April brings good news

From a fundamental perspective, here are some of the key upcoming events during the month:(1) April 1. The employment report showed solid gains in payrolls. Average hourly earnings rose 5.6% y/y, below the 6.1% increase in the PCED measure of consumer prices.(2) April 12. The CPI will come out for March. It is likely to exceed February's 7.9% y/y gain.(3) April 14. March retail sales will be released. It may show weakness, especially adjusted for inflation. Consumer confidence has been weak recently mostly because of rising inflation.(4) April. The latest earnings season starts this week. Industry analysts expect S&P 500 operating earnings increased 5.1% during Q1-2022.(5) April. The Fed's talking heads will keep talking until the next "blackout period" from April 23-May 5. They are likely to reinforce widespread expectations of a 50bps rate hike.