If you have money in the stock market, pay attention this week. A pile of big events lands in just a few days, with the busiest stretch on Wednesday afternoon.
That's when the Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision at 2 p.m. Eastern, with Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaking half an hour later. On the very same day, Microsoft and Alphabet report earnings. Amazon and Intel follow on Thursday, along with the first estimate of third-quarter GDP and the core PCE inflation number, which is the Fed's favorite way to measure inflation. Boeing and Coca-Cola kick things off on Tuesday, Caterpillar reports Thursday, and Exxon Mobil and Chevron close out the week Friday.
Why the nerves? Treasury yields have been climbing, with the 10-year sitting just under 5%, and that's made people worry the Fed could sound tougher than hoped. A hawkish tone would hit growth stocks, which depend on cheap borrowing. A more patient tone could give stocks room to run. Oil is the other wild card. Crude has been trading above $100, and if energy giants post big profits, that's another sign inflation pressure isn't going away.
For tech, the question is simple: is all that AI spending turning into real revenue? Investors have grown more skeptical after months of massive spending, and we saw last week how Meta got punished for it. Strong cloud growth and confident spending plans from Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon could steady chip and software stocks. Weak ones could worsen the recent selloff.
It's a lot for one week, and a single sentence from Warsh or one disappointing cloud number could set the tone into November.
Which matters more to you this week: what the Fed says, or what Big Tech reports?
Fed decision or Big Tech earnings: which one will move your portfolio more this week? Source: