Wall Street will be relatively quiet this week as Monday’s Labor Day holiday shortens trading to just four days. Here’s your Money & Markets Week Ahead.
Earnings are light with Slack Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: WORK) and recent upshoot Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON) highlighting reports.
Here are some other things investors will be watching on Wall Street:
On the IPO Front
It’s another quiet week for initial public offerings (IPO).
Imara Inc. (Nasdaq: IMRA) will exit its lockup period on Sept. 8. Its IPO launched back in March.
The lockup period refers to the timeframe where major shareholders and company insiders are prevented from selling shares in the company for a specific number of days after the company’s IPO.
It’s supposed to prevent an oversupply of company stock in the market.
Under Securities and Exchange Commission guidelines, once the lockup period expires, company employees and major investors can sell their stock as normal.
Imara is a biotechnology company that develops therapies for patients suffering from rare genetic disorders.
In its second-quarter earnings report, the company presented favorable data on its clinical trial for a drug to battle sickle cell disease in adults.
The company was also added to the Russell 2000 Index — and index that is a benchmark for small-cap stocks.
Imara’s IPO was initially priced at $16 per share and the stock has climbed to around $22 per share — a 37% increase.
Money & Markets Week Ahead: Data Dump
With the Labor Day holiday this week, data for investors will be in short supply.
On Tuesday, the NFIB releases its small-business optimism index for August.
The index dropped 1.8 points to 98.8 in July and the accompanying uncertainty index increased seven points to 88.
NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said the summer has been challenging for small businesses. There is a lot of work to be done to get businesses back to pre-COVID-19 numbers.
Only 25% of businesses surveyed expected better business conditions in the next six months, according to July’s survey.
The Department of Labor will release its weekly jobless figures on Thursday.
On Friday, investors will get a look at the consumer price index for August. The index is a measure of the prices paid for consumer goods and services.
The Labor Department reported a 0.6% increase in the price index in July as gas prices continued to rise. That more than offset the drop in food prices.
For the 12-month period ending July 2020, consumer prices were up 1% for all things except food and energy. Food prices jumped 4.1% while energy prices fell 11.2%.
Earnings Reports
To finish off the Money & Markets Week Ahead, here’s a look at some of the key earnings reports due out next week:
Monday
No earnings reported due to Labor Day holiday.
Tuesday
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Nasdaq: LULU)
Slack Technologies Inc. (NYSE: WORK)
Wednesday
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO)
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME)
Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV)
Thursday
Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: PLAY)
Peloton Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: PTON)
Friday
Christopher & Banks Corp. (Over-the-Counter: CBKC)
Until next time…
Safe trading,
Matt Clark
Research Analyst, Money & Markets
Matt Clark is the research analyst for Money & Markets. He’s the host of our podcast, The Bull & The Bear, as well as the Marijuana Market Update. Before joining the team, he spent 25 years as an investigative journalist and editor — covering everything from politics to business.