Earnings, February CPI, US budget deficit: What to Watch

Yahoo Finance Live co-hosts Brian Sozzi and Julie Hyman preview the top stories investors should pay attention to on Tuesday, March 12, including corporate earnings expected out from retailer Kohl's (KSS), soccer club Manchester United (MANU), and fashion brand Guess (GES); February's Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation print; and expectations for February's US federal budget deficit.

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 Luke Carberry Mogan.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: Time now for What to Watch for Tuesday, March 12. Starting off on the earnings front, Kohl's, Manchester United, and Guess all reporting tomorrow . Kohl's announcing fourth quarter earnings before the opening bell. Tomorrow's report will give a glimpse into how much market share the retailer is likely losing to off-price chains, including TJ Maxx. Shares of the struggling retail chain have already started to slow this year, which is down about-- they are bound down about 3% on the year.

JULIE HYMAN: And moving over to the economy, consumer price index data for the month of February will be released in the morning. Economists expecting little change from January's numbers, but Wall Street is still keeping a close eye as the report provides another key piece of economic data as the Federal Reserve approaches its second FOMC meeting of the year next week.

BRIAN SOZZI: Staying with the economy, the monthly US budget for February is coming out in the afternoon. The deficit likely falling a bit from last month's budget, this coming against the backdrop of President Biden's $7.3 trillion budget proposal for the 2025 fiscal year.

JULIE HYMAN: And, of course, sort of zooming in a little bit more, I mean everybody's going to be watching that CPI report.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yes.

JULIE HYMAN: We've got special coverage, by the way, beginning at 8:30 AM tomorrow morning on that. Why is this print so important? Well, it's so important, of course, because January came in a little hot. A lot of economists stepped back and said, that was a blip, we are not going to continue to see those types of hot inflation prints.

And, indeed, when you look at this number that's what's expected, it's not going to show any kind of reacceleration. At least, that's not what economists are expecting. I'm looking at a report from Bank of America economists who say that the February number that we're going to get tomorrow morning should keep a rate hike for June on the table.

BRIAN SOZZI: Interestingly. And I'm looking over a new note I just got from Goldman Sachs. That team over there saying, "We see further disinflation in the pipeline in 2024 from rebalancing the auto--" "rebalancing in the auto, housing, rental, and labor markets." Interesting note by them. I mean, my auto insurance, for example, just keeps going up. I wish it would come down. Please disinflate. Geico, I mean, you're watching this. Come on. Give me a break, [INAUDIBLE].

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, and, of course, you being Brian Sozzi though, you're not only watching CPI. You're going to be looking at one retailer out for tomorrow.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yes, and I will be watching Kohl's earnings tomorrow, a company I always like to watch quite closely. Kohl's earnings likely to be under pressure here. Sales, if Macy's results were any indication, might not be good for Kohl's. Of course, Macy's saw down sales across the board. Curious to see what Kohl's has to say.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, that'll be interesting. I don't know if they should close any stores, put up any-- [INAUDIBLE] some shopping centers.

BRIAN SOZZI: Well, they've been-- Julie, Kohl's has been way behind. This is a department store still operating over 1,000 stores.

JULIE HYMAN: Really?

BRIAN SOZZI: Do you need over 1,000 stores? You do not need over 1,000 Kohl's stores. You just don't need it. You don't need it. You don't need one.

JULIE HYMAN: I'm going to quiz you and see if this. Which department store retailer has the highest number of stores in the US?

BRIAN SOZZI: Are you leaving out TJ Maxx, Marshalls, all of them? They're not department stores?

JULIE HYMAN: Not necessarily.

BRIAN SOZZI: Kohl's is up there. After this latest round of Macy's store closures, 150 stores, Macy's will have only about 350 Macy's stores in the United States.

JULIE HYMAN: Wow.

BRIAN SOZZI: That's not a lot.

JULIE HYMAN: Not counting Bloomingdale's.

BRIAN SOZZI: Not counting Bloomingdale's.

JULIE HYMAN: But still, there aren't that many Bloomingdale's either.

BRIAN SOZZI: [? That's true. ?]

JULIE HYMAN: Interesting.