What will be the key economic drivers in 2021? Zacks Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank, is here to outline them for us.

1. Topping your list is the path of the Fed going forward. You’ve consulted the Fed’s Dot Plot to help shed some light on that. And, the Fed ended their first meeting of the New Year this week with a change in their subsequent statement from December’s. What’s the significance of that?

2. Real Estate is on your list. What’s the story there?

3. What about sectors that will do well this year?

4. You say trade negotiations with China will be making headlines again. Do you think that will share the spotlight with the Covid-19 story?

5. Do you expect virus containment and policy support to bolster economic growth this year?

6. This week some key U.S. economic indicators came out. Among them, January consumer confidence was up more than expected and the Case Shiller Index was up as well. Also due out is the Q4 GDP data. What do these all say about the state of the economy?

7. We’re in the Q4 earnings season as we speak. It got off to a strong start. You wrote “By the end of this week, we will have a lot more confidence in our initial positive view of the Q4 earnings season”. On a recent conference call you said that Q4 earnings aren’t significant to the stock market now. Do this week’s reports change that view?

8. Some stocks on your radar now include XPO Logistics (XPO Quick QuoteXPO - Free Report) , The Mosaic Company (MOS Quick QuoteMOS - Free Report) and Newell Brands (NWL Quick QuoteNWL - Free Report) .

That’s the latest fromour Chief Equity Strategist & Economist, John Blank. With John, I’m Terry Ruffolo.