Those hoping to discern if the economy is strong enough to warrant Fed action later this year or if growth is truly slowing won't get much new information this week.
For Morningstar, I'm Jeremy Glaser. Welcome to The Week Ahead, our quick look at what investors should have on their radar for the week starting Sept. 21.
The Fed's decision to leave rates unchanged last week rekindled fears that global growth woes could have a serious impact on the U.S. economy. Although investors are looking for information to discern if the economy is strong enough to warrant Fed action later this year or if growth is truly slowing, there won't be much new information this week.
We will see if the housing sector's momentum can continue with new and existing home sales data due this week. This will come after a slightly disappointing August housing starts number last week.
The third revision of the second-quarter's GDP reading is due on Friday. The previous revision bumped up growth to 3.7% in the quarter.
On the earnings front, there is a diverse, if small, group of firms reporting. Darden has been in the midst of a transformation as new management took over after a high-profile proxy fight. Last quarter's results showed a firm in the early stages of a notable operational turnaround, and we'll be looking for signs that this trend is continuing and also for an update on the firm's real estate plans.
Wide-moat Nike has been firing on all cylinders despite headwinds like difficult comparisons from the previous year and a strong dollar. We'll see if this strength can continue into the new fiscal year.
BlackBerry has been trying to transform itself into more of a force in software, most recently by buying enterprise e-mail firm Good. Investors will be eyeing this quarter's results to see if this software growth can help offset anemic hardware sales.
Stay tuned to Morningstar for our take on all of these stories throughout the week.
