We once again start the week off on a rather quiet note with investors waiting for what Fed Chair Powell will have to say tomorrow when he speaks at an Economic Club of Washington event.
Following last week's hot January Employment Report that included another drop in the Unemployment Rate, investors will be looking to determine if Powell now sees more than the couple of rate hikes ahead that he alluded to during last week's press conference.
In our view, the combination of the January Employment Report and Powell's forthcoming comments are likely to dampen the market's thought we will see a rate cut later this year. We'll not only watching treasury yields to gauge the market's reaction but also the dollar, which rebounded somewhat late last week after moving considerably lower over the last several.
Tomorrow also brings an Alphabet (GOOGL) event on Search and AI with shopping, maps, and travel expected to be in the spotlight. As we noted in last week's Roundup, with Microsoft (MSFT) expected to tap ChatGPT to bolster several businesses, including market share for its Bing search engine, we expect a big splash this week from Alphabet to reassure investors about maintaining its place in Search & Advertising, a key business for the company.
Tuesday also brings President Joe Biden's 2023 State of the Union address, during which we will listening to for comments about the debt ceiling but also given our position in Lockheed Martin (LMT) , any comments on defense spending as well as other budget cuts.
In last week's Roundup we also pointed out this week brings the start of retailer earnings with the few on deck setting the stage for a coming barrage. This morning The Children's Place (PLCE) pre-announced weaker than expected revenue for its January quarter -- $454-$456 million vs. the $467.8 million consensus. Weighing on its margins, the company opted to "liquidate units with higher built-in input and other supply chain costs." Comments later this week from VF Corp. (VFC) , Capri Holdings (CPRI) , and Ralph Lauren (RL) will indicate if this was a Children's Place specific event or something more widespread.
Nestle (NSRGY) CEO Mark Schneider shared the company will have to raise the prices of its food products further this year to offset higher production costs that it has yet to pass on to consumers fully. This will put the topic of further price action at the forefront when PepsiCo (PEP) and Chipotle (CMG) report this week.
Following last week's earnings report from Ford Motor (F) , later this week, the Chicago Auto Show kicks off. We expect a flurry of press announcements from auto OEMs with no shortage of ones for upcoming EV models. The event should argue in favor for the industry transition to EVs, one that keeps us bullish on ChargePoint (CHPT) shares.
As we go through the week, we will continue to keep close watch on the shares of Bullpen resident Marvell (MRVL) , especially after tighter spending controls discussed last week from Meta (META) and Alphabet. With that in mind, coming into this week Dell Technologies (DELL) announced it will eliminate about 6,650 jobs, ~5% of the company's global workforce.
We would not be surprised if we continue to see other companies join the ranks of those announcing layoffs and spending cuts as the December quarter earnings rolls on. The key for us will be where those spending cuts will be made.