A quick overview of today's earnings schedule
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 27,534.58) lost 405.9 points, or 1.5% yesterday. McDonald's Corp (NYSE: MCD -- $217.24) was yesterday's only winner, finishing with a 0.7% rise. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL -- $113.49) fell 3.3%, leading the list of 29 laggards yesterday.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,339.19) was off 59.8 points, or 1.8% yesterday. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 10,919.59) fell 222 points, or 2% during yesterday's session.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 29.71) gained 0.9 point, or 3.1%, on Thursday.
The traffic at the earnings confessional today is pretty light as we wrap up a short holiday week on Wall Street. The only major earnings announcement comes from The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR).
It's pretty common knowledge that supermarket chains like Kroger have fared especially well during the pandemic, as consumers prepared for the worst and stocked their pantries during shutdowns. An investment from Warren Buffett provided a noticeable boost for the stock, too, earlier this year.
The company's last earnings report triggered a pullback on the stock. The general concern among investors after companies post strong earnings report mid-pandemic is that they are not indicative of sustainable growth. For options traders who saw the upside opportunity ahead of the last earnings report, they were presented with a great opportunity to load up on KR calls mid-August.
As far as today's report goes, analysts expect a report of 54 cents a share on revenue of $29.9 billion compared to $1.22 a share on revenue of $41.6 billion last quarter. The KR stock price is up 37.5% in the past 52 weeks.
In addition to the light earnings schedule today, all eyes will be on the federal budget update and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.
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