Several key consumer discretionary (XLY) companies, such as fast-food chain McDonald's (MCD), Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), and airline operator JetBlue Airways (JBLU), are all reporting their latest earnings results this morning.

US Bank Asset Management Group Chief Investment Officer Eric Freedman comments on what earnings from these consumer-facing companies and CFO commentary is highlighting about the strength of the US consumer.

"Basically the consumer is in a couple of different places — the middle-income and higher-income consumer is still very strong, still looking at experiential spending. And that's something that we don't think is going to go away," Freedman tells Seana Smith and Brad Smith on the Morning Brief. "We are seeing a more choiceful lower income consumer. This is true across both bottoms-up research we do, as well as the top-down data."

The Conference Board reported consumer confidence to have jumped to 108.7 in October, a significant month-over-month boost from September's reading of 99.2.

Freedman will be listening for chief financial officer comments around free cash flow, noting to investors:

"We think you can pick up cash flow in areas like master-limited partnerships. Get a little bit of an inflation hedge on that way. We do think that the one thing we'd emphasize for clients that have shied away from tech is to get back involved again."

While Big Tech earnings roll out this week, Freedman is watching for how companies are spending on tech and buying chips from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here.

This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.