Benzinga | Oct 11, 2021 10:18AM EDT

Monday's Market Minute: Earnings Season Kicks Off Again

Let's take a market minute to get ahead of this week.

First, after a disappointing jobs report Friday, investors and traders continue to express concerns with rising energy prices and U.S. rates inching higher, which are creating headwinds for some of the existing trends that we've seen as we head into the fourth quarter. Most notably, three of the four major U.S. indices (/ES, /NQ, /YM, /RTY) are now below the 50-day moving average after enjoying months above the closely-watched level. To begin the week, we have Goldman Sachs revising growth forecasts lower as less money from Congress and semiconductor shortages are expected to weigh on growth.

This week, the focus for investors and traders will be on inflation data and consumer spending trends. Keep an eye on CPI, PPI, and Retail Sales. We also have the Fed minutes and Crude Inventories: the last couple of weeks, the small builds we've seen from the EIA have some saying demand has already begun to slow while prices continue to surge. The WTI begins the trading week at seven-year highs, recently back above $82. We've seen heating oil, natural gas, and prices at the pump on the rise feeding into inflation concerns, and this all comes ahead of an OPEC report due out later this week.

Banks will kick off earnings season this week; keep an eye on JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), and Citigroup (NYSE:C), to name a few. Last but not least, we have bitcoin futures spiking to begin the week, in continuation of the move up we've seen throughout the month of October. The move up in crypto comes after recent comments from SEC chair Gensler and FOCM chair Powell, saying they had no intention to ban it along the lines of what we've seen out of China.

Lots to stay dialed in on as we head into the middle of October, stay nimble

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