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The market in a minute: The Fed may trump earnings again

By Oliver Pursche

Published: Oct 17, 2016 12:10 p.m. ET

Oliver Pursche is the Chief Executive Officer of New York-based Bruderman Brothers, LLC a registered broker/dealer and Bruderman Asset Management, LLC, a registered Investment Advisor overseeing over $1 billion in client assets.He is a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council and a monthly participant in the New York Federal Reserve Bank Business Leaders Survey. As a frequent contributor to CNBC and Fox Business and a regular columnist for Forbes and The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, he is a recognized authority on global affairs and investment policy. He is the author of “Immigrants: The economic force at our door.”

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The third-quarter earnings-reporting season is off to a decent start, with about 68% of the few companies who have reported exceeding sales growth and revenue expectations. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.30% and other major indexes lost a couple of percentage points last week as investors fretted over the timing of the next interest-rate hike, which is more and more likely going to come this December. So far, financial companies have had the greatest upside surprises, as well as being expected to have the bet revenue and profit growth of the 10 sectors in the S&P.

The trade

While earnings season is off to a decent start, overall expectations continue to be muted. Moreover, markets are still all about the Fed and its next move, hence market participants are more focused on economic data than earnings at this moment. Last week's selloff was partially driven by weak Chinese data, more of which will be released this Tuesday evening. Remaining defensive and hedged is likely appropriate, raising cash from consumer-staple, consumer-discretionary and materials companies is prudent as these are likely to be the weakest growth sectors for this reporting season.

This week's market-moving events

Monday: Industrial production, Empire State manufacturing survey. Bank of America BAC, +0.31% , IBM IBM, +0.21% and NETFLIX NFLX, -1.65% report earnings.
Tuesday: CPI, housing market, Redbook report and Chinese data (after the close). BlackRock BLK, -0.09% , Harley Davidson HOG, -0.26% , Intel INTC, -0.43% , Johnson & Johnson JNJ, +0.79% , Phillip Morris PM, -0.33% and Yahoo YHOO, +0.84% report

Wednesday: Housing starts, mortgage applications and beige book. Abbot Labs ABT, -0.49% , American Express AXP, -0.42% , Halliburton HAL, -1.38% , Morgan Stanley MS, -0.87% , Tupperware TUP, -0.23% report.
Thursday: Jobless claims, Philly Fed business outlook survey, existing-home sales, leading indicators are reported. Schlumberger SLB, -0.42% and Verizon VZ, +0.30% report

Friday: Oil-rig count. GE GE, -0.14% , McDonalds MCD, -1.47% , Whirlpool WHR, +1.41% report.

Quote References

SPX
-6.48 -0.30%
BAC
+0.05 +0.31%
IBM
+0.32 +0.21%
NFLX
-1.67 -1.65%

BLK
-0.31 -0.09%
HOG
-0.13 -0.26%
INTC
-0.16 -0.43%
JNJ
+0.93 +0.79%
PM
-0.32 -0.33%
YHOO
+0.35 +0.84%
ABT
-0.20 -0.49%
AXP
-0.25 -0.42%
HAL
-0.65 -1.38%
MS
-0.28 -0.87%
TUP
-0.15 -0.23%
SLB
-0.34 -0.42%
VZ
+0.15 +0.30%
GE
-0.04 -0.14%
MCD
-1.68 -1.47%
WHR
+2.26 +1.41%

MarketWatch Partner Center

S&P 500 Index S&P Base CME: SPX

2,126.50

-6.48 (-0.30%)

Volume	479.3M
Open	2,133
High	2,136
Low	2,124
P/E Ratio	0
Div Yield	0
Market Cap	N/A

Bank of America Corp. U.S.: NYSE: BAC

$16.05

+0.05 (+0.31%)

Volume	99.5M
Open	$16.17
High	$16.20
Low	$15.90
P/E Ratio	13.84
Div Yield	1.87
Market Cap	163.3B

International Business Machines Corp. U.S.: NYSE: IBM

$154.77

+0.32 (+0.21%)

Volume	5.0M
Open	$154.45
High	$155.89
Low	$154.34
P/E Ratio	12.52
Div Yield	3.62
Market Cap	147.6B

Netflix Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq: NFLX

$99.80

-1.67 (-1.65%)

