Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a manufacturer and retailer of home furnishings. The company sells its products through a network of approximately 300 retail design centers. Products include beds, tables and other case goods, upholstered items such as sofas and recliners, and accessories such as clocks, window coverings and rugs. The company manufactures about 75% of its products in North America. It has 3,320 employees.

The volume of weekly insider transactions reported by Vickers Stock Research has started to grow a bit as earnings season progresses. As of last week, over 60% of the companies in the S&P 500 had reported results. Turning to insider-sentiment data, a plateau appears to be forming while the news flow remains volatile. Tuning first to the Total One-Week Sell/Buy Ratio from Vickers, the current reading is neutral at 5.73, but just below the bearish zone that starts at 6.00. Two weeks ago, the reading was a more-worrisome 10.25. The bouncy one-week data has left the broader Total Eight-Week Sell/Buy Ratio at 5.37 and in a neutral range that runs from 2.00 to 6.00; the reading has sported a 'five handle' since November. On an exchange basis, the current NYSE one-week ratio is 4.57 and has been moving from neutral to slightly bearish for over a month, resulting in a softly improving eight-week reading (currently neutral at 4.37). The Nasdaq has been the problem child of late, but the current one-week reading is 6.53 and has been stable for two weeks after hitting a troubling 14.06 two weeks ago and 15.57 two weeks before that. The eight-week reading currently at 6.50 and has been flat for three weeks. End of day, current insider sentiment is not worrisome but neither is it optimistic. More-meaningful signals may well develop as earnings season ends and insider-transaction volume returns to normal levels. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insiders transactions of interest at Primis Financial Corp. (NGM: FRST) and Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL).

his will be a busy week, with several key economic reports and the kickoff of earnings season. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.7% and the Nasdaq lost 0.6%. So far, in 2025, the DJIA, the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 are all down by 1%. On the economic calendar, inflation will be in focus with the new CPI report due on Wednesday. For December, CPI printed at 2.7% and Core CPI was 3.3%. Argus expects CPI will rise to 2.9% and Core CPI will remain at 3.3%. Other releases this week include the Producer Price Index on Tuesday; Retail Sales on Thursday; and Housing Starts, Building Permits, Industrial Production, and Capacity Utilization on Friday. Argus Economist Chris Graja, CFA, notes that the inflation reports will get a lot of attention after last week's strong employment report. He also expects Retail Sales to show that holiday spending finished on a strong note. Chris' Economic Call of the Week is Industrial Production, as he looks for evidence that the sector is picking up. Chris offered the following thoughts. 'We expect December Industrial Production to improve from a 0.9% decline in November, but remain slightly under water at minus 0.4%. On the positive side, new orders in the ISM Manufacturing report, a leading indicator, have risen to expansionary levels above 50 for November and December, but manufacturing employment declined that month and the Labor Department's Diffusion Index showed that employment was weak across 72 manufacturing industries. Our hope that those indications of new orders turn into production and jobs in the coming months.' Earnings season kicks off with the big banks. Here's a partial list of reports for the week: on Wednesday, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of New York Mellon, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock; on Thursday, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial, UnitedHealth Group; and on Friday, Truist, Citizens Financial Group, and State Street. Argus Director of Financial Institutions Research Steve Biggar noted the following. 'Given elevated interest rates, we look for minimal (low-single-digit) loan growth, but some net interest margin expansion from easing deposit cost pressures. A steeper yield curve, as rates rise for longer maturities, will be helpful to margins going forward. Banks have been cautious on the economy over the past year, padding the allowance for loan losses, but with the slowdown still materializing, we expect more muted loan-loss provisions, aiding profits. Capital markets revenues are also expected to have improved for the large banks year over year. We look for favorable commentary from banks, which speaks to more-constructive conversations with clients around M&A activity (with a likely more-relaxed regulatory environment from the incoming Trump administration), a buildup of the IPO pipeline, and excess capital possibly put to work if more-lenient capital requirements come to pass.' Last week, the December Jobs report came in much hotter than expected, with Nonfarm Payrolls at 256,000 in December compared to 212,000 in November. The Unemployment Rate dropped to 4.1% from 4.2%. Mortgage rates inched ever closer to 7% and climbed another 2 basis points (bps), with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.93%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices were flat at a $3.00 per gallon average for regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 4Q and calls for expansion of 2.7%. The Cleveland Fed CPINow indicator is forecasting for January and is at 2.79%. Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve meets again on January 29. After last week's strong jobs data, the odds fell to just 6% for a rate cut at that meeting, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, the next rate decision is on March 19.

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., based in Danbury, Connecticut, is a manufacturer and retailer of home furnishings. The company sells its products through a network of approximately 300 retail design centers. Products include beds, tables and other case goods, upholstered items such as sofas and recliners, and accessories such as clocks, window coverings and rugs. The company manufactures about 75% of its products in North America. It has 3,350 employees.