US bank earnings; Advertising deal; Trump criticizes the Fed

Goldman Sachs is under pressure to show that its trading arm withstood the tranquility in global financial markets that started 2019.

Meanwhile, investors will be nervously watching the consumer banks for signs that they're getting hurt by changes in US interest rates.

The earning season got off to a strong start last week, with JPMorgan Chase (JPM) revealing record profit and sales on Friday. Even troubled Wells Fargo (WFC) said its revenues fell less than feared.

2. Advertising deal: France's Publicis Groupe (PGPEF) is buying data marketing agency Epsilon for $4.4 billion in cash, the company said Sunday.

The deal could help Publicis compete with digital advertising giants Google (GOOGL) and Facebook (FB).

Arthur Sadoun the CEO of Publicis, said the agency's clients are facing higher consumer expectations and new data regulations.

"The only response is to deliver personalized experiences at scale," he said.

Shares in Publicis surged 4% in Paris. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

3. Trump goes after the Fed: President Donald Trump has once again criticized the Federal Reserve, saying its policies have been a "killer" for economic growth and stocks.

Trump tweeted Sunday that "if the Fed had done its job properly, which it has not, the Stock Market would have been up 5000 to 10,000 additional points."

He added that GDP growth would have been "well over 4% instead of 3%" if the central bank had refrained from rolling back stimulus.

Trump's comments come amid opposition to his two picks for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors — former presidential candidate Herman Cain and economic commentator Stephen Moore.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi expressed worries over the weekend about the independence of central banks.

"If the central bank is not independent then people may well think that monetary policy decisions follow political advice rather than objective assessment of the economic outlook," Draghi said, according to Reuters.

4. Global market overview: US stock futures were mixed. European markets opened flat following a mixed trading session in Asia.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 1% on Friday. The S&P 500 added 0.7% and the Nasdaq gained 0.5%.

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5. Earnings and economics: Aphria (APHA) will release earnings before the open.

6. Coming this week:
Monday -—- Aphria (APHA), Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, M&T Bank earnings; US tax day
Tuesday — Bank of America, BlackRock (BLK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Netflix, United Continental Holdings earnings
Wednesday — PepsiCo, Morgan Stanley earnings; Fed Beige Book
Thursday — American Express (AXP), Skechers (SKX) earnings; US retail sales
Friday — US markets are closed

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