The Trial Balance is CFO’s weekly preview of stories, stats, and events to help you prepare.
Part 1: Treasury Prime CFO and the Latest Labor Trends
Reporter Adam Zaki will publish a Q&A with Treasury Prime CFO Meghan Ryan. Zaki and Ryan discuss learning lessons from the early parts of her career, the value of direct exposure to leadership, and the importance of financial literacy around embedded finance. Zaki will also publish an update on the latest labor trends impacting finance teams. (2/15 and 2/16, respectively)
As a reminder, on Monday (2/19), there will be no Trial Balance in observance of Presidents’ Day.
Part 2: This Week
A full slate of economic data releases hit the wires this week, including the consumer price index (CPI), U.S. retail sales, the producer price index, industrial production, and housing starts. The Federal Open Market Committee is tracking economic data closely to determine whether to stick to the current Fed funds rate.
But the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) policy survey, released Monday morning, showed that 21% of the 184 economists surveyed believe U.S. monetary policy is too restrictive, up from 14% last March. (See more on this week’s NABE conference below). At the same time, (52%) of the economists believe it’s likely that CPI inflation will remain above 2.5% through the end of 2024. Tuesday’s release of January CPI numbers is expected to show a core CPI as high as 3.7% year over year.
Although the Securities and Exchange Commission wouldn’t have oversight powers for large artificial-intelligence (AI) models developed by financial institutions, SEC Chair Gary Gensler is speaking at Yale Law School on Tuesday about AI regulation. The SEC has proposed a rule for investment firms that use AI in analytics, however. It would prohibit them from using predictive data analytics and AI to put their interests above those of their clients.
Another regulator on tour this week is the Federal Reserve’s Michael S. Barr, the vice chair for supervision. In two speeches, Barr will probably address new capital rules the Fed has proposed for banks. Banks are fighting the rules, arguing that they would raise the cost of borrowing for businesses and consumers. Barr speaks at the NABE policy conference on Wednesday and at the Columbia Law School Banking Conference on Friday.
The other speakers at this week’s NABE economic policy conference in Washington D.C. include Anat Admati of Stanford University, Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, and former president of the European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.
The National Federal of Independent Business releases January’s small business optimism index on Friday. While we don’t hear about it much in mainstream media outlets, small businesses continue to struggle with inflation and labor quality. “Small business owners remain very pessimistic about economic prospects this year,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg in January. “Inflation and labor quality have consistently been a tough complication for small business owners, and they are not convinced that it will get better in 2024.”
Earning this week: Arista Networks, Avis Budget, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, monday.com, Coca-Cola, Shopify, Airbnb, Marriott International, Datadog, Molson Coors Beverage, Hasbro, Airbnb, Biogen, Upstart Holdings, Lyft, Cisco, Sony, Kraft Heinz, Global Payments, Twilio, QuantumScape, Applied Materials, Deere, Stellantis, DoorDash, Wendy's, Coinbase Global, SunPower, Roku, TC Energy, Vulcan Materials, Crocs, TripAdvisor, Cedar Fair, Toast, Yelp.
IPO Watch
According to Bill Smith at IPO ETF provider Renaissance Capital, the rest of February will see scant offerings, with no movement from large issuers. Last week was a mixed bag for market debuts, with BBB Foods up more than 11% on its first trading day and Metagenomi falling close to 30%. This week, some very small IPOs are on tap, including Scripps Safe (medical tech manufacturer), Amphrite Digital (tourism), Metros Development (real estate), and Massimo Group (power sports vehicles and motor boats).
Part 3: The 6 a.m. CFO — MaryAnn Waltz
This week, our 6 a.m. CFO series highlights Dewey's Pizza’s CFO MaryAnn Waltz. While she doesn’t start her day with a slice (spoiler alert), she provides insight into how she helps run a company with unique products like pumpkin pie pizza.
“One of my favorite aspects of my job is visiting the stores, talking with the general managers, and interacting with our team members. I spent my first month as the CFO of Dewey’s Pizza working in one of the restaurants. I learned to prep veggies, toss dough, and serve guests.” (2/15)