Wall Street pushed higher this holiday shortened trading week, as the Dow, S & P 500 and Nasdaq each finished up about 1%. It was the fourth straight week of gains for the major averages. The moves come on continued hope that inflation is coming down and the Federal Reserve is finished raising interest rates. Treasury yields hit multimonth lows during the week, with the federal funds rate staying below 4.5%, despite a slight move higher on Friday. (Treasury yields tend to move inversely to stock prices; as yields fall investors seeking better returns move money back into the stock market). For us, the main event of the week was Nvidia’s earnings release on Tuesday after the bell. The chipmaker once again came into its quarterly print with super-high expectations on the Street, but once again exceeded them . Guidance for the current quarter, the final three month of Nvidia’s fiscal 2024, was equally strong. Still, Nvidia (NVDA) shares fell modestly. We chalk that up to the usual concerns of boom and bust in the semiconductor industry, as well as some profit-taking after the stock’s meteoric rise this year. It remains a stock to own, not to trade. The other major mover is holiday shopping season. Black Friday through Cyber Monday is a huge four-day period for retailers, including those in our portfolio like Apple, TJX Companies, Foot Locker, Amazon and Estee Lauder. This shopping kickoff is not the end all, be all for retail, but can set the tone. Therefore, we’ll pore over data next week that can give us early insights into how the season is shaping. Signals have been a bit mixed, with some calling for spending growth versus last year and others expecting it to be largely flat. Additionally, a few more macroeconomic releases hit next week, along with two portfolio companies set to report earnings on Wednesday. Here are three main areas to keep your eye on. 1. Spending data : The most important economic release lands Thursday with the personal spending and income report. It’s here we find the crucial core PCE price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation. As of Friday, the consensus expectation is for a 3.5% annual rate of advance, down from the 3.7% annual rate seen in the September report. Of course, anything closer to the Fed’s 2% target would be welcome by investors. On Wednesday, the second estimate of the third-quarter Gross Domestic Price index comes out. It provides a good high-level read on the state of the economy. But it’s important to remember that GDP readings are very backward-looking — we’re already 2 months into the fourth quarter. For this reason, we put more emphasis on monthly economic releases, such as the aforementioned personal spending report. And even more that that, we value management commentary, which is reveals what’s happening now and is also forward looking. 2. Update on housing : New homes sales come out Monday and pending home sales are released on Thursday. Both reports should offer up some insight into the cost of housing and the rate of shelter cost inflation — a key watch item for the Fed as this has proven a stickier area of inflation still being fought. Until we get some real relief here, don’t expect the Fed to pivot from its higher-for-longer view on interest rates. The last notable report of the week comes on Friday with the ISM manufacturing report. The ISM report measures the rate of contraction and expansion in sector, measured by the distance from that 50-level benchmark. The further below 50, the faster the contraction. The higher above 50, the faster the rate of expansion. At the moment, economists are forecasting a reading of 47.7, which would indicate a slower rate of contraction versus the 46.7 reading we got in October. 3. Earnings : Foot Locker (FL) reports on Wednesday before the opening bell. We aren’t expecting a positive release, considering we previously trimmed our position. In addition to the reported results, commentary from management on the progress made to right the ship will be key, as will updates on the holiday shopping season and inventory levels. Black Friday and Cyber Monday results won’t be reflected in the reported numbers so we need to listen to the call for details. For Salesforce (CRM), which reports Wednesday after the bell, we’re looking for how well management is maintaining the balance between growth and profitability. Artificial intelligence is also no doubt going to be a hot topic. But buzz words aside, we want to hear what recent investments in AI, such as Einstein GPT , are doing from a sales perspective. The pace of deal activity will also be another watch item for us: Are deals taking longer to sign? If so, what is management doing to address it? Here’s the full rundown of all the important domestic data in the week ahead. Monday, November 27 10:00 a.m. ET: New Home Sales Before the bell: Cerence (CRNC) After the bell: Zscaler (ZS) Tuesday, November 28 10:00 a.m. ET: Consumer Confidence Before the bell: Pinduoduo (PDD), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Elbit Systems (ESLT) After the bell: CrowdStrike (CRWD), Workday (WDAY), Intuit (INTU), Splunk (SPLK), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), NetApp (NTAP), AZEK (AZEK) Wednesday, November 29 8:30 a.m. ET: Gross Domestic Price Index Before the bell: Foot Locker (FL) , Dollar Tree (DLTR), Petco (WOOF), Hormel Foods (HRL), Bilibili (BILI) After the bell: Salesforce (CRM) , Snowflake (SNOW), Okta (OKTA), Synopsys (SNPS), Pure Storage (PSTG), Five Below (FIVE), PVH (PVH) Thursday, November 30 8:30 a.m. ET: Personal Spending & Income 8:30 a.m. ET: Initial jobless claims 10:00 a.m. ET: Pending Home Sales Before the bell: Kroger (KR), Big Lots (BIG), Academy Sports and Outdoors (ASO), TD Bank (TD), Royal Bank of Canada (RY) After the bell: Marvell (MRVL), ULTA Beauty (ULTA), Dell Technologies (DELL), Ambarella (AMBA) Friday, December 1 10:00 a.m. ET: ISM Manufacturing Before the bell: Bank of Montreal (BMO) (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Foot Locker, athletic shoe store with shopper.
Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Wall Street pushed higher this holiday shortened trading week, as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq each finished up about 1%. It was the fourth straight week of gains for the major averages.
The moves come on continued hope that inflation is coming down and the Federal Reserve is finished raising interest rates. Treasury yields hit multimonth lows during the week, with the federal funds rate staying below 4.5%, despite a slight move higher on Friday. (Treasury yields tend to move inversely to stock prices; as yields fall investors seeking better returns move money back into the stock market).
