February 15, 2021 BARRON’S 11
PREVIEW
WHAT WOULD HAMILTON SAY?
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Monday 2/
Stock and bond marketsare closed
in observance of Presidents Day.
Tuesday 2/
Agilent Technologies,CVS Health,
Devon Energy,Ecolab,Occidental
Petroleum,Palantir Technologies,
Vornado Realty Trust, andZoetis
release earnings.
The Federal ReserveBank of New
York releases its Empire State Manu-
facturing Survey for February. Con-
sensus estimate is for an eight reading,
higher than January’s 3.5 figure. Janu-
ary’s reading was the lowest since
June, as the region’s manufacturing
sector is still growing, but at a slug-
gish rate.
Wednesday 2/
Analog Devices,Baidu,Garmin,
Henry Schein,Hilton Worldwide
Holdings,Pioneer Natural Re-
sources,Synopsys,Shopify, and
Twilioannounce quarterly results.
The Federal Open MarketCommit-
tee releases the minutes from its late-
January monetary-policy meeting.
The National Associationof Home
Builders releases its NAHB/Wells
Fargo Housing Market Index for Feb-
ruary. Economists forecast an 82 read-
ing, one point lower than January’s 83
figure. The index is down slightly
from its all-time high of 90 set in No-
vember. Demand remains strong in
the housing market, but home build-
ers are concerned about rising mate-
rial costs, especially lumber prices,
which have risen more than threefold
since last April.
The Bureau of LaborStatistics re-
leases the producer price index for
January. Expectations are for a 0.4%
month-over-month rise, just a tick
above December’s gain. The core PPI,
which exclude volatile food and en-
ergy prices, is seen gaining 0.2%,
roughly even with the December
data.
Thursday 2/
Applied Materials,Cabot Oil &
Gas,LKQ,Marriott International,
Newmont,Roku,Southern Co.,
Walmart, andWaste Management
report earnings.
The Census Bureaureports new-
residential-construction data for Janu-
ary. Economists forecast a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of 1.65 million
housing starts, just below the Decem-
ber’s 1.67 million. The December fig-
ure was the highest annual rate of
housing starts since the 2006-
housing market bubble.
Friday 2/
Deerehosts a conference call to dis-
cuss quarterly results.
IHS Markit reportsboth its Manu-
facturing and Services Purchasing
Managers’ indexes for February. Con-
sensus estimates are for a 59 reading
for the Manufacturing PMI and a 57.
reading for the Services PMI. Both
figures are about even with the Janu-
ary data.
Coming Earnings
Consensus Estimate Year agoTAdvance Auto Parts (Q4) $1.97 $1.Agilent Tech (Q1) 0.90 0.AIG (Q4) 0.93 1.CVS Health (Q4) 1.24 1.Devon Energy (Q4) 0.03 0.Ecolab (Q4) 1.26 1.More Earnings on Page M32.Consensus Estimate
Day Consensus EstLast PeriodW January PPI 0.45% 0.30%January Retail Sales 1.1% -0.70%January Capacity Utilization 74.9% 74.5%January Industrial Production 0.50% 1.6%December Business Inventories 0.50% 0.50%TH January Building Permits 1,675,000 1,704,January Housing Starts 1,650,000 1,669,F January Existing Homes Sales 6,625,000 6,760,
Unless otherwise indicated, times are Eastern. a-Advanced;
f-Final; p-Preliminary; r-Revised Source: FactSet
For more information about coming economic reports- and what they mean - go to Barron’s free Economic
Calendar at http://www.barrons.com
The Census Bureau reports retail sales data
for January. Expectations are for a 1.3%
month-over-month rise in consumer spending
after a 0.7% decline in December. Excluding autos, sales are seen gaining 1.4%.
Wednesday
Bitcoin Goes
Mainstream
Blast Off!
Afteralullearlyin2020,Bitcoinhas
rocketed higher in recent weeks as
corporations have signed on.
Source: CoinDesk
Bitcoin USD
’
0
10
20
30
40
$50 Thousand
Illustration by Elias Stein
For months, there has been a trickle of news about main-
stream businesses getting involved in cryptocurrencies.
In the past week, it turned into a flood. And that helped
push the price of Bitcoin to a new all-time high above
$48,000 on Thursday. Rationales for investing in it, or
providing crypto services, cover a wide range.
The most buzzworthy move came fromTesla,which
announced on Monday that it bought $1.5 billion worth of
Bitcoin to hold on its balance sheet, and that it plans to allow
car buyers to pay in Bitcoin. For Tesla, one big reason for the
investment appears to be the enthusiasm of its chief execu-
tive, Elon Musk, for the stuff. He isn’t the only tech leader to
get into Bitcoin. Jack Dorsey has long praised Bitcoin as the
money of the future, and nowSquare,one of the companies
he helms, has invested in it. His other company,Twitter,is
considering joining the bandwagon.
And the list is growing.Mastercardsaid on Wednesday
that it will start allowing businesses to accept some crypto
payments, though they’ll be converted into standard curren-
cies before they hit the register. On Thursday, BNY Mellon,
founded by Alexander Hamilton, said it would hold and
transfer cryptocurrencies for customers, just like it does
with other assets. Two big reasons: “growing client demand”
and “regulatory clarity,” the bank said. Translation: Crypto’s
hot, and the government doesn’t seem to mind it.
Yet not everyone is sold. When an analyst on Tuesday
askedGeneral Motorsto weigh in on Bitcoin, CEO Mary
Barra said, “We don’t have any plans to invest in Bitcoin, so
full stop there.” But if buyers start pushing to pay in Bitcoin,
she said, the company might consider it.—Avi Salzman