We are entering the calm before the earnings storm. The Independence Day-shortened trading week is behind us. So is the June jobs report and the long-awaited Honeywell Aerospace spin-off. Of course, something can always happen that surprises us and throws Wall Street for a loop. But as far as the actual calendar is concerned, the first full week of July is light on both earnings and market-moving economic reports. The calm will not last. The trading week of July 13 to July 17 marks the official start of second-quarter earnings season with the nation's biggest banks reporting; it will also feature June inflation data, where we'll look for signs of a peak in oil-driven inflation:
1. Earnings:
While there are no Club names reporting, a few household names with their pulses on the U.S. economy are on the docket. The biggest three reports are Levi Strauss on Wednesday evening, PepsiCo on Thursday morning, and Delta Air Lines before the bell Friday:
- Levi's is all about the consumer. How are shoppers allocating their discretionary dollars given the recent rebound in inflation and affordability crunch resulting from higher oil prices?
- Pepsi can provide insight into inflationary pressures in the food industry:
- Delta Air Lines is probably the most interesting and informative of the three big reports:
2. Economic data:
On the heels of Thursday's weaker-than-expected June jobs report, we'll get two updates this week on activity in the services sector:
3. AI trade:
The final two trading days of last week brought vicious selling across the semiconductor industry and other artificial intelligence beneficiaries:
