Communications (EVC) in West Palm Beach, FL. This is a no-cost-to-attend, in-person breakfast meeting with investors. If interested, click here.
  • Meet the Management, Noble Capital Markets hosts Management of Entravision Communications (EVC) in Boca Raton, FL. This is a no-cost-to-attend, in-person lunch meeting with investors. If interested, click here.

Wednesday 11/9

  • It can be expected that the newswires will be filled with Election Day outcomes and market-moving conjecture.
  • 7:00 AM ET Mortgage Applications. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) creates a statistic from several mortgage loan indexes. The Mortgage Applications index measures applications at mortgage lenders. It’s considered a leading indicator and is especially important for single-family home sales and housing construction. Both are considered foundational in a strong economy.
  • 10 Year Treasury Note Auction is held in the middle of each month and settles on or around the 15th (depending on weekends). The yield is a benchmark for 30-year mortgages and has recently been noted by investment markets because it has been trading at a yield lower than shorter maturities. This inversion of the yield curve has some market players suggesting a recession is expected in the future. Any surprises at the auction will reverberate through the stock market.
  • 10:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report.
  • 11:00 AM ET, Federal Reserve President Barkin  (Philadelphia) speaks.
  • Meet the Management; Noble Capital Markets hosts Management of Entravision Communications (EVC) in Winter Park, FL. This is a no-cost-to-attend, in-person breakfast meeting with investors. If interested, click here.
  • Meet the Management; Noble Capital Markets hosts Management of Entravision Communications (EVC) in Orlando, FL. This is a no-cost-to-attend, in-person lunch meeting with investors. If interested, click here.

Thursday 11/10

  • 8:30 AM ET, U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the inflation indicator most widely broadcast. With inflation being a primary focus, this will be the big number coming out this week. The number represents a basket of goods considered typical for an urban consumer and is taken as the change in the cost of that basket of goods. A percentage is derived from the change. CPI is also reported with food and energy removed as it is considered that other non-economic factors influence these prices. The September report indicated CPI rose 0.4% for the month and 8.2% YOY. Expectations are for an increase to 0.7% for October and a YOY rate of 8.0%.
  • 8:30 AM ET U.S. Jobless Claims which represent the prior week’s employment are expected to have increased to 221,000 from 217,000. From jobless claims, investors can gain a sense of how tight or how loose the job market is. If wage inflation takes hold, interest rates will likely rise, and bond and stock prices will fall. Remember, the lower the number of unemployment claims, the stronger the job market, and vice versa.
  • 10:30 AM ET, EIA Natural Gas Status Report.

Friday 11/11

  • Veterans Day, the stock market is one, the futures markets are open, and the bond market and other U.S. government-related offices are closed.
  • 10 AM ET Consumer Sentiment, November (preliminary). This barometer, reported by the University of Michigan,  questions households each month on their assessment of current conditions and expectations of future conditions. This “preliminary” release is for the month of November and is expected to have fallen to 59.6 versus 59.9 last month.

What Else

It is a light week for economic releases and Fed governor addresses, but the election outcome and CPI have the potential to whip markets around.

We’re entering the holiday shopping season when there will be a number of measures that investors focus on that will give a hint as to how strong the consumer is in the current economy.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

Sources

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/calendar.htm

http://global-premium.econoday.com/byweek.asp?cust=global-premium

https://www.channelchek.com/news-channel/noble_on_the_road___noble_capital_markets_in_person_roadshow_series

https://www.econoday.com

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