What happened this week

Monday morning stock futures are largely unchanged as the markets anticipate another week of quarterly earnings. Last week Wells Fargo and Bank of America beat expectations despite recession fears and uncertainties in the banking sector.

Despite many market pessimists expecting a heavy earnings season; 90% of companies who reported in the first week topped EPS estimates. This week financial Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley report as well as Tesla, IBM and Netflix. Both M&T Bank and Charles Schwab beat profit estimates on market open. 

In a CBS interwiew, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai warned that “every product of every company” will be impacted by the quick development of AI and that “we need to adapt as a society for it,”. Scott Pellet of “60 minutes” commented that he was left “speechless’ and felt the new technologies left him feeling “unsettled”; Pelley also seemed concerned when Pichai said there is “a black box” with chatbots, where “you don’t fully understand” why or how it comes up with certain responses.

“You don’t fully understand how it works and yet you’ve turned it loose on society?” Pelley asked. The explosion of AI technology has lead to a number of academics, including Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, to call off an immediate pause in training and experiments. 

Merck & Co said on Sunday it will buy Prometheus Biosciences Inc for about $10.8 billion, picking up a promising experimental treatment for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and building up its presence in immunology.

Looking ahead to this week:

Mon April 17: Home Builder Confidence Index

Tues April 18: Housing Starts

Wed April 19: Fed Beige Book

Thurs April 20: Initial Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales

Fri April 21: US Service PMI

What happened this week

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In the tech sector; Chinese Foreign Minister is trying to persuade Japan not to support the US’s curbs on China’s semiconductor industry. The US has been trying to rally key players in the supply chain for China’s semiconductor industry, in order to chip export restrictions. Japan announced on Friday new export restrictions on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, but did not specifically name China. 

A group of Democratic lawmakers are defending TikTok amid efforts to ban the Chinese-owned platform. Lawmakers have been critical of the app; claiming that it is trying to divide the American people by pushing pro-CCP narratives. The Chinese parent company, ByteDance, is required by Chinese law to make the app’s data available to the CCP.

Looking ahead to this week:

Mon April 3rd: Construction Spending

Tues April 4th: Factory Orders

Wed April 5th: US Trade Balance

Thurs April 6th: Initial Jobless Claims

Fri April 7th:  US Unemployment rate

What happened this week

March has been a tumultuous month for the banking sector. On March 10 a classic bank run lead to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, US regulators intervened to take control, the consequences have been seen globally. A week later US regional bank, Signature Bank, was shut down, then a third US bank First Republic Bank. This past week saw the collapse of Credit Suisse, with UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank, swooping in with an emergency rescue deal announced Sunday evening. 

In the US there has been nearly $200 billion in direct central bank support, guaranteeing all the deposits at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank the US Federal Reserve has committed $140 billion. The Swiss National Bank similarly offered Credit Suisse an emergency loan for $54 billion. 

The question now remains, what next, where are the markets heading? The stress placed on banks and the financial sector will likely have consequences on the consumer, we will likely see credit become more expensive and less available. Goldman Sachs analysts say the American economy has a 35% chance of entering a recession in the next 12 months. The world’s second-largest economy, China, is also reacting to this month’s events, the Chinese Central Bank cut minimum reserve requirements for lenders in an attempt to keep cash flowing through their economy. 

Stock markets are expected to open flat on Monday morning as investors assess the events of the weekend, and anticipate the next Interest Rate decisions by the Fed on Wednesday. Investors are split in opinion as to whether the Fed will pause rate hikes or raise by a quarter point, most analysts believe that the possibility of a half point rise in rates is gone.

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Mar 21: Existing Home Sales

Wed Mar 22: FED INTEREST RATE DECISION

Thurs Mar 23: Initial Jobless Claims, New Home Sales

Fri Mar 24: Durable Goods

What happened this week

Friday markets dropped more than 1% in a drastic sell off and Monday’s futures are following the same tone, as markets expect to open some 150 points lower. Friday afternoon the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took control of tech-focused lender, Silicon Valley Bank, following a run on deposits which collapsed the bank. The rapid demise of SVB started mid week when the lender was forced to take a big loss on bond holdings in order to free up liquidity for customer withdrawals. After announcing a nearly $2 billion loss selling assets, tech clients of the lender rushed to pull their deposits, and the share price nosedived sealing the fate of SVB. The FDIC has said that SVB depositors will have access to their money starting today, Monday. But the wider market consequences have already started to take affect, bank stocks and financials are all lower in the pre market, First Republic leading the decline, down more than 60%.

