Apple Watch, retail sales, Europe and more: What to watch next week!
Fresh off today’s news that Apple (AAPL) would be added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), the tech giant will be making more headlines on Monday.
That’s when the company is expected to provide key details on its newest device, the Apple Watch.
Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers feels the big story coming out of the Apple event will be how much the watch will actually cost.
“I’m really curious about all the pricing information,” she says. “We know about the entry level, but how high is that going to go. I think that’s going to be important to how many people actually come and buy this.”
Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task agrees cost is the biggest question surrounding the Apple Watch.
“The range of the price point is huge,” he points out. “There’s speculation it could be a $5000 watch or a $300 watch.”
Rogers notes that some of the talk about the Apple Watch is that it could be a rare miss for a company that seems to have the Midas touch with every new product it offers.
“A lot of people think this is going to be a flop, but I don’t know,” she says. “I think I could wear it.”
Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer is not betting against it.
“It’s not going to be a flop,” he says.
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The amount of money consumers are spending for Apple products and more is on the mind of RBS Chief Economist Michelle Girard, who thinks the Census Bureau’s February retail sales report coming Thursday will be an important market-moving event.
“To the extent you’re going to buy one of those watches when they come out would be a positive,” she laughs.
But on a more serious note, Girard explains that this data will help us see if there’s a connection between the strong jobs numbers that came out today and Americans’ shopping habits.
“When you look at economic data, of course the employment report is king,” she notes. “But the retail sales numbers tell us how the consumer is doing and it’s so important. Consumer spending is roughly 70% of the economy, so we really want to see: are the strong jobs numbers getting people out there buying?”
And Girard is concerned the pounding Old Man Winter has given the nation lately might have had an impact.
“I’m a little worried that the weather for the full month may have put a bit of a damper on things,” she says. “But I tell you, the consumer sector is really looking healthy here in 2015 so I wouldn’t really read too much into any softer numbers if we get them.”
The seemingly endless winter is also something Serwer is watching…hoping to see it end!
“March 20th is the first day of spring,” he explains. “I hope it comes a little bit earlier than that because the Northeast has been battered, it has hurt the economy. But even if we’re not talking about business, it’s been such a bummer for everyone. Let’s hope it warms up a little bit.”
Meantime, the folks in Europe hope the new effort by the European Central Bank will help warm up the cold economy in the region.
“Monday they’re starting the quantitative easing program,” Task points out. “It’s going to be interesting to see if it does actually work.”
And Task says some of the “smartest guys in the room” are betting it will.
“That’s where a lot of the smart money has been going,” he notes. “The George Soroses, the Warren Buffetts of the world, they have been putting money in Europe on the hope this isn’t a false start. Maybe this time it’s for real.”
