Amazon joins the Dow, earnings, inflation data: What to watch
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJIA) will have a new look on Monday, with Amazon (AMZN) replacing Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in the index. Also on Monday, Walmart (WMT) shareholders will see they have more shares thanks to the company's 3-for-1 stock split.
Earnings season rolls on, with Zoom Video Communications (ZM), Workday (WDAY), Lowe's Companies (LOW), and Salesforce (CRM) all scheduled to issue their quarterly reports next week.
On the economic front, Federal Reserve officials will get the latest reading from their preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index. The release is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, February 29.
Yahoo Finance's Josh Lipton and Julie Hyman take a closer look at what investors should be watching next week.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Stephanie Mikulich.
Video Transcript
JOSH LIPTON: Time now for what to watch next week on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial average will have a new look. Amazon is replacing Walgreens Boots Alliance. Also, if you're a Walmart shareholder, you're going to notice the price of the stock has gone down, thanks to a three-for-one stock split. But the value of your holdings will remain the same as you'll now have three shares for every one you previously owned. It's a cosmetic move, but Walmart is making the change in an effort to make the stock more accessible to employees.
JULIE HYMAN: On the earnings front, we'll hear from Zoom and Workday after the closing bell on Monday. Investors will also be digesting the results from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. They'll be out over the weekend. Other key names to watch include Lowe's, Salesforce, HP, and Paramount Global.
JOSH LIPTON: As for economic data, all eyes will be on the PCE report, the Fed's favorite inflation gauge. That report out on Thursday. And the expectation is that headline inflation growth will come in at 2.4%. Core inflation will be up 2.8% from a year ago. And on the heels of the numbers, we'll be hearing from a slew of Fed officials, who are pushing back expectations for a rate cut until later this year.
So PCE, Julie, that's what we're focused on. That is Jay Powell's preferred gauge. Of course, recent inflation gauges maybe not so great relative to expectations, CPI, PPI. With PC expectations 2.4% year-over-year, that would be ticking down from 2.6% we saw last time.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah. And one of the things that people are watching is that one of the components in, I believe, it was PPI that are asset management fees that have been going up. That's something that then feeds into PCE. It's one of the components and one of the things that's going to put some upward pressure on it.
Of course, the Fed and economists like to strip out all kinds of things to try and figure out what real inflation is, meaning how sustainable is it at this level. So we're going to see that exercise once again with this PC report.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, it's interesting, because we got of course this week, too. We got the minutes from the Fed's last meeting. Still very concerned about inflation. And that was before the CPI and PPI prints.
JULIE HYMAN: I'm sure we're going to have that discussion once again when these numbers come out.
