Catalyst Watch: FOMC meeting, govt. funding drama, earnings for Micron, Nike, and FedEx

Welcome to Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch – a breakdown of some of next week’s actionable events that stand out. Read more about the events that may impact stock prices next week.

Monday – December 16

• Volatility watch – Vale (VALE) and Canoo (GOEV) head the list of stocks showing high implied volatility based on options trading. The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index include Colombier Acquisition Corp. II (CLBR), BTQ Technologies Corp (OTCQX:BTQQF), and RealReal (REAL). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index include Imperial Petroleum (IMPP), Cellectar Biosciences (CLRB), and Applied Therapeutics (APLT). Short interest is elevated in FuelCell Energy (FCEL) and Lemonade (LMND).
• All day – Palo Alto Networks (PANW) will begin trading at its split-adjusted price following the company’s 2-for-1 stock split. It is the first stock split for the cybersecurity company since 2022.
• All day – Patrick Industries (PATK) will trade at its split-adjusted price after a 3-for-2 split.
• All day – The spinoff of Canal+, Havas and Louis Hachette Group from Vivendi (OTCPK:VIVHY) (OTCPK:VVVNF) will be completed. They will begin trading on the London Stock Exchange, Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Growth Paris. Canal+ is known for its European pay-TV operations and is also the owner of Paddington in Peru‘s Studiocanal.
• 8:00 a.m. IDEAYA Biosciences (IDYA) will hold its virtual R&D Day event.

Tuesday – December 17

• Earnings watch – Notable companies due to report include Heico (HEI) and Worthington Enterprises (WOR).
• All day – Investor events to watch include Pfizer’s (PFE) guidance update call, Agilent Technologies’ (A) Investor Day, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s (AJG) Investor Meeting, Lovesac’s (LOVE) Investor Day. Evercore ISI’s non-deal roadshow with Kimberly-Clark (KMB) could also be interesting, following news that Costco (COST) would stop using it as a diaper product supplier.
• 8:30 a.m. The November Retail Sales report will be released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Wednesday – December 18

• Earnings watch – Notable companies due to report Micron (MU), Lennar (LEN), General Mills (GIS), and Jabil (JBL). Options trading implies a large swing up or down for Birkenstock (BIRK) after it reports.
• All day – Circana will release video game industry sales data for November.
• All day – It is the IPO lockup expiration date for blocks of shares of Rectitude (RECT)
• 2:00 p.m. The FOMC will release its interest rate decision.
• 2:30 p.m. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference.
• 2:30 p.m. Micron (MU) will hold its earnings conference call. Options trading implies a 10% swing in Micron’s share price after the earnings report drops. The semiconductor stock rallied 15% after its last earnings report. The supplier that has the highest trading correlation to Micron on its earnings release day is Silicon Motion (SIMO). Broadcom (AVGO) also tends to trade directionally with Micron in the week after earnings.

Thursday – December 19

• Earnings watch – Notable companies due to report include Nike (NKE), FedEx (FDX), Cintas (CTAS), Paychex (PAYX), CarMax (KMX), Conagra Brands (CAG), and Darden Restaurants (DRI). Options trading implies a double-digit share price swing for Fuelcell Energy (FCEL) and Blackberry (BB) after their reports.
• All day – Phillips Edison & Company (PECO) will hold a business update call.
• All day – It is the FDA action date for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ (IONS) olezarsen treatment, an investigational RNA-targeted medicine for the treatment of adults with familial chylomicronemia syndrome.

Friday – December 20

• Earnings watch – Notable companies due to report include Carnival (CCL).
• All day – It is the U.S. government funding deadline. Congress could pass a continuing resolution to temporarily finance the government through early 2025.
• All day – Shareholders with CrossFirst Bankshares (CFB) and First Busey (BUSE) will both vote on the planned merger between the companies.
• All day – The stock market could see extra volatility with triple witching day featuring the simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options contracts.
• All day – Tractor Supply (TSCO) will start trading at its split-adjusted price following its 5-for-1 stock split.
• 8:30 a.m. The core PCE price index report for November will be released. The Fed’s favored inflation gauge was up 2.8% year-over-year in October and rose 2.7% in September.