Investing Club: An upbeat week was quickly taken down by fears of inflation, Russia-Ukraine conflict
The major averages closed lower this week, as macroeconomic and geopolitical forces took hold of the market heading into the weekend. While things were looking positive through the first half of the week, the action quickly reversed Thursday following a hotter-than-expected inflationary reading. Commentary from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, who called for accelerated rate hikes, added to the negative sentiment. Markets attempted to stabilize early in the day Friday on reports of other Fed officials pushing back on the hawkish comments. But the bids quickly fell away in the late afternoon—and the averages fell further—as monetary policy speculation took a back seat to reports that Russia could launch an invasion into Ukraine "any day now." Under the hood this week, the energy and materials sectors were the relative winners, while communication services and real estate and technology finished down. Here's a quick look at some of the broader market measures we like to keep an eye on: The U.S. dollar index stands at around the 95 level. Gold advanced to the mid-$1,800s region, catching an extra boost on Friday on the Russia headlines. WTI crude prices have leveled off in the low-$90s per barrel region. The yield on the 10-year Treasury broke above the 2% level on the back of the consumer price index report. Earnings and the economy Within the portfolio , we got earnings this week from Disney and Linde . We didn't get much on the macroeconomic front this week; however, the one report we did get, the consumer price index, was a big one as the market's primary concern right now is inflation. Thursday Weekly initial jobless claims : 223,000 vs. 230,000 estimate; four-week moving average for claims: 253,250 (-2,000 vs. prior week) Consumer Price Index (CPI) YoY : +7.5% YoY vs. +7.2% YoY Core CPI YoY: +6.0% vs. +5.9% expected What's ahead Fourth-quarter earnings continue next week. Within the portfolio, we will hear from Devon Energy (DVN) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) on Tuesday, after the closing bell; from Nvidia (NVDA) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) on Wednesday, after the closing bell; and from Walmart (WMT) on Thursday, before the opening bell. Here are some other reports we will be watching: Monday Open: Kelly Services (KELYA), TreeHouse Foods (THS), Scorpio Tankers (STNG) Close: Advance Auto (AAP), Avis Budget (CAR), Continental Resources (CLR), Amkor (AMKOR), Arista Networks (ANET) Tuesday Open: Wesco (WCC), Marriott (MAR), Fidelity (FIS), IQVIQ (IQV), Leidos (LDOS), Ecolab (ECL), Henry Schein (HSIC), Zoetis (ZTS) Close: Viacom (VIAC), Ternium (TX), CF Industries (CF), GXO Logi (GXO), Resideo (REZI), AirBnB (ABNB), Akamai (AKAM), Roblox (RBLX), Toast (TOST), Upstart (UPST), Alteryx (AYX) Wednesday Open: Kraft Heinz (KHC), Sunoco (SUN), Barrick (GOLD), Analog Devices (ADI), Wabtec (WAB), Hilton (HLT), Generac (GNRC), Shopify (SHOP) Close: Energy Transfer (ET), American Intl (AIG), Nutrien (NTR), Applied Materials (AMAT), Pioneer Nat (PXD), Equinix (EQIX), Marathon Oil (MRO), Boston Beer (SAM), Thursday Open: US Foods (USFD), AutoNation (AN), Southern (SO), LKQ (LKQ), YETI (YETI), Tower Semi (TSEM) Close: Con Edison (ED), Reaology (RLGY), Ameren (AEE), Keysight (KEYS), Digital Realty (DLR), Roku (ROKU), Dropbox (DBX) Friday Open: Deere (DE), PPL Corp (PPL), Bloomin' Brands (BLMN), Barnes Group (B), Arbor Realty (ABR) On the macroeconomic front, we'll be keeping an eye on the geopolitical sphere as well as for the following releases (all times ET). Monday N/A Tuesday 08:30 Empire State Index SA 08:30 PPI ex-Food & Energy SA M/M 08:30 PPI ex-Food & Energy NSA Y/Y 08:30 PPI ex-Food, Energy & Trade SA M/M 08:30 PPI ex-Food, Energy & Trade NSA Y/Y 08:30 PPI SA M/M 08:30 PPI NSA Y/Y Wednesday 08:30 Export Price Index NSA M/M 08:30 Import Price Index NSA M/M 08:30Retail sales ControlGroup M/M 08:30 Retail sales Ex AutoFuel M/M 08:30 Retail Sales ex-Auto SA M/M 08:30 Retail Sales SA M/M 09:15 Capacity Utilization NSA 09:15 Industrial Production SA M/M 09:15 Manufacturing Production M/M 10:00 Business Inventories SA M/M 10:00 NAHB Housing Market Index SA Thursday 08:30 Building Permits SAAR (Preliminary) 08:30 Continuing Jobless Claims SA 08:30 Housing Starts SAAR 08:30 Housing Starts M/M 08:30 Initial Claims SA 08:30 Philadelphia Fed Index SA Friday 10:00 Existing Home Sales SAAR 10:00 Leading Indicators SA M/M (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long *** FILL IN*** . See here for a full list of the stocks.) 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Ukraine was already stocking up on U.S.-made Javelins before Russia invaded. Pictured here a group of Ukrainian servicemen taking a shipment of Javelins as Russia positioned troops on Ukraine's border. Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images