What Traders Need To Know For The Next Forty-Eight Hours

The second week of November is shaping up to be a real humdinger for Wall Street.

Fresh off the longest stretch of down days for the S&P 500 since 1980, markets popped higher early Monday, gearing up for a feverish few days of trading.

To begin with the event on everyone’s minds: Charles Evans speaks at 2:45 p.m. EST Monday. Recently, the Chicago Fed president has been nonchalant about the prospects of a widely expected rate hike in December, telling CNBC last month, “I don't see any urgency” to move. Whether Evans remains undecided now is a big question mark.

But it’s Tuesday that traders have their sights on, perhaps one of the biggest -- and most potentially volatile -- days for markets in recent memory. Evans speaks not once but twice more, at 7:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m., comments that could trump his statements from Monday, throwing markets into a tizzy.

Of course, that’s not all that’s happening Tuesday. On November 8, after seemingly endless suspense, the nation will learn how the monthly JOLTS numbers came out, clarifying the health of the labor market by measuring the rates of hiring and quitting. The figures, released at 10 a.m., could change Evans’ outlook between his eagerly anticipated morning and afternoon comments. The interim should prove a tumultuous few hours on Wall Street.

Also happening Tuesday: The release of the weekly Redbook, measuring sales in retail stores and chains; the publication of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business’ Optimism Index; and earnings reports from the Coca Cola Company, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc., and French banking giant Crédit Agricole.

Hold onto your hats, traders. It’s going to be a wild week.

(Note that some governmental offices will be closed Tuesday for a quadrennial electoral contest.)