Rivian wants out of its exclusive agreement with Amazon for the EV maker’s electric delivery trucks. Rivian last month touted 10 million packages delivered via the Amazon vans. The EV maker is ramping up production of the vans and its R1 series vehicles, and is also in need of cash. Rivian and Amazon struck a deal in 2019 to hand over 100,000 electric trucks to the e-commerce giant. Amazon began delivering packages with the vehicles in July, and Rivian last month touted 10 million packages delivered via the vans.

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Mar 14th: Consumer Price Index

Wed Mar 15th: Retail Sales, Producer Price Index

Thurs Mar 16th: Housing Starts, Building Permits

Fri Mar 17th: Industrial Production, US Leading Economic Index

What happened this week

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke on Tuesday warning that interest rates are likely to continue to rise higher than expected previously. “The latest economic data have come in stronger than expected, which suggests that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than previously anticipated,” Powell said in remarks. “If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes.” These remarks left the markets with two impressions; one that the level of fed funds rate hike it likely to be higher than previously indicated and two that the previous, smaller quarter point hike will be short lived. Powell went on to say that the recent economic data showed the the Fed’ s inflation-fighting job is not over yet. 

As a consequence markets began a big sell off Tuesday morning, with the Dow dropping 400 points, S&P down 1.2% and the Nasdaq down 1%. 

In other news; for the first time in seven years the US has a new nuclear reactor. Georgia Power announced that the Volte nuclear reactor unit 3 has started a nuclear reaction inside the reactor. In a written announcement from from Georgia Power, they company has said that the reactor is in “initial criticality” when the nuclear fission process starts splitting atoms and generating heat; this heat causes water to boil  and steam spins a turbine that’s connected  to a generator that creates electricity. “This is a truly exciting time as we prepare to bring online a new nuclear unit that will serve our state with clean and emission-free energy for the next 60 to 80 years,” Chris Womack, CEO of Georgia Power, said. 

Jamie Dimon, CEO of Morgan Stanley spoke on Monday of his biggest economic concerns; citing the war in Ukraine and the US relationship with China. 

Alaska is awaiting President Biden’s decision on a major oil and natural gas development project. The state’s labor union is hoping for the President to approve the plan to build a sustainable “climate future”. The proposal by ConocoPhillips aims to develop energy resources in a small portion of what’s known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska on Alaska’s North Slope. If the project is denied Biden America will likely continue to import oil from Venezuela and the Middle East. 

Looking ahead to this week:

Wed March 8th: ADP Unemployment, US Trade Balance

Thurs Mar 9th: Jobless Claims

Fri Mar 10th: Employment report, US Unemployment Rate, Federal Budget

What happened this week

The stock markets opened higher on Monday morning, in the hopes of recovering some of the losses from the worst week 2023 so far. The markets suffered last week primarily in the wake of higher than expected Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)- which is the Fed’s preferred gauge on inflation. Investors continue to be cautious of the interest rate hikes, as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to the highest level in 40 years. 

The two top US retailers issued cautious U.S. consumer outlooks for 2023 last week, Walmart said consumer spending would start the year strong, but fade and Home Depot expects revenue to be flat this year, but bolstered by home equity. Retailers are struggling with labor shortages; Home Depot said it would spend $1 billion to boost compensation for its hourly, front-line workers. Similarly retailers seem to be continuing to make longer-term capital investments as orders placed with US factories for business equipment increased in January by the most in 5 months.

Looking ahead to this week:

Monday Feb 27: Durable Goods Orders

Tues Feb 28: Advanced Retail Inventories; Consumer Confidence

Wed Mar 1: Construction Spending

Thurs Mar 2: Initial Jobless Claims, Productivity (revision)

Fri Mar 3: ISM Services

What happened this week

Markets opened the week higher in anticipation of a busy week ahead for economic data and perhaps in an attempt to offset some of the losses suffered last week. Last week’s losses were largest due to Fed Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, commenting that there is still a long way to go in the fight against inflation. 

Logistics managers warn of increased supply chain prices which will trickle down to affect CPI numbers expected later this week. Whilst factors which previously held the greatest impact on supply chain inflation, such as ocean freight rates and transportation fuels, have dropped, lack of consumer demand has left a backlog of inventories which are expected to drives rates higher. 

The US military shot down the fourth unidentified flying object over the state of Michigan on Sunday. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told ABC’s “This Week” Sunday that officials now believe both objects were balloons that were much smaller than the initial spy balloon which the military shot down Feb 4.

