Monday Morning Meeting Notes (01/15/2024)

General Info:

• Inflation, as measured by the U.S. consumer price index (CPI), rose slightly more than expected in December as shelter costs continued to contribute over half of the overall increase in the cost of living
• CPI rose 0.3% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year (vs. expectations of 0.2% and 3.2%)
• Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3% month-over-month and 3.9% year-over-year (vs. expectations of 0.3% and 3.8%, respectively)
• Fun Fact: There are over 200 species of squirrels according to the Taxonomic Information System of North America, and they fall into three types: ground squirrels, tree squirrels, and flying squirrels

Monday 01/15:

• U.S. financial markets, banks, and post offices are closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
• The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland begins and runs through January 19^th
• Eurozone industrial production data for November
• China medium-term lending facility rate and volume
• Germany releasing 2023 GDP growth figures, including an estimate for Q4

Tuesday 01/16:

• Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and PNC report earnings
• U.K. jobless claims and unemployment data for December
• Germany CPI data for December

Wednesday 01/17:

• U.S. Bancorp, Citizens Financial Group, Prologis, and Alcoa report earnings
• U.S. retail sales, industrial production, and business inventories
• The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) releases its Beige Book survey of regional economic conditions
• CPI data for the Eurozone and the U.K.
• China GDP, property prices, retail sales, and industrial production

Thursday 01/18:

• National Thesaurus Day – a day that I find tantalizing, enticing, appealing, and intriguing
• M&T Bank, JB Hunt Transport Services, Northern Trust, Truist, KeyCorp, and PPG Industries report earnings
• U.S. housing starts for December
• U.S. initial jobless claims and continuing claims data
• Japan core machine orders and industrial production data for November
• The European Central Bank (ECB) publishes the minutes from its December monetary policy meeting

Friday 01/19:

• Huntington Bancshares, Ally Financial, Regions Financial, State Street, and Schlumberger report earnings
• U.S. Congress faces a deadline to pass spending agreement before part of the government shuts down
• U.S. existing home sales for December
• U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment (preliminary January data)
• U.S. cross-border investment for November
• Japan CPI data for December