Jobless claims (Thursday): This weekly report has been under close scrutiny ever since Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reiterated the Fed’s focus on employment statistics. Though July has been inconsistent because of factory closures and school vacations, analysts believe that the rate of new unemployment benefit applications are consistent with a stronger labor market.
Challenger job cut report (Thursday): Basically a rehash of the weekly jobless claims report, the Challenger report does provide some more information about where new layoffs are occurring by giving industry- and geographic-specific details.
Employment situation (Friday): This is the big one the markets will have been waiting for all week. From the Department of Labor Statistics, the situation report gives the most complete look of the labor market: who’s not working, who is working, what they get paid, and how many hours they’re working. This report gives investors the greatest ability to determine the current strength of the labor market as well as its outlook.
Other important events to watch
Federal Open Markets Committee meeting and announcement (Tuesday and Wednesday): Every six weeks, the FOMC meets to discuss the current moentary policy and the need for any changes. Following the two-day meeting, Bernanke will make an announcement of the course the committee’s decisions set during that meeting. The latest speculation sees the Fed reducing its monthly bond purchases by $20 billion beginning in September, though investors will have to wait until Wednesday to find out whether there’s any merit to that rumor.
Various consumer and investor confidence reports (Tuesday and Thursday): Three reports come out this week regarding either consumer or investor confidence in the economy. Confidence plays an important role in the economic recovery, since a consumer or investor who lacks confidence is unlikely to part with his or her hard-earned money on either new goods and services or new investments.
Personal income and outlays (Friday): Giving bank investors insight into the trends for personal income and spending, this report will be very important for both JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), which both operate large credit card divisions. The most recent trend has been positive for both income and spending, so the credit card providers may be on the receiving end of new outlays.
The article Bank Investors: 12 Must-Watch Announcements and Events to Watch This Week originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Jessica Alling.
Fool contributor Jessica Alling has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Bank of America and Wells Fargo and (NYSE:WFC) owns shares of Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
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