Week Ahead: Bank Earnings and Economic Data

Earnings season revs up with some big names reporting and important data reports are released

Bank earnings and an array of economic data related to retail sales, inflation and housing highlight next week’s economic calendar.

The most closely watched earnings report due Tuesday may be that of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), which agreed last month to settle charges related to widespread mortgage fraud allegations for a whopping $13 billion. In total, New York-based JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, has agreed to pay more than $20 billion in legal settlements in recent months, all of which will impact the company’s profit margins.

Also due next week are earnings reports from Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), also on Tuesday; Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) on Wednesday; Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) on Thursday; and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK) on Friday.

Financial services firms reporting next week include Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) and American Express (NYSE:AXP), all on Thursday.

Other bellwether firms due to report next week are tech giant Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) health care provider UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) and American Airlines (NYSE:AAL), all on Thursday.

Two inflation gauges -- the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- will shed light respectively on wholesale prices paid to manufacturers and retail prices paid by consumers.

Inflation -- or lack of inflation -- is a growing concern of policy makers at the Federal Reserve. The inflation rate has hovered at 1% for months, fully half of the Fed’s target rate of 2%, stocking fears of deflation based on a lack of demand. The PPI is out Wednesday and the CPI out Thursday.

Other economic reports out next week include retail sales on Tuesday; and housing starts and industrial production both on Friday.

Also of interest are a handful of speeches by Federal Reserve members, who will undoubtedly be asked how Friday’s disappointing jobs report, which revealed a paltry 74,000 jobs were created last month, will impact Fed policy going forward.

Outgoing Fed Chair Ben Bernanke speaks on Thursday; Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher on Tuesday; and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks on Wednesday.