In Focus This Week: Earnings, Retail Sales, House Speaker, Israel-Gaza

Geopolitics and U.S. internal politics are the main focus of attention in the beginning of the week.

The whole world is watching carefully Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Besides the impact on human lives, the conflict has potential to strongly affect global relations and the economy.

In the U.S., House Republicans will continue discussing a candidate for Speaker of the House. The goal is to identify a name who can unite the party before submitting it to a vote on the floor. The GOP needs at least 217 votes of its 221 representatives to elect a speaker, considering that no member of the Democratic party will support their candidate.

Economic Data

The data for retail sales in September will be released on Tuesday. In August, sales surprised with a 0.6% monthly gain. The numbers will show how much consumers may help sustain economic activity.

On Thursday, we will know the pace of sales of previously owned homes in September. The expectation is for a drop in transactions as homebuyers delay purchases because of high mortgage rates.

Earnings

Third-quarter earnings season warms up with big names in finance, manufacturing and media releasing their results.

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are scheduled for Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley comes out with its numbers on Wednesday. Profits of JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo, released Friday, increased and beat expectations.

United Airlines and Johnson & Johnson will report Tuesday. Wednesday is a big day with the results of Alcoa, Procter & Gamble, Netflix and Tesla.

American Airlines and AT&T are scheduled for Thursday. On Friday, American Express releases its earnings.

UAW Strike

The United Auto Workers strike is now one-month long. UAW President Shaw Fain said on Oct. 13 that he won't until Fridays to announce any expansion of the walkout.

Fain demanded from the big three U.S. automakers to improve their offers, instead of insisting on proposals already rejected by the union.

"Call us back at the table in a serious way," Fain said.
About 25,000 workers of plants and distribution centers of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis are on strike. The walkout started on Sept. 15.

The Federal Reserve said last week in the minutes of its Sept. 19-20 meeting that the intensification of the strike could bring risks to inflation and economic activity.

Trump Trial

Former President Donald Trump plans to return to the court in Lower Manhattan where his civil trial is proceeding, The New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Trump and his company are accused of inflating the value of his assets to get better deals in loans and insurance.

The former president's appearance in court is likely to coincide with the hearing of his ex-fixer Michael Cohen, who will testify against his former boss.

Putin in China

Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to China for the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

It will be his only second foreign trip since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him in March because of Russia's war in Ukraine. The first trip was last week, when he visited Kyrgyzstan for two days.

Neither China nor Kyrgyzstan are members of the ICC and don't need to enforce its warrant. The ICC which was established to prosecute war crimes.