retail sales; Profits from Deere, Dell, and Alibaba; And Thanksgiving

Fortunately, this trading week is shorter than usual. But there is still work to be done.

Stock and bond markets are closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday. But the week will still bring several economic releases, along with earnings reports from companies including John Deere, Alibaba, Applied Digital and Dell Technologies.

A September report on U.S. retail sales, which were delayed by the government shutdown, will be released just before Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Weekly jobless claims, pending home sales, durable goods orders and the latest consumer confidence survey were also released on time. Some data originally scheduled for this week will be delayed as government statistical agencies update their timelines to catch up on reports that were delayed during the government shutdown.

In addition to the holiday on Thursday, stock markets will close at 1pm EST on Friday, while bond markets will close at 2pm EST.

Read down to the bottom for our calendar of key events – and something else.

John Deere, Dell, Alibaba highlight shortened earnings week

On Monday, investors will get an update from laboratory equipment maker Agilent, video calling company Zoom, and Symbotic, a Walmart partner that makes AI-powered warehouse automation products.

Tuesday is also busy: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, chipmaker Applied Digital, design software maker Autodesk, data storage provider NetApp, and cybersecurity firm Zescaler are scheduled to report earnings. Workday is expected to report quarterly earnings for the first time since activist investment group Elliott Investment Management announced it was taking a stake in the company.

Dell Technologies and HP are scheduled to report on Tuesday after the computer and equipment makers were downgraded by analysts who see the companies struggling with high component costs. John Deere’s report on Wednesday is likely to provide some insight into the overall health of the construction and agriculture industries.

Retail sales are flowing ahead of Black Friday

Late September retail sales results, due Tuesday, will show whether shoppers have continued their pre-lockdown momentum as consumers focus their attention on Black Friday and the holiday season. Market watchers will also take a look at inflation with the release of the wholesale-focused Producer Price Index for September.

Reports from private sector groups will provide updates on pending home sales and consumer confidence in November. Weekly unemployment claims are also expected to be released on Wednesday and are likely to receive attention after last week’s employment report showed hiring rising.

Several reports on the calendar will be rescheduled this week, including the first reading of third-quarter GDP, the October PCE price index, Advanced reports on the October trade balance, retail inventories, and wholesale inventories. The delayed data could make things more difficult for Federal Reserve officials, who are scheduled to issue their next interest rate decision on December 10.

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This week’s calendar

Monday 24 November

• Key Earnings: Agilent (A), Symbotic (SYM), Keysight Technology (KEYS), Zoom Communications (ZM)

Tuesday 25 November

• US retail sales (September)
• More data to watch: Producer Price Index (September), Business Inventories (August), S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (September), Consumer Confidence (November), Pending Home Sales (October)
• Key Earnings: Alibaba (BABA), Analog Devices (ADI), Dell Technologies (DELL), Autodesk (ADSK), Workday (WDAY), Zscaler (ZS), NetApp (NTAP), HP (HPQ), NIO (NIO)

Wednesday 26 November

• Initial Unemployment Claims (Week Ending November 22)
• Other data to watch: Fed Beige Book, Durable Goods Orders (September), Chicago Business PMI (November)
• Key Earnings: Deere & Co. (DE), Li Auto (LI)

Thursday 27 November

Friday 28 November

• Stock markets close at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Bond markets close at 2 p.m. Eastern time
• Black Friday shopping day

Another thing

Are you wondering if ChatGPT has the answers to your questions about where to invest $10,000? Investopedia’s Sabrina Karl put a chatbot to the test. You can read more here about the results I achieved.