Keep An Eye On Earnings This Week

Plus: Third Wave of Infections Arrives You are receiving this limited-time email resource as a subscriber to Kiplinger's free e-newsletters. To unsubscribe at any time, simply click the link in the footer below. OCTOBER 19, 2020 [View in browser]( HOW TO PROTECT AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS AND INVESTMENTS NOW What you can learn from this week's earnings. Corporate America’s quarterly earnings reports are primarily used by analysts and investors as a regular check-up on individual companies, but collectively, they also offer windows into how various parts of the economy are doing. Consider this week’s slate. When Netflix ([NFLX]( reports Tuesday afternoon, it will provide one of the quarter’s earliest pictures of whether streaming momentum has continued deep into the pandemic. Want an idea of how restaurants are faring? Check out Coca-Cola’s ([KO]( Thursday morning report -- the company’s prior-quarter earnings were clipped by a sharp drop from sales to bars and eateries. Other industries on display include semiconductors, via Intel ([INTC]( and Texas Instruments ([TXN]( as well as airlines, via American ([AAL]( Southwest ([LUV]( and Alaska Air ([ALK](. You’ll even get a closer view of Main Street, thanks to dozens of reports from the country’s regional banks. You can check out all of the upcoming week’s highlights, including previews of three spotlight reports, on our [regularly updated earnings calendar](. --------------------------------------------------------------- SPONSORED CONTENT FROM SMARTASSET [7 Secrets Comfortable Retirees Know About Financial Advisors]( Choosing the right financial advisor can determine your financial trajectory for years to come. [READ MORE]( --------------------------------------------------------------- The COVID-19 infection rate has picked up to 55,000 per day in the U.S., which is the highest since mid-July’s peak close to 67,000. This is the third wave of infections, each of which has hit different parts of the country. The first wave in April and May hit the Northeast the hardest. The second in mid-July was mostly located in the Southeast and Arizona. The third has been hitting the Midwest, Plains and Mountain states the most. Over half of all tests for COVID-19 in North Dakota and South Dakota are positive, indicating both the widespread nature of the virus, and the likelihood that many infections are being missed because of too few tests. Roughly 4% of the population of these states have been infected at one time or another, the highest rate in the country. (The U.S. average is 2.5%.) The third wave is still surging, so it may get worse before it gets better. That means that there may be pressure on the governors of these states to impose or reimpose restrictions on business. Some of the governors are philosophically opposed to restrictions, so it will be interesting to see what happens in this grand game of chicken. One optimistic note is that this region is the last major part of the country to go through a COVID-19 wave. If this wave can be brought under control, then some sort of rough stability is likely, until vaccines start to become available over the next year. Free download, [The Kiplinger Letter's Forecast](. No information required from you. SPONSORED CONTENT FROM SMARTASSET [7 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Hiring A Financial Advisor]( Working with a financial advisor is a crucial part of any retirement plan, but most people make these avoidable mistakes when hiring one. [READ MORE]( LATEST INVESTING NEWS FROM KIPLINGER.COM [7 Small-Cap Tech Stocks That Pack a Punch]( [How to Pick the Right Medicare Plans for You]( [11 Best Stocks to Buy for a COVID-19 Vaccine Pop]( [PPP Loan Forgiveness Applications are Now Easier]( [Sign Up Free for Kiplinger's Weekly Building Wealth e-Newsletter for Exclusive Insights From Practicing Financial Pros]( [Kiplinger] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Send this to a friend. [Click here.]( All content ©2020 The Kiplinger Washington Editors 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20005 Thank you for subscribing to Kiplinger's A Step Ahead, a free resource to help readers navigate the economic recovery from COVID-19. If you ever wish to stop receiving this service, please [click here to unsubscribe](.