Wal-Mart and oil: Two econ. indicators to watch next week

Nicole Goodkind
·Nicole Goodkind
0

This week’s midterm elections sent a clear message to both Democrats and Republicans: It’s the economy, stupid. Exit polls showed that the economy was the top concern among voters, and candidates who used the economy as the lynchpin in their campaigns tended to come out on top.

We’ll have to wait until the new Congress begins in January to see if they’ll actually heed the message thrust upon them so forcefully by voters. But in the meantime, we hear you loud and clear at Yahoo Finance, without further ado here are the big economic stories to look for next week.

It’s all about the consumer

Dan Alpert, managing director of Westwood Capital is looking towards the consumer next week. The economy added 214,000 jobs in October, and the unemployment rate is down to 5.8%, the lowest level since July 2008. Still, the report fell short of expectations. Economists had estimated there would be 235,000 added jobs this month.

“We had a very high proportion of low wage being created,” says Alpert. “These are jobs that are not transmitting spending and consumption into the economy and that is a big, big problem.” Alpert believes that consumer spending will continue to be weak based on these numbers.

Wal-Mart Earnings

Wal-Mart (WMT) will report on November 13th. “This is a one-stop shop for anything you need to know about consumers. Walmart shoppers are effectively America,” says Yahoo Finance’s Jeff Macke. He’ll be looking to see how much people are shopping, what they’re spending their money on and if there’s any margin growth.

How low can oil go?

OPEC put a line in the sand at $70 per barrel this past week, but $70 is still about 10% lower than where we are now, says Yahoo Finance editor-in-chief Aaron Task. “In a bear market, you’re going to test OPEC's resolve at $70.  Maybe it’s not tomorrow or next week but between now and Thanksgiving we are going to see oil take another woosh down.” There’s already pain the U.S. fracking industry at $80, says Task, and $70 will be a true test of the industry’s strength.

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