3. Another big retail week
It may be a short week for Wall Street, but it’s still jam-packed for retailers. Best Buy, Nordstrom, Dollar Tree and Dick’s all report quarterly earnings Tuesday, and, of course, Friday is Black Friday, traditionally a huge driver of sales for stores. Investors are looking for what retailers will say about consumer buying habits heading into the holiday shopping season. Last week, Macy’s and Target said they saw a slowdown in sales at the end of October and into the beginning of November, so we will be watching for similar updates from this week’s reports. Investors will also be interested in retailers’ progress in getting rid of excess inventory, especially since Black Friday deals have effectively been under way since last month.
Read more from CNBC PRO: Holiday shoppers aren’t in a rush. What that means for retail stocks
4. Countries reach big climate deal
Officials from nearly 200 countries agreed to create a new fund to pay poor nations over the damages they experience from climate change. The deal came at the COP27 conference in Egypt. Nations also agreed to stick with their goal to keep the global temperature increase to the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial period levels. The agreement also drew some criticism. “COP27 has kept alive the goal of 1.5C. Unfortunately however, it has not delivered on a commitment by the world’s major emitters to phase down fossil fuels, nor new commitments on climate mitigation,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.
5. Speaking of fossil fuels
Goldman Sachs cut its price forecast for crude oil in the fourth quarter, pointing to potential slowdowns coming from Covid outbreaks in China and uncertainty over the G-7′s plans to put a cap on Russian oil prices as the Kremlin presses its war in Ukraine. Goldman now expects $100 a barrel, down $10 from its previous forecast. “Investors have been left disappointed by higher than expected production and export flows from Russia. This is despite just two weeks remaining before the EU embargo takes effect on crude, alongside the G-7 price cap, for which more details are set to be announced next week,” Goldman said in a note. WTI crude was trading below $80 on Monday morning.
– CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Alex Sherman, Melissa Repko, Sam Meredith and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.
— Follow Squawk Pod for the best conversations and analysis from Squawk Box in a curated, daily podcast.
