Your Trading Week Ahead — March 20th

Welcome to Your Trading Week Ahead for March 20th. Here’s what you need to know before you go…

Quick recap

What a difference a week makes. After trading as low as $415 intraday on Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) closed Friday at $445 — the high of the week.

The 7.2% swing from the lows came after the Fed confirmed the expected 25 basis point rate hike to 0.50% following the FOMC’s March meeting.

After the rate decision was delivered, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said “the time for raising rates and shrinking balance sheets has come” and that “the U.S. economy remains very strong”.

Powell explained that “No one is certain where our economy will be a year from now”, but the Fed would “continue using its tools” to combat inflation and potential economic headwinds as necessary. His words quickly soothed the market, quelling fears that rhetoric following the meeting might signal a more hawkish tone from the Fed.

Headlines concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict continue coming in. And the developing situation still leaves many of the geopolitical questions unanswered. But it seems traders have gotten a little more bullish, at least in the short term.

The S&P 500 ultimately closed the week higher by 6.16% at 4,463. The Dow finished up 5.5% at 34,754. Recently battered tech stocks bounced the hardest, as the Nasdaq closed higher by 8.18% at 13,893.

What to watch this week

Earnings roundup

Earnings season continues with another packed week of popular stocks. We’ll hear quarterly data from NIKE (NKE), Adobe (ADBE), Pinduoduo (PDD), Carnival Corporation (CCL), EVgo, Inc. (EVGO), Cintas Corporation (CTAS), Trip.com Group (TCOM), NIO Inc. (NIO), and Poshmark (POSH) — just to name a few.

Here are the biggest names to watch:

Economic calendar

There are several events on the calendar this week with the potential to move markets. Here’s some of the most important things to watch:

• Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks – Monday at 8am ET
• Chicago Fed national activity index (Feb.) – Monday at 8:30am ET
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at NABE conference – Monday at 12pm ET
• New home sales (SAAR Feb.) – Wednesday at 10am ET
• Initial and continuing jobless claims – Thursday at 8:30am ET
• Durable goods orders (Feb.) – Thursday at 8:30am ET
• Core capital goods orders (Feb.) – Thursday at 8:30am ET
• Current account deficit (Q4) – Thursday at 8:30am ET
• Markit manufacturing & services PMI (flash Mar.) – Thursday at 9:45am ET
• University of Michigan consumer sentiment index (Mar. final) – Friday at 10am ET
• 5-year inflation expectations (Mar. final) – Friday at 10am ET
• Pending home sales index (Feb.) – Friday at 10am ET

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