Volume	18.5M
Open	$100.50
High	$100.73
Low	$98.38
P/E Ratio	311.88
Div Yield	0
Market Cap	43.5B

BlackRock Inc. U.S.: NYSE: BLK

$354.60

-0.31 (-0.09%)

Volume	603.1K
Open	$355.42
High	$356.97
Low	$352.95
P/E Ratio	18.9
Div Yield	2.58
Market Cap	57.6B

Harley-Davidson Inc. U.S.: NYSE: HOG

$49.70

-0.13 (-0.26%)

Volume	2.3M
Open	$49.85
High	$50.27
Low	$49.60
P/E Ratio	13.01
Div Yield	2.82
Market Cap	8.9B

Intel Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq: INTC

$37.29

-0.16 (-0.43%)

Volume	15.1M
Open	$37.55
High	$37.72
Low	$37.24
P/E Ratio	18.01
Div Yield	2.79
Market Cap	177.2B

Johnson & Johnson U.S.: NYSE: JNJ

$118.49

+0.93 (+0.79%)

Volume	6.4M
Open	$117.50
High	$118.55
Low	$117.50
P/E Ratio	22.27
Div Yield	2.7
Market Cap	321.6B

Philip Morris International Inc. U.S.: NYSE: PM

$95.51

-0.32 (-0.33%)

Volume	4.0M
Open	$95.83
High	$95.98
Low	$95.26
P/E Ratio	22.85
Div Yield	4.36
Market Cap	148.7B

Yahoo! Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq: YHOO

$41.79

+0.35 (+0.84%)

Volume	5.9M
Open	$41.35
High	$41.94
Low	$41.24
P/E Ratio	0
Div Yield	0
Market Cap	39.4B

Abbott Laboratories U.S.: NYSE: ABT

$40.59

-0.20 (-0.49%)

Volume	7.0M
Open	$40.73
High	$40.95
Low	$40.55
P/E Ratio	27.04
Div Yield	2.56
Market Cap	60.0B

American Express Co. U.S.: NYSE: AXP

$59.90

-0.25 (-0.42%)

Volume	3.8M
Open	$60.27
High	$60.42
Low	$59.78
P/E Ratio	10.55
Div Yield	2.14
Market Cap	55.6B

Halliburton Co. U.S.: NYSE: HAL

$46.32

-0.65 (-1.38%)

Volume	8.1M
Open	$46.95
High	$47.35
Low	$45.98
P/E Ratio	0
Div Yield	1.55
Market Cap	40.4B

Morgan Stanley U.S.: NYSE: MS

$31.79

-0.28 (-0.87%)

Volume	9.8M
Open	$32.05
High	$32.17
Low	$31.61
P/E Ratio	14.65
Div Yield	2.52
Market Cap	61.3B

Tupperware Brands Corp. U.S.: NYSE: TUP

$64.32

-0.15 (-0.23%)

Volume	309.2K
Open	$64.39
High	$64.73
Low	$64.16
P/E Ratio	17.11
Div Yield	4.23
Market Cap	3.3B

Schlumberger Ltd. U.S.: NYSE: SLB

$80.98

-0.34 (-0.42%)

Volume	3.6M
Open	$81.32
High	$81.76
Low	$80.69
P/E Ratio	0
Div Yield	2.47
Market Cap	113.1B

Verizon Communications Inc. U.S.: NYSE: VZ

$50.43

+0.15 (+0.30%)

Volume	10.4M
Open	$50.21
High	$50.59
Low	$50.05
P/E Ratio	14.25
Div Yield	4.58
Market Cap	205.0B

General Electric Co. U.S.: NYSE: GE

$28.85

-0.04 (-0.14%)

Volume	29.6M
Open	$28.90
High	$28.99
Low	$28.70
P/E Ratio	21.14
Div Yield	3.19
Market Cap	258.9B

McDonald's Corp. U.S.: NYSE: MCD

$112.41

-1.68 (-1.47%)

Volume	5.6M
Open	$113.91
High	$114.40
Low	$112.10
P/E Ratio	21.66
Div Yield	3.34
Market Cap	97.4B

Whirlpool Corp. U.S.: NYSE: WHR

$163.01

+2.26 (+1.41%)

Volume	1.4M
Open	$158.86
High	$166.08
Low	$158.73
P/E Ratio	14.43
Div Yield	2.45
Market Cap	12.1B

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The market in a minute: The Fed may trump earnings again