Apple, Facebook, and Trump's Fed pick — What you need to know for the week ahead

After a busy week that saw big cap tech names send markets into the weekend with whoosh higher, this week will feature even more earnings news, a crowded economic calendar, and the long-awaited announcement from President Donald Trump on who will be nominated to lead the Federal Reserve.

In an Instagram video posted late Friday, Trump said, “People are anxiously awaiting my decision as to who the next head of the Fed will be.”

Trump added that he has “somebody very specific in mind” for the job “who, hopefully, will do a fantastic job.” Betting site PredictIt currently has current Fed governor Jerome Powell as the odds-on favorite to get the nomination, while reports last week indicated either Powell or Stanford professor John Taylor would be Trump’s pick for the job.

President Donald Trump talks with from lwft, Natalynn Parkinson, 6, Yume Inone, 6, and Phoebe Trabb, 7, who are dressed in their halloween costumes, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
President Donald Trump talks with from lwft, Natalynn Parkinson, 6, Yume Inone, 6, and Phoebe Trabb, 7, who are dressed in their halloween costumes, Friday, Oct. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Elsewhere in markets this week we’ll have another rush of earnings with 138 members of the S&P 500 reporting results, including Apple (AAPL), the world’s largest company, and Facebook (FB).

Facebook, along with Twitter (TWTR) and Google (GOOGL), will be spending part of Wednesday on Capitol Hill answering questions from lawmakers regarding their role in potential Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Other notable earnings this week include Starbucks (SBUX), Under Armour (UAA), Pfizer (PFE), MasterCard (MA), MetLife (MET), Yum Brands (YUM), and Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B), among many others.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is sure to face a number of questions about Apple’s new iPhone X when the company reports earnings this week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is sure to face a number of questions about Apple’s new iPhone X when the company reports earnings this week.

The economic calendar also has the month’s big highlight as Friday will bring markets the October jobs report. After September saw the first decline in job gains since September 2010, economists are looking for a big bounce back in October.

According to estimates from Bloomberg, Wall Street is forecasting nonfarm payroll gains of 300,000 in October with the unemployment rate set to hold steady at 4.2%.

Brett Ryan, an economist at Deutsche Bank, said in a note on Friday that he is expecting job growth to rebound to 250,000 in October due to a “dissipation of hurricane effects; low jobless claims during the survey week; and robust supporting evidence of solid job growth from the ISM employment subcomponents.” Ryan notes, however, that after Hurricane Katrina it took two months until job growth returned to its prior trend.

Elsewhere on the economic calendar, we’ll get data on personal income and spending, consumer confidence, inflation, and manufacturing activity.

Economic calendar

  • Monday: Personal income, September (+0.4% expected; +0.2% previously); Personal spending, September (+0.8% expected; +0.1% previously); “Core” PCE, year-on-year, September (+1.6% expected; +1.4% previously); Dallas Fed manufacturing index, October (21 expected; 21.3 previously)

  • Tuesday: Employment cost index, Q3 (+0.7% expected; +0.5% previously); S&P Case-Shiller home price index, August (+0.35% previously); Chicago PMI, October (60 expected; 65.2 previously); Conference Board consumer confidence, October (121 expected; 119.8 previously)

  • Wednesday: ADP private payrolls, October (200,000 expected; 135,000 previously); Markit manufacturing PMI, October (54.5 expected; 54.5 previously); ISM manufacturing PMI, October (59.5 expected; 60.8 previously); Construction spending, month-on-month, September (-0.3% expected; +0.5% previously); FOMC rate decision (1%-1.25% expected; 1%-1.25% previously); October auto sales (17.4 million vehicle annualized pace expected; 18.5 million previously)

  • Thursday: Initial jobless claims (235,000 expected; 233,000 previously); Nonfarm worker productivity, third quarter (+2.1% expected; +1.5% previously)

  • Friday: Nonfarm payroll growth, October (310,000 expected; -33,000 previously); Unemployment rate, October (4.2% expected; 4.2% previously); Average hourly earnings, month-on-month, October (+0.2% expected; +0.5% previously); Average hourly earnings, year-on-year, October (+2.7% expected; +2.9% previously); ISM non-manufacturing PMI, October (58.5 expected; 59.8 previously); Markit services PMI, October (55.9 previously); Factory orders, September (+1.1% expected; +1.2% previously)