Week ahead: bank CEOs vs. lawmakers
Money and politics collide when the heads of America's largest banks go back before lawmakers for a virtual grilling.
The titans of finance - in the hot seat - tops the Reuters Business Calendar for the week of May 24th.
#1 Banking on the recovery
The CEOs of JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are scheduled to appear for virtual hearings before the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, and the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday.
Lawmakers are likely to pepper the CEOs with questions about their banks' roles in helping the economy bounce back from the health crisis.
One thing to note: this will be the first time a female banking CEO joins the group...Citigroup's Jane Fraser makes her debut before Congress.
#2 Incomes and outlays
From Wall Street lenders to Main Street spenders.....
Personal income and spending data for April hit the tape on Friday.
Incomes are expected to show a 14-percent drop with the last round of government stimulus now gone. Pay attention to the core PCE, or personal consumption expenditures component, which is the Fed's favorite inflation measure. It's expected to show a year-over-year rise of 3 percent.
That keeps inflation worries in play. Ken Kamen of Mercadien Asset Management.
"The Fed keeps telling us that these are transient factors, that this is really a supply-demand imbalance. Now demand is really ramping up for everything, you know, that inputs raw material and factory goods. And I do think it is that kind of imbalance. But I also think that some of this is going to creep a little bit longer than maybe the narrative would have people believe."
#3 Happy house hunting
Speaking of rising - how much higher can home prices go?
The Case-Shiller home price index for March will give a snapshot of where prices are on Tuesday.
Price gains have been fueled by very low mortgage rates and low inventories.
Also on Tuesday...
The April update on new home sales is released. Economists polled by Reuters are looking for less than 1 million units sold after more than a million sold the month before.
And we'll get more insight from luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers.
Wall Street is looking for a profit of 80 cents a share and revenues to grow to $1.77 billion.
#4 From rags to riches
In other quarterly results due throughout the week- it's all about face and fashion.
With health regulations relaxed and Americans going back out, consumers are likely to be getting dolled up again.
At least that's what some investors think.
It's all about how much lip gloss and eye shadow are being bought when e.l.f. Beauty reports on Wednesday and Ulta Beauty reports on Thursday.
And what about new outfits to complete the make-over?
GAP reports on Thursday as well.
Sales are expected to be up from a year ago at $3.4 billion.
#5 Hollywood screen test
All glammed-up and ready to head out....what about the movies?
The Memorial Day holiday weekend, which begins on Friday, could be a key test for Hollywood.
That's typically the unofficial kick-off of summer blockbuster season.
But with so many movies hitting theaters and streaming services at the same time - how much is that going to change?
Walt Disney's Cruella hits both the big screen and your little screen at the same time Friday but only for Disney+ members who cough up an additional $30 Premier Access fee.
