Monday Morning Meeting Notes (04/08/2024)

General Info:

• U.S. employment report for March showed 303,000 new jobs added (vs. expectations of 200,000)
• The unemployment rate declined from 3.9% to 3.8%
• Fun Fact: Mirrors facing each other don't produce infinite reflections. Each reflection will be darker than the last and eventually fade into invisibility. Mirrors absorb a fraction of the energy of the light striking them. The total number of reflections mirrors can produce? A few hundred

Monday 04/08:

• National Empanada Day
• Empanadas were first cited in Portugal and Galacia, Spain. "Empanada" comes from "empanar" which means "to wrap or coat in bread" in Spanish. The earliest mention of empanadas by name is in a 1520's cookbook in Catalan!
• A total solar eclipse will be visible along a narrow band of the U.S. (approximately 115 miles wide), with he path of totality including Dallas, Cleveland, Erie, and Buffalo
• Chile copper exports for March

Tuesday 04/09:

• U.S. NFIB Small Business Optimism Index data for March
• China aggregate financing, money supply, and new yuan loans for March

Wednesday 04/10:

• Delta Air Lines reports earnings
• U.S. consumer price index (CPI) data for March
• CPI is expected to have risen 0.3% month-over-month and 3.4% year-over-year (vs. 3.2% in February)
• Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, is expected to have risen 0.3% month-over-month and 3.7% year-over-year (vs. 3.8% in February)
• The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) releases the minutes from its March monetary policy meeting

Thursday 04/11:

• Constellation Brands, Fastenal, and CarMax report earnings
• U.S. initial jobless claims and continuing claims data
• U.S. producer price index (PPI) data for March
• European Central Bank (ECB) monetary policy decision, which will be followed by President Christine Lagarde’s press conference
• The ECB is expected to keep its main refinancing rate at 4.50%
• China CPI and PPI data for March

Friday 04/12:

• JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Progressive, BlackRock, Citigroup, and State Street report earnings
• U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment (preliminary April data)
• CPI data for Germany, France, Spain, India, and Argentina
• South Korea unemployment rate for March
• The ECB issues its survey of professional forecasters