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Feb 14th: Consumer Price Index

Wed Feb 15th: Retail Sales, Industrial Production Index, Business Inventories. 

Thurs Feb 16th: Initial Jobless Claims, Producer Price Index, Building Permits and Housing Starts

Fri Feb 17th: Import Price Index

What happened this week

Stocks opened lower this morning as traders are preparing for a busy week of company reporting. About 20% of the S&P 500 will report earnings this week, including McDonald’s and General Motors on Tuesday followed by tech giants Apple, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Alphabet later in the week.

Also this week the Fed will be meeting both Tuesday and Wednesday and another rates hike is expected Wednesday, although the markets are hoping for only a 0.25 point rise this month. 

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Jan 31st: S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index

Consumer Confidence Index

Wed Feb 1st: Fed Funds Rate Decision

Motor Vehicle Sales

ADP Employment Rate

Thurs Feb 2nd: Jobless Claims

Factory Orders

Fri Feb 3rd: Non Farm Payrolls

Unemployment Rate

What happened this week

Stocks opened Monday morning slightly higher, as investors hope for a slowing of rates hikes by the Fed. This comes after last Friday’s press conference with Fed Governor, Chris Wallace, where he indicated only a quarter point rate hike at the Fed’s next meeting. Investors took this as good news showing the potential end of the rate hiking cycle and even the potential for cuts further down the line. 

This week continues the earnings reports, with almost 40% of the Dow Companies schedule to release earnings results this week:

Tues: Johnson & Johnson, GE, Lockheed Martin, Verizon, Microsoft

Wed: AT&T, Boeing, Tesla, IBM

Thurs: Comcast, Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, Intel

Goldman Sachs announced this week a massive cut to its Alternative Investments which negatively impacted results this quarter, their fourth quarter earnings missed expectations by a significant margin. The bank also is in the process of firing 3,000 employees, in the largest round of layoffs since the 2008 financial crisis. 

Looking ahead to this week:

Mon Jan 23: Leading economic Indicators

Tues Jan 24: S&P US Manufacturing PMI

Thurs Jan 26: Initial Jobless claims, Real GDP first estimate, Durable Goods, New Home Sales

Fri Jan 27: Real consumer spending, PCE Price Index

What happened this week

All the major averages opened the year on a positive note last week, with the Dow and S&P posting their best week since November. The Dow on Friday soared more than 700 points, or 2.13%, after a positive December jobs report showed signs that inflation may be easing. Non-farm payrolls came in slightly higher than expected, but wages increased at a slower pace than expected, this coupled with data showing a contraction in the services sector, lead economists and investors to hope the central bank’s rate hikes are accomplishing their goal. Many market analysts have commented that the markets will have an increased focus on labor data for 2023, Wells Fargo analyst commenting, "The monthly jobs report will be the ‘new CPI.’ This year, labor data is “setting the tone for marginal swings (either hawkish or dovish) in Fed perceptions.”

The U.S. House of Representatives elected Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker in the 15th round of votes early Saturday. McCarthy had to make several concessions to win after the weeklong battle. McCarthy pledged a conservative, America-first agenda, tackling the immigration crisis at the Mexican border, cutting back funding at the IRS and fixing “woke indoctrination in our schools.”

• On Sunday rioters ransacked Brazil’s three branches of power as part of a failed attempt to overthrow President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil’s security forces have regained control of the country’s political institutions and Brasilia governor Ibaneis Rocha said more than 400 people had been arrested. Lula made a surprising return to Brazil’s presidency late last year, securing 50.9% of the vote to defeat far-right incumbent Bolsonaro, many of Bolsonaro’s supporters refused to accept the result.

• Looking ahead to the week:

• Mon Jan 9th: NY Fed 1yr and 5 yr inflation expectations.

• Thurs Jan 12th: CPI for Dec, Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims

• Fri Jan 13th: Import Price Index

What happened this weeK

Friday was the final day of trading in a painful year for stocks. All three of the major averages suffered their worst year since 2008 and broke a three year winning streak. The Dow fared the best of the indexes in 2022, down about 8.8%, the S&P 500 dropped 19.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 33.1%. 

2022 certainly was a difficult year; record high inflation, aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, growth and technology stocks hit the hardest in the markets, geopolitical concerns, Covid and the invasion of Ukraine. 

However, despite the year’s overall losses both the Dow and S&P500 were up in Q4, perhaps a light a the end of a very dark tunnel. 

Friday was the final trading day of the 2022, but also for the quarter, month and year. Here’s how the major market averages fared over those time frames.

