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Earnings season kicks off next week in the US. Depending on how bad it is, this is where, if there is going to be a pullback, it could occur. We start with some of the big banks. But also in there we have rail transport (KSU) and on retail JNJ.

Earnings spotlight: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST), Conn's (NASDAQ:CONN) and Amarin (NASDAQ:AMRN), JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) on April 14; Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), PNC Financial (NYSE:PNC) UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH) and Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) on April 15; Abbott (NYSE:ABT), Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD), BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Bank of New York (NYSE:BK), KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) on April 16; Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU), Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) on April 17.

Along with the banks we have the credit card divisions of banks and charge offs on credit cards. With US unemployment going through the roof, this could also be a market mover if it is worse than expected. What's expected? Bad. If it's truly woeful, could get choppy in financials (FAS).

There are also updates on Biotech and their progress towards a vaccine. Any positive news out of any of these and the market could turn very bullish.

COVID-19 vaccines and treatments: As clinical trials related to COVID-19 continue to ramp up, the focus next week will start to shift on which vaccines and treatments have the best chance to make it to mass production. There has been a lot of discussion about Gilead Sciences' (NASDAQ:GILD) remdesivir, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' (NASDAQ:REGN) cocktail antibodies and Moderna's (NASDAQ:MRNA) vaccine candidate. Other companies racing ahead with vaccine trials at various stages include BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ:DVAX), Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Heat Biologics (NASDAQ:HTBX), Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO), Translate Bio (NASDAQ:TBIO), Johnson & Johnson, Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT), CSL Behring and Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX). Treatment candidates are being worked on by privately-held CalciMedica, Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN), Adaptive Biotechnologies (NASDAQ:ADPT), Takeda Pharmaceutical (NYSE:TAK), CytoDyn (OTCQB:CYDY), Roche Holdings (OTCQX:RHHBY), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Tiziana Life Sciences (NASDAQ:TLSA), Vir Biotechnology (NASDAQ:VIR), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) and more.

Spotlight on Moderna: Moderna (MRNA) will host its Vaccine Day on April 14. Presentations from CEO Stéphane Bancel, Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks and key opinion leaders will focus on mRNA vaccines and the company's core prophylactic vaccines modality.

Biotech news will be everywhere and watched really closely. Hints of a solution to COVID....well an already crazy volatile sector could become even more so.

Virtual biotech conferences: The Needham and Company 19th Annual Healthcare Conference is going to a virtual format. Presentations are expected from Cardiovascular Systems (NASDAQ:CSII), Cara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CARA), Iterum Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ITRM), Personalis (NASDAQ:PSNL), Invacare (NYSE:IVC), I-Mab (NASDAQ:IMAB), Zealand Pharma (NASDAQ:ZEAL), Altreca (NASDAQ:BCEL), Castle Biosciences (NASDAQ:CSTL), Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR), Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA), Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH), Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ:GNCA), Trevi Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TRVI), KalVista Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:KALV), TrovaGene (NASDAQ:TROV) and X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:XFOR).

And from Barron's magazine, the warning that socialism is becoming far more mainstream in the US. With US elections coming up (almost forgotten outside of US) there is a not insignificant risk of a Bernie Saunders victory, if not in person, at least for the policies that he has espoused. This could have a significant impact on a number of market sectors going forward.

Barron's mentions: There is a warning sounded that SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBF,OTCPK:SFTBY) will need to take painful write-downs for its Vision Fund over the next few weeks. WeWork (WE), Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Oyo Rooms are just a few of the huge investments that have misfired for the fund. Amid the flurry of dividend cuts and payout suspensions, durable utility companies like American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP), Dominion Energy (NYSE:D), FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) and NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) are seen as safety bets for dividend stability. 

The cover story this week makes the argument that life won't be the same after the pandemic is over. "The pandemic is reshaping consumer, corporate, and government behavior. Long-held assumptions have been discarded. Deficit hawks have barely made a peep as policymakers spend trillions of dollars to stabilize the economy. Universal health care and social safety nets, once deemed too radical, are getting more mainstream attention," predicts the publications. Battle-tested investors are seen ending up being more cautious in what could be a reversal of the frothy last few years.

jog on

duc