It's all happening in August, with reporting season and macroeconomic indicators pouring onto investors' screens.
Let's examine the three most important events to watch this week, as nominated by eToro market analysts Josh Gilbert:
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1. Reporting season hits its climax
Gilbert argues this is reporting season's biggest week, as more than 40% of S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares are presenting their annual results.
"Some of the standout names include BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL), Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)."
Reporting season thus far has seen mixed results, according to Gilbert, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) the "standout" for its record profits.
"Despite some positive results, the local market recorded its largest decline in 11 months last week as China's economic troubles persist and investors digest higher-for-longer rates."
When giant miner BHP reports on Tuesday, China's immediate prospects will be at the forefront of investors' minds.
"Falling commodity prices will weigh on the results, with the market anticipating a significant decline of 40% in earnings and a 16% decline in revenue.
"Any signals from the mining giant of further weakness from China will weigh on shares."
Gilbert is looking forward to Thursday when Qantas could post "record profits".
"Travel remains in the sweet spot of strong demand and low supply," he said.
"Revenue is set to rise to $19.6 billion, whilst underlying profit is expected at $2.45 billion."
Qantas swimming in cash could mean a nice gift for shareholders.
"With record profits, investors should watch out for the return of its dividend – or at least an increase in its recent buyback scheme."
2. China anxiety
As Australia's largest trading partner, the Chinese economy has a huge bearing on many ASX 200 companies.
The world's second-largest economy is dealing with anaemic growth and deflation.
"China unexpectedly cut its one-year medium-term lending facility rate this week by 15 basis points to 2.5%," said Gilbert.
"The rate is a key economic health indicator as it relates to loans to financial institutions, suggesting that policymakers are starting to see concerns in the state of the economy as data continues to weaken."
This week investors will wait to see if China pulls out more stimulus.
"Warning signals flashed again last week, with fears mounting in the property sector as the slowdown continues to hurt developers.
"That was evident on Friday as Evergrande filed for bankruptcy in the US, and concerns grew that other large developers would default."
Gilbert reckons it's now not a matter of if there's stimulus coming, but when.
"It's now a case of how far they are willing to let the economy spiral before acting.
"Unfortunately, Australia will feel the effect of the economic slowdown in the region. China is the world's largest manufacturer, the second largest economy, and the largest source of global consumption and commodities growth."
Last week, the materials sector was a direct victim of concerns about China, becoming the worst-performing industry on the ASX.
"That may be a sign of things to come if China's economic woes continue."
3. Nvidia earnings and the artificial intelligence boom
Chip maker NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) will report its second-quarter earnings on Thursday morning Australian time.
With its share price tripling year to date, Gilbert calls the Californian company the "poster boy of AI".
"Investors will be hoping to see AI hype translate into revenue after promising a huge quarter."
One quarter ago, Nvidia set the market alight.
"Earlier in the year, Nvidia shocked Wall Street and offered what was arguably one of the most bullish revenue forecasts markets had seen from a company of this magnitude.
"Nvidia forecasted Q2 revenue of US$11 billion, well ahead of analyst estimates of US$7.15 billion, with CEO Jensen Huang citing 'unprecedented demand' for its advanced chips required to train and power AI services."
According to Gilbert, Nvidia makes "the picks and the shovels" for the AI revolution, which is in high demand right now.
"The growth will come from its data centre revenue, which is set to see a 110% jump to US$7.86 billion through the sale of its flagship AI chip, the A100.
"However, even that number could be blown out of the water with growing demand from businesses such as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), Alibaba Group Holding (HKG: 9988), Tencent Holdings Ltd (HKS: 0700), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and even countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE."