The Dow finished:

• down 8.78% for the year

• up 15.39% for the quarter

• down 4.17% for the month

• down 0.17% for the week

The S&P 500 finished:

• down 19.44% for the year

• up 7.08% for the quarter

• down 5.90% for the month

• down 0.14% for the week

The Nasdaq Composite finished:

• down 33.10% for the year

• down 1.03% for the quarter

• down 8.73% for the month

• down 0.30% for the week

The Russell 2000 small caps finished:

• down 21.56% for the year

• up 5.8% for the quarter

• down 6.64% for the month

• up 0.02% for the week

Cited from cnbc.com

Looking ahead to this week and the start of 2023:

Tues Jan 3rd: S&P US Manufacturing PMI

Wed Jan 4th: Job Openings and FOMC Minutes

Thurs Jan 5th: Initial Jobless Claims and Trade Deficit

Fri Jan 6th: Dec Unemployment Rate and Factory Orders

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

What happened this weeK

Market futures are slightly higher this morning as we enter the final two weeks of the year. Investors and economists alike are hoping for a boom in retail spending for the holidays despite constant inflation and recession fears. Last week the Federal Reserve announced another 50 basis point rate hike and continued to signal higher-for-longer rates. Recession fears grew because the central bank reconfirmed its forecast for future hikes above previous expectations, saying that it now expects to hike rates to 5.1%. Economists are now speculating and managing expectations for the new year expressing that the market volatility experienced in 2022 will continue into the new year.

Here is a recap of where major indices stand as we enter the final weeks of 2022:

Dow Jones Industrial Average:

• Down 4.83% for December

• 10.91% off its record high

• Down 9.41% for the year

S&P 500

• Down 5.58% this month

• Sits 20.05% off its record highs

• Down 19.17% for 2022

Nasdaq Composite:

• Down 6.65% this month

• 32.68% off its highs

• Down 31.57% for the year

  (Cite: cnbc.com)

In other news, Elon Musk polled himself as CEO of Twitter and a surprising major of Twitter users voted for him to step down as CEO, this comes after a tumultuous two months after acquisition in which Musk has made some unpopular layoffs and reinstating previous closed account, like former President Donald Trump. 

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Dec 20th: Building Permits and Housing Starts.

Wed Dec 21st: Consumer Confidence

Thurs Dec 22nd: Real GDP Revision and Jobless Claims

Fri Dec 23rd: PCE Index, Durable goods, UMich 5 yr Inflation expectations. 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

What happened this week

U.S. stock futures are fractionally higher early Monday, this is a complicated week for investors as the markets await several events in the fight against inflation and anticipate the outlook for 2023. On Tuesday, the November consumer price index will be released, and traders will be looking for a sign that inflation is slowing. Also on Tuesday the Federal Reserve has a two-day meeting starting. The central bank is expected to announce another rate hike on Wednesday, however it is widely expected to be 50bp a milder hike in comparison to the previous moves by the Fed. Citi Global Wealth Management speculated over the weekend that the U.S. will likely tumble into a "mild" recession next year that sees unemployment top 5%. The group said that the economy could lose an estimated 2 million jobs in 2023 pushing the jobless rate to 5.25%. The Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates at the most aggressive pace since the 1980s trying to fight inflation, they already have approved six straight rate hikes.

Americans who made money online this year will face new challenges when they file their taxes in 2023, beginning next year, taxpayers must report to the IRS transactions of at least $600 that are received through payment apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App. Previously small businesses had a $20,000 threshold for reporting to the IRS but now a single transaction over $600 will trigger the tax form. The change is intended to crack down on Americans evading taxes by not reporting their full income. Roughly one in four Americans take in extra income on the side by selling something online, renting their home or using a digital platform to do work, all of which will now come under taxation. 

Looking ahead at this week:

Mon Dec 12th: NY Fed 1yr and 5yr Inflation Expectations

Tues Dec 13th: Nov CPI

Wed Dec 14th:  FED FUNDS RATE ANNOUNCEMENT

Jerome Powell Press Conference

Thurs Dec 15th: Initial Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, Industrial Production Index

Fri Dec 16th: S&P US Manufacturing PMI

What happened this weeK

Last week closed higher for all major indices but already this morning Dow futures are falling in anticipation of further Fed tightening. The Fed will meet again next week to conclude their policy meetings. Last week during a speech by Jerome Powell, he indicated that markets could expect a further rates hike of 0.5% rather than the recent jumps of 0.75%. Whilst this is step down in, Powell also said that rates “will need to be somewhat higher” than indicated at the September meeting, indicating that fed funds rates could reach in excess of 5% much higher than the current 3.75%-4% range.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is already under investigation by numerous agencies, but arresting him isn’t going to be straightforward. Authorities say it will take months if not years to fully assemble all the evidence, and as FTX moves through bankruptcy protection, private citizens can file suit against Bankman-Fried.

