Earning season is about to get underway and that could be a positive catalyst for stocks

Earning season is about to get underway and that could be a positive catalyst for stocks

The earnings reporting season gets underway in the week ahead, and it is expected to be a positive catalyst that could continue to send stocks higher for now.The week is also packed with Federal Reserve speakers and important data, including a much anticipated inflation reading Tuesday when the consumer price index is released. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell kicks off another busy week for Fed appearances with a Sunday evening interview on "60 Minutes."Powell, in comments this past week, continued to reinforce that the Fed will keep its easy policies in place for a long time, and that any emergence of inflation should be temporary. But hotter-than-expected producer price inflation data Friday has made the consumer price index release Tuesday all the more important. PPI gained 1%, double the expected increase.Kevin Cummins, U.S. economist at NatWest Markets, said he expects core CPI to rise 0.2% for March, or 1.5% year-over-year, but headline inflation should reach 0.5% or 2.5% year-over-year. Cummins said March is the beginning of a period where inflation could appear greater, just because of the comparison to low levels last year when the economy was shut down."I think the Fed has already moved ahead of it," Cummins said. He