Retailers Miss the Mark

May 23, 2022

Retailers Miss the Mark Photo

The S&P 500 Index fell for a seventh consecutive week, with disappointing results from major retailers Walmart and Target leading the overall market lower. This week’s earnings reports from retailers such as Costco, Macy’s, Best Buy and Dollar General take on added significance as recessionary fears mount and the S&P 500 Index hovers near bear-market territory. 

The release of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) May 3-4 meeting minutes on Wednesday will likely shed more light on why, despite inflation running so hot, Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials were not “actively considering” an eventual 75-basis-point rate hike, as he said at a press conference following the meeting. The economic calendar this week is highlighted by new home sales statistics and purchasing managers’ manufacturing and services data on Tuesday as well as personal income, spending and the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index — being released on Friday.

Tags: S&P 500 Index | Earnings | Bear market | Inflation | Federal Reserve | recession | Personal Consumption Expenditures Index

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