After the recent violent workers protests in China, Apple is accelerating its plans to move its iPhone production to other Asian nations, like India and Vietnam, in order to reduce dependency on Taiwanese electronics manufacturers like Foxconn, which owned the facility in Zhengzhou.

Mon Dec 5th: Factory Orders

Tues Dec 6th: Trade Deficit

Thurs Dec 8th: Jobless Claims

Fri Dec 9th: PPI Final, UMich Consumer Sentiment, Real Household Wealth, Real Domestic Debt Growth

What happened this weeK

Happy Thanksgiving! After a short week for Thanksgiving, all eyes are on holiday shopping! Consumers spent a record $9.12 billion online shopping during Black Friday this year, according to Adobe, that is an overall increase of 2.3% year-over-year. However, the effects of inflation were very much felt as many consumers used flexible payment plans, Buy Now Pay Later payments increased by 78% compared with the past week, and retailer Walmart was top vendor for online shopping, beating out Amazon.

Rare protests have erupted in China over the country’s zero-Covid policies. Frustrations mounted for various reasons, rising number of infections, youth unemployment up close to 20%, a lagging economy after three years of lock downs and in Beijing, many apartment communities successfully convinced local management they had no legal basis for a lockdown. The growing unrest has pre-markets trading lower this week.

Looking ahead to this week:

Tues Nov 29: S&P US Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Wed Nov 30: ADP Employment Report, Real Gross Domestic Product (Q3)

Thurs Dec 1: Initial Jobless Claims, PCE Price Index, Real Consumer Spending, Construction Spending

Fri Dec 2: Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment rate

What happened this weeK

This past week concluded the Midterm election results, the Republicans took the House, with the House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi resigned after 20 years, the Democrats held the Senate and Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President 2024.

As we enter into Thanksgiving week and Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, investors are hoping for better than expected sales to open the Christmas shopping season, recent quarterly earnings from major retailers have fallen short of expectations or announced layoffs and cutbacks.

Shares in Disney jumped almost 10% on Monday pretrading after they announced replacing CEO Bob Chapek with Bob Iger, Iger, who worked for 15 years as Disney’s chief, had said previously that he would not return to the job. Chapek took over reigns of the company just before the Covid pandemic, when Disney took big hits from theme park to movie theatre closures. The market however seems to have reacted very well to news Iger will be returning to the helm.

Since Elon Musk’s take over of Twitter, he has unlocked a number of high profile and highly controversial accounts, Kanye West and Donald Trump to name a couple.

Carvana fell 3.9% in the premarket after The Wall Street Journal quoted analysts as saying the online used car retailer could run out of cash within a year. Carvana said on Friday that it was laying off about 1,500 workers.

Coinbase slid 6.8% in premarket trading, with the cryptocurrency exchange’s shares falling in the wake of rival FTX’s bankruptcy. Whilst Coinbase is not another FTX, lack of confidence in the crypto space is hitting the industry hard.

Looking ahead to this week, it will be a quiet week for markets:

Wed Nov 23rd: Durable Goods Order, Jobless Claims, S&P US Manufacturing PMI

Thurs Nov 24th: HAPPY THANKSGIVING

What happened this week

Last week saw the biggest rally since June; The S&P 500 was up 5.9%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 8.1% (its best week since March) and the Dow advanced 4.2%. Investors were rallied by a lighter-than-expected inflation reading (CPI at 7.7% vs the expected 8.2%), the markets reacted to hopes that the Federal Reserve would soon slow its aggressive tightening campaign.

This week we have all been watching the Mid term elections and whilst the House is still in its final days of counting, Democrats will keep control of the U.S. Senate after Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto fended off a challenge from Republican Adam Laxalt on Sunday night. There are still 20 seats left uncalled for the House, which many expect to turn Republic after these elections.

The crypt-currency markets so another “free fall” bankruptcy this week, as the crypto exchange FTX dropping over $32 billion in value. Alameda Research, the fund started by Sam Bankman-Fried, borrowed billions in customer funds from its founder’s exchange, FTX, using FTT tokens as collateral according to a source familiar with company operations. The crypto exchange drastically underestimated the amount FTX needed to keep on hand if someone wanted to cash out, trading platforms are required by their regulators to hold enough money to match what customers deposit and are required to have even more of a cushion to cover trading in margin accounts. When news began to hit the markets, with large investors threatening to sell their positions, a major sell off was started, crashing the FTX into bankruptcy. 

