This week ahead || 15 Aug

NEWS

Retail sales, Fed minutes, and a summer market rally: What to know this week

News out of the retail sector could be the latest data to drive markets higher in the week ahead.

After a series of better-than-expected economic prints helped stoke renewed optimism on Wall Street, investors will get key earnings reports from retailers and the July retail sales report from the Commerce Department this week.

Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), and the Home Depot (HD) are all set to release quarterly results, and July's retail sales report is set for release Wednesday morning.

Read about it here.

Inflation outlook: 'Confusion is certainly better than being wrong', professor explains

Some market participants had a sigh of relief after July’s consumer price index (CPI) report came out better than estimates suggested. President Joe Biden touted both the report and last Friday’s jobs report as evidence of economic recovery.

However, other officials, like San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, warned it was too early to celebrate as inflation remains far from the Fed’s desired 2% target rate. Debates over the state of the economy have fueled varying levels of market sentiment.

Read about it here.

Stock Market Caps Bullish Week With More Gains; Tech Stocks To Watch Include Apple, Nvidia, Onsemi

The stock marked capped another solid week with a low-volume rally Friday. On the heels of a strong earnings report earlier in the week, Walt Disney (DIS) was a top gainer in the Dow Jones today, while semiconductor stocks like Onsemi (ON), Applied Materials (AMAT), Micron (MU) and Lam Research (LRCX) outperformed in the S&P 500 with gains of at least 4%.

Read about it here.

George Soros Deals a Big Blow to Tesla Rival Rivian

t's been a somewhat hectic August for Rivian (RIVN) .

The startup, which is presented as one of Tesla's (TSLA) most serious rivals in the race for electric vehicles, is currently accumulating setbacks.

The electric vehicle manufacturer has just announced mixed earnings for the second quarter. While the company kept its forecast to produce 25,000 vehicles in 2022 unchanged, it lowered its main profit target due to continued supply chain woes.

Read about it here.