Stock markets wobbled on Monday as traders prepare for the onslaught of earnings reports that is about to descend on Wall Street. The peak of the Q3 earnings season begins this week with reports from the big banks including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup. The consensus is for revenue to ease slightly on slowing loan growth but for earnings and cash flow to be strong. What this means for investors is strengthening balance sheets and the chance for reinvigorated share repurchases and dividend increases.

Also on tap this week, key reads on inflation and the consumer. The CPI and PPI data will be released earlier in the week with the Retail Sales figures coming out on Friday. The analysts are expecting inflation to pick up from last month?s slightly cooler numbers while retail sales are expected to be flat. The risk for the market is in the inflation numbers, if inflation continues to rise unabated it will mean the end to the earnings-driven stock market rally.