Welcome to “The Week Ahead” where each Friday we take a moment to provide our thoughts on what we can expect in markets and the economy for the upcoming week.
Surprise! At the start of the week it looked like the market was well on its way to rebound from the prior week. Then the market saw the largest one-day percentage drop since May 17th for both the Dow and S&P 500 yesterday. The "fear index," the VIX, shot up to 15.55, the fifth highest close of 2017. After shaking off North Korea fears early in the week, investor’s attention shifted to the dissolving of President Trump’s Manufacturing Council and his Strategy and Policy Forum, rumors that key White House Economic Advisor Gary Cohn would be resigning, and a terrorist attack in Barcelona. The volatility soup du jour switched from potential nuclear war to worries that the Trump administration will not be able to execute on their economic policies.
Next week will be a light week in terms of economic data, however, both Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be speaking at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Economic Symposium in Jackson Hole. While neither central bank head is expected to foreshadow any policy changes at the event, it will be interesting to see how the language has changed given many central banks across the world are now looking to tighten monetary policy.
Data deck for August 19-August 25:
|
Date |
Indicator |
Period |
|
August 22 |
FHFA House Price Index |
June |
|
August 22 |
Richmond Fed Survey |
August |
|
August 23 |
New Home Sales |
July |
|
August 24 |
Initial Jobless Claims |
---- |
|
August 24 |
Existing Home Sales |
July |
|
August 24 |
Kansas City Fed Survey |
August |
|
August 25 |
Core Capital Goods Orders |
July |
|
August 25 |
Core Capital Goods Shipments |
July |
|
August 25 |
Durable Goods Orders |
July |