Weekly Update 10/17/2025: Earnings Season Begins
- Walmart partners with OpenAI
- JPMorgan and Wells Fargo report solid quarters
- Apple is new home of F1ABB increasing cash flow
- Oracles refutes margin concerns
Economic Releases
As the federal government shutdown enters its third week, investors remain in the dark about key economic indicators. Retail prices, producer prices, housing starts, building permits, import and exports prices and jobless claims are just some of the reports delayed. While alternative data sources are tabulated, some of them are private and thus off limits to those who do not wish to pay the fee which in some cases can run in the tens of thousands of dollars. In other cases, the data collected, while detailed, is not comprehensive enough to draw insightful conclusions. We did receive information about the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo index which showed that confidence among homebuilders rose in October to the highest level since April. The data point of 37 was better than the Bloomberg estimate of 33 but still remained well below the significant 50 lor below level where builders see conditions as more poor than good. About 65% of builders admitted they turned to sales incentives like cutting prices to spur demand.
The Trump administration is recalling some furloughed individuals to help publish the consumer price index (CPI) given it is a critical piece of information for a variety of government services. In addition to being an important data point on the general level of prices, it is a key input for how large the annual raise is for Social Security checks. Also, Treasury inflation-protected securities and savings bonds (I bonds) both rely on CPI data for pricing purposes. The IRS also typically announced 401(k) and IRA contribution limits for the following year in the fall, based in part on what the September CPI release shows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said it would publish the CPI data on October 24, a little over a week delayed from its original October 16 date. During the shutdown, all members of Congress continue to receive their full pay. Stay tuned!
Company Events
SGK writes additional weekly commentary for clients of the firm detailing recent events and earnings of core equity holdings.
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