Investors will continue to focus on earnings reports. Companies scheduled to report include ADP, Allstate Corp., CVS Caremark Corp., Kraft Foods Inc. and Visa Inc., among others.
-John Toohey, VP equity investments, USAA
April 30, 2012
- Last week started with a sharp drop in the markets with European markets dropping more than 2 percent.
- The rejection of European Union-imposed austerity measures by the Dutch government, combined with the Socialist Party winning the first round of the French presidential election resulted in the negative reaction.
- Investors are becoming more concerned about a breakup of European Currency Union and potential impacts it may have.
- General positive earnings reports, including Apple Inc.’s, 3M Co., Boeing Co., Amazon.com Inc. and Ford Motor Companies helped the markets to recover throughout the rest of the week, however the good earnings was offset by the weaker-than-expected March durable goods orders, and slightly higher-than-expected jobless claims.
- Investors will continue to focus on earnings this week with scheduled reports from ADP, Allstate Corp., CVS Caremark Corp., Kraft Foods Inc. and Visa Inc., among others.
- This week's key economic releases include:
- Personal income and spending
- Chicago & Milwaukee Purchasing Manager’s Indices
- Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Index
- ISM Non-Manufacturing Payroll Report
- Labor Department Payroll Report
- Unemployment rate
