Wells Fargo is one of the largest diversified financial services firms in the United States, with a nationwide network of several thousand branches and a large base of financial advisors. Wells Fargo provides a full range of consumer banking, commercial banking, and investment banking services. The company nearly doubled its assets with the acquisition of the former Wachovia.

Not only Wall Street but the entire nation will continue to monitor developments this week related to the attempted assignation of former President Donald Trump. In other news, earnings season moves into high gear and Fed Chairman Powell speaks publicly again. Wall Street will continue to ponder if a first interest rate cut is likely in September, as the case for such a move seems to be building. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.6%, the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the Nasdaq was higher by 0.3%. Year to date, the Dow is higher by 6%, the S&P is up 18%, and the Nasdaq is higher by 23%. On the economic calendar, Chairman Powell speaks on Monday in Washington, D.C. and his remarks will be telecast live. He spoke on Capitol Hill last week, but those comments were before key data showed inflation slowing on the consumer side. On Tuesday, Retail Sales data is due. On Wednesday, Housing Starts, Building Permits, Industrial Production, and Capacity Utilization all will be updated, as will Leading Economic Indicators on Thursday. On the earnings calendar, the new reporting season kicks into high gear this week. On Monday, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock report. On Tuesday, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, UnitedHealth, and J.B. Hunt Transport. On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson, United Airlines, and U.S. Bancorp. On Thursday, Netflix, Taiwan Semiconductor, Abbot Labs, and Domino's Pizza. And on Friday, American Express, Travelers, and Halliburton. Only 5% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far. General expectations are for 8%-12% earnings growth for 2Q. This follows 8% growth in 1Q and 10% growth in 4Q23. At Argus, we forecast EPS growth for all of 2024 coming in at roughly 8%-9%. Last week, there was good news on inflation. CPI was 3.0% for June, down from 3.3% in May. Core CPI dipped to 3.3% from 3.4% in the prior month. On the producer side, the news was mixed. PPI picked up to 2.6% in June from 2.4% in May, but core PPI slowed to 3.1% from 3.3% in the prior month. Mortgage rates fell to 6.89% for the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Gas prices rose a penny to $3.49 per gallon for the average price of regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 2Q and calls for expansion of 2.0%. The Cleveland Fed CPINow indicator forecasts 3.01% for July CPI. The next Fed rate decision comes on July 31, with odds at 6% for a cut. By mid-September, there is a big jump in the odds to 96%. This spike follows the good news on inflation last week and the jobs report the week prior. By November 7, the odds are at 99%, and for December 18, odds call for a second cut according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States, with approximately $1.9 trillion in balance sheet assets. The company has four primary segments: consumer banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management. It is almost entirely focused on the U.S.

The cold hard message is sinking in. Higher rates are here to stay for longer than expected. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said multiple times that the Fed will be 'data-driven' when deciding on monetary policy. And the data has spoken. First, let's look at inflation. There has been great progress made in knocking inflation down from its peak of 9.1% in June of 2022. But achieving progress at the current lower levels, with inflation in the low-3% range, as expected, has been difficult. The Fed has been specific, saying inflation needs to be at 2% before restrictive policy will be eased. The Fed was patient after the January inflation data, and again with February data. But when March showed persistently higher prices, the Fed threw came right out and said that change can wait. Chairman Powell said the following last week. "The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence..." and "If higher inflation does persist, we can maintain the current level of restriction for as long as needed." Now let's consider unemployment. The Fed again has been specific. Officials are looking for a 4.1% unemployment rate to gently (hopefully) slow the economy. Currently, the rate is not budging and is vacillating between 3.8% and 3.9%. Given the current macroeconomic backdrop, the following is a list of industries and companies we like that should benefit from a sustained period of higher interest rates. All are BUY-rated at Argus.