The week ahead Jan 30 to Feb 3

[dan_s]

EPG will send out the January newsletter on Monday morning. Changes have been made to all three of our model portfolios.

A blockbuster week ahead includes the FOMC meeting, a key OPEC gathering, and a flurry of heavyweight earnings reports.
> The Federal Reserve is largely anticipated to fire off a 25-point rate hike to take the target federal funds rate to 4.50% to 4.75%. The consensus view is that the Fed will continue with its tightening policy and signal more rate hikes are still in the mix. Seeking Alpha author Bill Conerly said in his Fed preview article that the transitory elements of inflation have come down, but the underlying problem of excessive stimulus remains.
> OPEC oil ministers will meet online during the week to review levels of output. The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC+ is expected to endorse the current oil output policy of the group. < It has been over a year since OPEC has produced up to their quotas.
> Also on the macroeconomic calendar, the unemployment report at the end of the week is expected to show a rise in nonfarm payrolls of 225K with the end of a strike by University of California workers in late December a positive factor. Private payrolls are forecast to rise by 200K following a 220k increase in December. Bank of America thinks behind the strong payroll print, some details will show cracks in the foundation, particularly in manufacturing.
> The heavy earnings slate includes reports from tech heavyweights Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG), and Meta Platforms (META). Investors are looking to see the focus return back to growth after recession worries, high-profile job layoffs and supply chain snarls dented sentiment. Other big reports include the quarterly updates from Exxon Mobil (XOM), Starbucks (SBUX), and Merck (MRK).
> The loaded earnings week has Seeking Alpha authors busy with specific stock recommendations.
>> Victor Dergunov weighed in on META, saying once the company gets beyond the transitory slowdown, this is the social media stock to own.
>> Edmund Ingham was cautious Merck's (MRK) this year with lots of headwinds in the mix.
>> The Outsider is bullish on the future of Qualcomm (QCOM) ahead of the wireless tech player's earnings report.
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None of our upstream companies will report Q4 results until mid-February because they are required to include a 3rd party reviewed reserve report in their annual reports.