Stocks End Mixed, Big Tech Earnings And The Fed Take Center Stage This Week  Image: Bigstock Stocks ended mixed after a choppy session. The Dow and the S&P traded on both sides of unchanged throughout the session before settling modestly higher. The Nasdaq, after opening higher, quickly fell into the red and stayed underwater all throughout the day. It was another busy day of earnings yesterday. But the marquee tech names that everyone is waiting for start reporting today, which includes Microsoft, Alphabet, and Texas Instruments. Then on Wednesday, we'll get Meta and Qualcomm. And on Thursday, we'll hear from Apple, Amazon, and Intel. All in all, a total of 1,063 companies will report this week. The market is also waiting on the Senate to vote on the $52 billion semiconductor bill called the CHIPS Act (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors); a bill that is expected to help domestic production of semiconductors. If it passes the Senate, it then goes to the House. But what the market is really waiting for is Wednesday's FOMC Announcement when the Fed will announce whether they raised interest rates by 50, 75 or 100 basis points. The consensus is calling for 75. Traders will also want to know what their intentions are moving forward, as there are 3 more Fed meetings scheduled for the remainder of the year (September 20-21, November 1-2, and December 13-14). On Thursday, we'll get the advance estimate on Q2 GDP. Q1 was down -1.6%. The estimates for Q2 are quite varied. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDP Now forecast is estimating Q2 to be down -1.6%. But other consensus estimates are suggesting we could actually be up 0.5%. We will see soon enough. But it may not matter. The fact is, the market dropped more than -20% on an expected slowdown, which we undoubtedly got. The question now is, how long will this recession last? Or will it be over as quickly as it began? With the Fed expecting full-year GDP to come in at 1.7%, they're forecasting growth for the second half of the year. So while Q2's number is important to know, it's backward looking. And the question on everyone's mind now is what's ahead. And those answers will come partly from the ongoing earnings season as companies not only report on Q2, but also give guidance for next quarter and the rest of the year. Same goes for the Fed as they foreshadow what rates will look like moving forward. And, of course, all of the upcoming economic reports which will paint a picture of the current economy, one report at a time. In the meantime, the market has remained above June's lows for 5 weeks now (going on 6 this week). The longer the better. And if the worst of the economic slowdown is behind us, then the lows of the market could very well be behind us as well. See you tomorrow,  Kevin Matras
Executive Vice President, Zacks Investment Research | 
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