This Week In Focus: Argentina Election, Fed Minutes, Black Friday, Earnings

The week begins with the runoff presidential elections in Argentina. Voters of the South American country will cast their ballots for Sergio Massa, the current finance minister, or former television host Javier Milei.

While Massa is a centrist politician who defends international alliances, Milei is running on unconventional proposals, such as ditching the Argentinian peso for the U.S. dollar as the national currency.

Argentina is dealing with an annual inflation of almost 150%. The country is a major producer of soy, beef, corn and lithium.

Results of the vote are expected for Sunday evening.

Economic data

The most expected economic release in the week is the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve. The document, scheduled to be released Tuesday, will show views of Fed officials on the U.S. economy, labor market and inflation when they voted to keep interest rates unchanged in the range of 5.25% to 5.5% on Nov. 1.

Earlier Tuesday, the National Realtors Association will release the existing home sales data for the month of October. In September, sales fell to the lowest level in 13 years as homebuyers were discouraged by high interest rates.

With the Thanksgiving holiday, the weekly report on jobless claims will be released on Wednesday, one day earlier than usual. Last week, the higher-than-expected increase in the number of people filing for unemployment benefits indicated a slowdown in the job market.

Earnings

With the busiest part of the earnings season behind, chipmaker Nvidia is one of the highlights of the week. The company reports quarterly results Tuesday. Nvidia stock is near its all-time high.

Retailers will also concentrate attention: apparel retailers American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, Kohls and Nordstrom, electronics chain Best Buy and home improvement giant Lowe's are all reporting Tuesday.

Their reports are expected to show how consumers are entering the busiest time of the year for the industry.

Black Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is usually the busiest shopping day in the U.S. Retailers try to attract consumers with bigger discounts and extended hours. The date also marks the start of holiday shopping.

The National Retail Federation forecasts that 130.7 million people plan to shop in stores and online this Black Friday. It's a 69% increase from 2022.

Investors will look into data on sales to interpret how much consumer spending will sustain economic growth at the end of the year.

Holiday travel

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects air travel to hit a new record high during the Thanksgiving Holiday week. In the 12-day period, which started Friday and ends Sunday, the TSA expects to screen 30 million passengers in U.S. airports. Sunday, Nov. 26, is likely to be the busiest travel day, with 2.9 million passengers, the government agency said.

Traffic on the roads is forecast to be busier than last year, according to AAA. The organization expects 49.1 million travelers in automobiles during the holiday. The number is still 1.6% below 2019, before the pandemic.