Looking ahead to this week:

Mon Nov 14th: NY 1 yr and 5yr Inflation Expectations

Wed Nov 16th: Retail Sales, Industrial Production, Import Price Index

Thurs Nov 17th: Initial Jobless Claims, Housing Starts

What happened this week

US Stocks rallied on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 400 points, or 1.26%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ended the session up 1.36% and 1.28%, respectively. However, all three major indices closed lower for the week ending their current positive streak.

The Federal Reserve, in a strongly anticipated move, raised its short-term borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage point to a range of 3.75%-4%, the highest level since January 2008. Earlier in the week stocks fell as Fed Chair Jerome Powell dismissed the idea that the Fed may be pausing rates hikes soon, although he did say that he expected a discussion at the next meeting or two about slowing the pace of tightening.

As of September, inflation is up 8.2% from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index. That is a near four-decade high, indicating retailers may be expecting a more challenging holiday season. A year ago, consumers shopped early and spent more to secure gifts as many stores struggled to maintain inventory due to supply chain disruptions. This year, major retailers are swimming in extra inventory as consumers are spending less on items like clothing and electronics.

• Berkshire Hathaway reported operating earnings totaling $7.761 billion in the third quarter, up 20% from year-earlier period. The conglomerate spent $1.05 billion in share repurchases, bringing the nine-month total to $5.25 billion. The Omaha-based company suffered a $10.1 billion loss on its investments during the third quarter’s market rollercoaster, however.

• This week:

• Tues Nov 8: Election Day

• Thurs Nov 10: Consumer Price Index; Jobless Claims

• Fri Nov 11: Veteran’s Day - Equity Markets Open, Bond Market Closed

What happened this week

Stocks opened lower on Monday as the final trading day of October kicked off but despite this markets are expected to end a two month down streak. Markets made a huge comeback in October. The Dow lead gains and was last up 14% for the month. The Dow is on pace for its best month since 1976 as investors bet on more traditional companies, like banks, to lead the next rally. Traders are preparing this week for the latest Federal Reserve meeting beginning Tuesday. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday. Many investors are hopeful for a signal from the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement or Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference, that the Fed could pause rates hikes or at least reduce their size in the near future.

As we approach year end, one supply chain logistics expert is warning that more importers and retailers are signaling a shipping "decline coming about" and carrying into the new year. Supply chain woes have fueled inflation and as the holiday season approaches the usual spike in retail spending may be affected.

Looking ahead this week:

Tues Nov 1st: US S&P Manufacturing PMI

Wed Nov 2nd: ADP Employment Report

FOMC Announcement

Fed Chairman Press Conference

Thurs Nov 3rd: Foreign Trade Deficit

US Services PMI

Initial Jobless Claims

Fri Nov 4th: Unemployment Rate

What happened this week

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 370 points, or 1.2% at market open Monday morning. S&P 500 futures gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq was trading down 0.1%.The Dow rose as traders tried to continue adding to gains seen last week.

Last week was another volatile week of trading and markets are preparing for more news this week as third quarter earnings continue to come in. The major averages had their biggest weekly gains since June, with the Dow advancing 4.9%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose 4.7% and 5.2%, respectively.

A large part of those gains came Friday, when the Dow rallied more than 700 points, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each jumped around 2.3%. Investors are watching for earnings this week from Apple, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft. More inflation data will be released, with the October manufacturing and services purchasing managers indexes coming Monday.

News was very different in China on Monday morning with technology stocks dragging down broad indices, this came after a political reshuffle tightened President Xi Jinping's grip on power, investors are concerned this could be a negative for private firms.

Tech giants Alibaba and Tencent closed down more than 11% in Asia; search company Baidu was 12% lower and the food delivery firm Meituan dropped more than 14%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index tanked down 6.36% to its lowest levels since April 2009. 

JPMorgan president Daniel Pinto said "the Fed is not out of line as it battles inflation through interest rates." And he said a recession as a result would be a necessary evil.

This week:

Mon Oct 24th: S&P US Manufacturing PMI

Tues Oct 25th: Case Shiller, Home price index

Thurs Oct 27th: Real GDP first estimate Q3

Fri Oct 28th: PCE Price Index

Real Consumer Spending