Last week was a doozy for investors interested in the labor and housing markets — as most bank investors are. After all the head-spinning data, this week is kind of a recap, so you can take a little bit of a breather. But don’t think there isn’t anything valuable to glean from the events or announcements in the coming days.
Monday
Gallup U.S. Consumer Spending Measure: Reporting consumer spending habits as reported by consumers themselves, the Gallup report gives investors a glimpse into the daily and weekly lives of people’s discretionary spending. This is particularly important for the banks and credit card companies, which will now have to charge lower transaction fees for debit card purchases. With the data in hand from consumers, you can estimate the impact of the new fee reduction.
Tuesday
JOLTS: The Labor Department’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey is a recap of June’s activity, so it’s a little behind the times. But investors can get some new information from it, including the number of job openings available to the nation’s workforce. This measure is helpful when trying to figure out the trend of new job creation, which we learned was slowing in July.
Wednesday
MBA purchase applications: With interest rates remaining flat last week, it’s likely that banks and investors will continue to see the declines in new mortgage applications. Last week’s 2% decline was painful for both Wells Fargo & Co (NYSE:WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), the nation’s top two mortgage originators, since a loss of new business won’t let them sustain the revenue growth they’ve had in the past few quarters. And for Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), the lack of demand from buyers for new loans gives the beleaguered company a smaller chance of snatching up a bigger segment of the mortgage market.
Bank reserve settlement: It’s that time again. Every two weeks, the Federal Reserve requires banks to check in with their capital reserve balances. While some banks have no problem meeting their required threshold, others may have to scramble to gather up enough cash to meet the requirements — leading to increases in interbank lending, which can influence movement in the federal funds rate.
Gallup U.S. Job Creation Index: More data on new job creation, though this report will shed more light on why the trend was declining in July.
Consumer Credit: Another report that’s not quite timely, the consumer credit report allows investors to see the amount of used and available credit. A rise in consumer credit could be a healthy sign for the economy, as long as consumers are spending wisely and within their means.
Thursday
Jobless claims: Last week’s big drop in new unemployment benefit claims was unexpected, though data in July is subject to volatility from manufacturing plant closures. This week’s report will be important for investors as they try to see if a trend forms that brings the average weekly claims back down to pre-recession levels.
