Happy Sunday… and happy extended weekend. The markets will be closed tomorrow, and we’ll be taking the day. However, before we take the day, here’s your Weekend Rip!
Equity indexes were 0-for-4 this week. All indexes fell more than -1%, but no more than -2%. Stocks fell given geopolitical tensions with Russia and Ukraine. That’s the jist on equities for the week.
This week, we’ll be looking out for more than 700 companies reporting earnings… and these are some pretty big names, too. Check out our earnings section below and cross your fingers for good luck. Earnings season has been extremely hit-or-miss so far this year…
Things didn’t look much brighter in crypto this week. The world’s two largest cryptos tended lower. Bitcoin was down -9.4% and Ethereum was down -8.5%.
Other large-cap cryptos made their way down double-digits, including Cardano (-10.7%), Dogecoin (-11.3%) and Shiba Inu (-19.7%).
Reflections aside, here’s what went down this week:
| S&P 500 | 4,348 | -1.44% |
| Nasdaq | 13,548 | -1.60% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,009 | -1.03% |
| Dow Jones | 34,079 | -1.77% |
Bullets
Bullets from the Week
The U.S. is now energy independent. U.S. petroleum production exceeded consumption in 2020, and that balance was mostly maintained throughout 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration. The country can thank cheap shale gas and an uptake in oil production in the states, such as the Gulf. And to make matters even better, more than half of U.S. oil imports come from Canada. That’s a whole lot of oil solidarity which might pad consumers against a potential crisis. Read more in Axios.
U.S. Ag Secretary criticizes price exploitation. President Joe Biden is reportedly unwilling to pin rising inflation on corporations. However, one member of his cabinet is absolutely willing to. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack condemned businesses “taking advantage” of the coronavirus pandemic and supply-chain disruptions to push up food costs. The U.S’s observed inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was up 7.5% YoY in January 2022. Read more in Bloomberg.
Trump’s social media app Truth Social might launch Monday. Trump’s new social network, Truth Social, will reportedly launch in the Apple App Store on Monday… or not, at least according to several media sources. The app, which has been in beta for the last few weeks, takes after elements of Twitter and aims to be a safe haven for free speech. However, it looks fairly likely that the social media app will cater to right-leaning voices which believe they have been suppressed by companies led by Silicon Valley neolibs (such as Facebook and Twitter.) The parent company behind Truth Social is going public in a SPAC merger with $DWAC, which became a retail favorite in recent months. Read more in Reuters.
Will home improvement keep pace? This week, investors can expect earnings from Home Depot and Lowe’s. One question investors are asking is: did home improvement keep pace, even as the pandemic waned? Given the state of the housing market, it might be more likely than you think. The two companies will report towards the middle of the week. Read more in Barron’s.
Queen Elizabeth tests positive for COVID. Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. The 95-year-old monarch will reportedly continue to work while sick. This has meaningful ramifications for the U.K., and consequentially, the U.S. Read more on AP.
Sponsored
Final Month to get in on the Golden Age of Psychedelics with Ei.Ventures
There are just 30 days left to invest in the first Psychedelic Medicine company to qualify for a Reg A+ Tier 2 offering–Ei.Ventures.
Bring the healing power of plant medicines to nearly 1 billion people worldwide struggling with mental illness and get in on the $35B industry before March 22 right here.
The Brief
Need a concise summary of what’s going on this week? Look no further. Here’s a summary of important earnings and economic data for the trading week ahead.
Economic Calendar
2/22 Consumer Confidence (10:00 AM ET)
2/24 Initial & Continuing Claims (8:30 AM ET)
2/24 New Home Sales (10:00 AM ET)
2/24 EIA Crude Oil Inventories (11:00 AM ET)
2/25 Personal Income & Spending (8:30 AM ET)
2/25 PCE Prices (8:30 AM ET)
Peep the full Economic Calendar provided by Briefing for all the reports this week.
Earnings this Week
Here’s what to expect from earnings this week:
There are 725 companies that the Stocktwits community will be tracking this week when they report, so check out the Stocktwits earnings calendar to see the rest.
Links
Links That Don’t Suck:
🥇 The Beijing Winter Olympics Are Over
🪢 What If Swings Had Springs Instead of Ropes?
😷 The Astounding Physics of N95 Masks
😒 How To Deal With Annoying Co-Workers
*this is a sponsored post