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U.S. stocks traded lower last week after House Democrats announced they are opening an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Impeachment risk

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that Democrats are launching the impeachment inquiry following a whistleblower report alleging Trump asked for help from Ukraine in investigating Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The news had a minimal initial impact on the market, with the S&P 500 trading lower by less than 1% on the week.

Analysts and economists say investors are free to mostly ignore the headlines out of Washington for now given the minimal risk a Republican-controlled Senate would remove Trump from office. During President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings in 1998, the S&P 500 gained 28%.

Shawn Cruz, senior trading specialist at TD Ameritrade, doesn’t think the market is particularly fearful of a potential impeachment.

“There was a little bit of shock at first. But in terms of markets, this is not much (of a risk). These markets are so used to political chaos that it doesn’t really faze anyone anymore.”

Cruz’s recommendation going forward for investors is to not be too reactive to any one headline.

“For an investor, you should want to just remain balanced in terms of a portfolio allocation. It’s going to be headline-driven trade, so there will be some bouts of volatility, but I don’t see the market making any drastic moves going forward. the biggest thing that could upset the ship here would be anything out of Iran. That’s the big unknown that got pushed off to the side with the impeachment talk.”

Global growth concerns

On the trade war front, Trump said Wednesday that a trade deal with China could come sooner than the public is anticipating.

Germany’s latest manufacturing data out last week revealed the country’s manufacturing activity dipped to its lowest level in more than a decade.

This week, investors will be watching for earnings reports from United Natural Foods on Tuesday, Lennar on Wednesday and PepsiCo and Costco on Thursday.

Third-quarter analyst earnings per share estimates for the S&P 500 have fallen by 3.3% since June 30, according to FactSet. Analysts are now expecting S&P EPS to drop 3.8% in the third quarter compared with a year ago.

Economic numbers

The Bureau of Economic Analysis left its 2% estimate for U.S. GDP growth unchanged in its revised second-quarter economic report released Thursday.

In the week ahead, investors will be focused on the September Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index reading on Tuesday and U.S. nonfarm payrolls out on Friday morning. Analysts estimate the economy added 162,000 jobs in September.

Guess who

This regional fast-chain prides itself on the freshness of the ingredients used in its burgers. Unlike most fast-food chains, its menu remains at 15 items or less.

It started as a family business and remains family-owned to this day, with no foreseeable plans to go public.

This company started its operations with a small drive-thru in Baldwin Park, California. The menu had three items: burgers, fries and drinks.

As it expanded, it realized its assurance of fresh ingredients was becoming harder to maintain at all its locations. It opened its first patty-making facility, making it possible to maintain internal control over the sourcing of ingredients.

Twenty-seven years after its founding, the company made its first menu change since its founding with its introduction of the classic American milkshake, available in chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

This was followed soon by the introduction of its first dining room location instead of its typical drive-thrus. As the profits came in, it began setting aside a portion of them for a feed-the-homeless program in Baldwin Park, California. This was later expanded to areas of Los Angeles, Ventura and Long Beach.

By 2018, this company was estimated to generate $926 million in annual sales across 339 locations.

Answer: In-N-Out Burger

Benzinga is a financial news a data company headquartered in Detroit.

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