1. Earnings deluge continues. Get ready for an earnings-paloooza. Big names from tech, food, retail and energy will redeliver their quarterly financial reports next week.
Investors will be keen to see how Whole Foods and Amazon fare following their big merger announcement — especially how Amazon will impact Blue Apron and other retail stocks.
Chipotle will release its earnings on Tuesday following a new round of bad press: Mice in Dallas and more sick customers in Virginia. Also up: Alphabet, Facebook, Verizon, GM and Boeing.
2. Fed decision. Will Fed chair Janet Yellen pick up the pace on interest rate hikes? Yellen testified a few weeks ago that despite low inflation — and the “source of uncertainty” that is Trump policy — the U.S. economy is pretty strong overall. She hinted that the Fed could possibly raise interest rates for a third time this year, but remain low enough to accommodate more growth.
3. GDP. The second quarter was probably much more robust for the U.S. economy than the first quarter — but not close to the 4% growth that the Trump administration had promised.
Economists forecast that the economy grew 2.7% in the second quarter, up from a tepid 1.4% in the first quarter.
4. Coming next week:
Monday — Jared Kushner interviewed by Senate Intelligence Committee; Alphabet, Hasbro earnings
Tuesday — McDonald’s, GM, AT&T, Chipotle earnings
Wednesday — Fed decision; Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort testify; Boeing, Coca-Cola, Ford, Facebook, Whole Foods earnings
Thursday — Verizon, Amazon earnings
Friday — Exxon, Chevron earnings; GDP report