National Fuel is an integrated energy company with approximately $8.7 billion in assets. The regulated gas utility operation distributes and transports gas to approximately 750,000 customers in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York. The E&P segment, Seneca Resources, produces crude oil and natural gas in Appalachia. The pipeline & storage segment owns and operates natural gas pipelines running from Pennsylvania through western New York to the Canadian border near Buffalo. The company has 2,100 employees. The shares are a component of the S&P 400 Midcap Index.

Stocks are moderately lower at midday. Earnings continue with another peak week. The Fed meets, makes a call on rates, and Chairman Powell will hold a press conference to discuss the Fed's view on where the economy and rates are headed. That's on Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note is 4.35%. Oil has fallen below $57 per barrel.

National Fuel is an integrated energy company with approximately $8.7 billion in assets. The regulated gas utility operation distributes and transports gas to approximately 750,000 customers in northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York. The E&P segment, Seneca Resources, produces crude oil and natural gas in Appalachia. The pipeline & storage segment owns and operates natural gas pipelines running from Pennsylvania through western New York to the Canadian border near Buffalo. The company has 2,100 employees. The shares are a component of the S&P 400 Midcap Index.

Monday Tee Up: Tariffs, Jobs, Earnings Newly imposed U.S. tariffs (and the responses to them by the impacted countries) combine with the jobs report (due to hit the tape on Friday) and the ongoing flood or earnings reports to set the stage for a busy week. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%, the S&P 500 fell 1.0%, and the Nasdaq dropped 1.6%. So far in 2025, the DJIA is up 5%, the S&P is up 3%, and the Nasdaq is up 2%. Over the weekend, President Trump imposed tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada. Canada announced their own retaliatory tariffs and, as of this writing, Mexico intends to respond. China said it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization. The markets likely will experience some volatility as Wall Street assesses the impact of the tariffs. Items to consider are possible increased prices, supply-chain hiccups, changes to consumer spending patterns, and an uptick in overall inflation. Meanwhile, the earnings flow continues. On Monday, Palantir, Tyson Foods, and Clorox are among the companies that will report; on Tuesday, Alphabet, Advanced Micro, Merck, Amgen, and PepsiCo; on Wednesday, Novo Nordisk, Qualcomm, Uber, and Disney; on Thursday, Amazon.com, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Honeywell, and ConocoPhillips; and on Friday, Fortive, Kimco, and Cboe Global. Some 178 (or 36%) of the S&P 500 companies have reported for last quarter. Earnings so far are showing 12% growth from the prior-year quarter. That compares to a 9% growth rate last quarter. The Financial sector has had the most companies report, and the growth rate so far is 13%, according to Refinitiv. Argus forecasts S&P 500 EPS growth in 2025 at 12%. For 2026, we forecast 11. On the economic calendar, the Nonfarm Payrolls report for January comes out on Friday. Though that report will get the most attention, the Call of the Week from Argus' Chief Economist Chris Graja, CFA, is Nonfarm Productivity. Chris expects growth to top 2%, while the consensus is 1.7%. Chris offers the following thoughts. 'While the jobs report provides a timely assessment of how the economy is doing, productivity, though volatile, is the best measure of a country's long-term prosperity and of workers ability to earn more than the inflation rate. Worker prosperity will dominate the American political landscape for the next four years. Productivity growth also will reflect the degree of success from the billions being spent on Artificial Intelligence.' Last week, the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, as expected. Mortgage rates dipped one basis point, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.95%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices fell a penny to an average of $3.10 per gallon for regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow indicator is forecasting for 1Q and calls for expansion of 2.9%. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast is forecasting for January and is at 2.85%. The next Fed rate decision is on March 19, with odds at 17% for a rate cut, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, the next meeting is in early May.