Gotrade News - US markets close on Monday for Labor Day, but the rest of the week is packed. August inflation data and Oracle's earnings will set the tone heading into next week's Fed decision.
- August CPI drops Friday, the most important data point before the Fed meeting.
- Oracle and Adobe report Thursday, with focus on turning AI backlog into revenue.
- A strong jobs report has raised bets the Fed holds rates, not cuts.
This Week's Economic Agenda
US stock and bond markets are closed Monday, September 7, for Labor Day. That makes for a shorter trading week, but a data-heavy one.
A shorter week also tends to thin out trading liquidity. That can amplify price swings when the inflation data hits.
All eyes are on two inflation releases late in the week. Here is the schedule to watch:
- Thursday: August Producer Price Index (PPI), before the opening bell.
- Friday: August Consumer Price Index (CPI), at 8:30 AM New York time.
- September 15 and 16: the FOMC meeting and its rate decision.
Thursday's PPI is the warm-up act. It measures price pressure at the producer level and often hints at the direction of CPI a day later.
Friday's August CPI is the week's main event. It lands right before the Fed goes into its meeting, so it can sharply move expectations for the path of rates.
The key focus is core CPI, which strips out food and energy prices. A core reading that stays sticky would signal that price pressure has not truly cooled.
Markets will also measure CPI against the Fed's 2 percent inflation target. As long as inflation runs well above that goal, the room to cut rates stays narrow.
Keep in mind the Fed is already in its blackout period, which began over the weekend. Do not expect market-moving commentary from Fed officials until the official decision lands next week.
The Fed's benchmark rate currently sits in a range of 3.50% to 3.75%. You can check the full data-release schedule in the Gotrade Economic Calendar.
Stocks to Watch
Earnings season is winding down, but this week still has some big names left. They offer a useful read on the health of both the tech and consumer sectors.
The key earnings on the calendar this week:
- Tuesday: GameStop (GME) and Casey's General Stores.
- Wednesday: Chewy (CHWY).
- Thursday: Oracle (ORCL), Adobe (ADBE), and Macy's (M).
- Friday: Kroger (KR).
The clear stock to watch this week is Oracle (ORCL), which is set to report its earnings on Thursday. Its remaining performance obligations (RPO) surged to US$638 billion, up 363% year over year, according to its previous quarterly report.
Most of that backlog comes from large-scale AI contracts. The big question is whether Oracle can convert it into actual revenue and cash flow.
Its OCI cloud business grew as fast as 93 percent, with revenue near 5.8 billion dollars last quarter. Yet free cash flow is still negative and capital spending is heavy.
Oracle's momentum is also backed by data-center expansion. On September 2, HPE announced a multi-year deal to deploy Juniper networking gear across Oracle's AI data centers.
Next in focus is Adobe (ADBE). Investors want to see whether its Firefly AI tools can keep Creative Cloud competitive against cheaper generative AI platforms.
For Adobe, subscriber trends, annual recurring revenue, and forward guidance matter more than the headline profit. Together they show whether the AI strategy is actually working.
Macy's represents the more pressured department-store end of retail. Its sales figures gauge how selectively middle-class shoppers are spending.
The retail names, Kroger, Macy's, and Chewy, are worth a look too. Their results give a snapshot of how resilient US consumer spending really is.
GameStop, which reports Tuesday, remains a show of its own. This meme stock often moves wildly beyond its fundamentals, so watch the volatility.
Outside of earnings, Nvidia (NVDA) remains the barometer for AI sentiment. Its stock is trading near record highs and often drags the whole chip sector with it.
One more to track is Apple (AAPL). September is typically the month of Apple's annual product event, a moment that frequently moves the stock.
Market Sentiment
Overall sentiment is still positive, but caution is creeping in. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are trading near record highs, lifted by a renewed appetite for AI stocks.
For context, the S&P 500 is around 7,730 and the Nasdaq near 26,540. Both sit not far from their all-time highs.
One spark for the AI mood is news that AI developer Anthropic is preparing to file for an IPO. That has refreshed investor interest across the artificial-intelligence supply chain.
The catch is that good economic news is not always good for stocks. August payrolls rose by 162,000, far above the 53,000 that economists expected.
The unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent, while wages rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier. That strong labor market has actually raised bets the Fed could hold or even hike, rather than cut.
After the strong jobs report, some traders now put the odds of a rate hike this month near 50 percent. A hike, not a cut, is firmly on the table.
Still-elevated inflation reinforces that worry. This is why Friday's CPI is the pivotal print.
A hotter-than-expected number would strengthen the case for rates staying high and could pressure richly valued stocks. A softer reading, on the other hand, could calm the market ahead of the Fed meeting.
Treasury yields are also worth watching. Rising yields tend to weigh on tech stocks whose valuations lean on profits expected far into the future.
Your game plan this week is simple. Watch the CPI release, brace for volatility into the Fed meeting, and avoid chasing stocks on AI hype alone.
Sources
CNBC, US payrolls rose 162,000 in August, unemployment at 4.1%, 2026
Kiplinger, What to Look Out for in Economic Data This Week, 2026
MarketScreener, Weekly earnings calendar: Oracle vs Adobe, 2026
Investing.com, Oracle Earnings Preview: AI Backlog to Cloud Revenue, 2026
