Major Earnings Week Ahead With 76 S&P 500 Firms Reporting Including Netflix, IBM, CocaCola

Major Earnings Week Ahead With 76 S&P 500 Firms Reporting Including Netflix, IBM, CocaCola

A ramp-up in new Covid cases is bringing fear that we may take a step backward here, weighing on stocks to start the week. Wall Street continues to show signs of tracking the bond market, and bond yields posted fresh five-month lows this morning. Daily cases have tripled from a month ago in the U. S., and travel stocks are taking it on the chin today in pre-market trading. Airlines, hotels, casinos, and restaurants all could receive the brunt of the blow if Covid worries keep growing. Other companies aren't immune. The outbreak is generally worse overseas, which could threaten business for multinational U. S. firms. Caterpillar (CAT) and General Motors (GM) both slid ahead of the bell. As Covid concerns return to Page 1 of the morning news, we might see the return of one of last year's trends, where markets settle down during the middle of the week but fear creeps in by the end of the week and into the weekend. On Friday the major indices closed on their lows"”typically a bad sign from a technical standpoint"”and like many weeks during the height of the pandemic, Friday's weakness carried over into the new week. The 10-year Treasury