THINGS TO WATCH

BANK LENDING INTENTIONS: This afternoon, the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) on Bank Lending Practices will be released. The survey asks loan officers at about 100 U.S. banks about underlying demand and lending standards for loans to corporations and households. In the 1Q24 survey released February 5, a net 14.5% of respondents reported tightening credit standards for commercial and industrial (C&I) loans to middle-market and large customers, down from 33.9% in 4Q23 and the lowest reading since the beginning of 2022.

DISNEY EARNINGS: Investors will focus on further progress from Walt Disney (DIS) in driving cost cuts in its linear TV and Disney+ segments when the company reports quarterly results tomorrow afternoon. In the first week of March, CEO Bob Iger expressed confidence the company is on track to achieve profitability in its streaming business by its fiscal fourth quarter ending September 30. In early April, DIS successfully wrapped up its proxy fight with activist investor Nelson Peltz, removing some uncertainty about the company’s longer-term strategy.

INFLATION EXPECTATIONS: On Friday morning, The University of Michigan’s preliminary sentiment survey for May is expected to show U.S. consumers expect a 3.2% rate of inflation over the next year. This would be the third month in the last four with a reading of at least 3%. It could suggest consumers are not quite ready to reset their expectations for annual inflation back to the 2%-3% range that was in place for most of the period between 2009 and 2020.

INDUSTRIAL SECTOR EARNINGS: Logistics services firm Expeditors International (EXPD), industrial automation company Rockwell Automation (ROK), construction & engineering services firm Jacobs Solutions (J) and electrical equipment specialist Emerson Electric (EMR) all report results tomorrow or Wednesday.