Financial Options

This week will be a busy one for traders watching the first of month economic indicators crammed into 3 days.

Monday sets the tone for the week with a labor market indicator – the US Help Wanted Online Data Series from the Conference Board. More employment indicators will come in through the week ending with the Thursday release of the Employment Situation for June from the Labor Department and weekly Jobless Claims. Wednesday Monster will release the other major online employment ad index, Challenger will report on announced layoffs and ADP will issue its comprehensive employment report. The ADP report is usually out two days ahead of the corresponding Labor Department report, so faster reaction times will be the rule in this short week. Expect markets to react strongly to all these reports after the half percent jump in unemployment in last month's Labor Department report.

Tuesday will be a big day with reports from three segments – retail, construction and manufacturing. The automakers will release their June sales figures and the news is likely to be bad especially on SUV and truck sales. The Commerce Department will release Construction Spending for May – public and commercial construction will have a tough time making up for substantial, and needed, declines in home construction. The Institute for Supply Management will release its Purchasing Managers Index and Manufacturing Report on Business. Manufacturing held up well last year and early this year, but has suffered the last few months, so watch this report for signs of further weakness or recovery.

Likely to get lost in the mix Thursday when attention focuses on employment numbers are the ISM Nonmanufacturing Report and the RBC CASH Index. The RBC CASH Index is definitely worth watching for clues as to how consumers actual financial situations are looking, given the extremely gloomy numbers from the Consumer Confidence Index last week.

Also Thursday, the European Central Bank will make an interest rate/monetary policy announcement. Despite bad economic news all over Europe the last 2 to 3 months, the ECB has signaled that it may be considering an interest rate hike. If this happens, it could be bad news for the dollar – in the short term. In the long term, its likely to be far worse news for a European economy that already needs interest rate relief.

*See more information on the Financial Roadmap series here. Earnings reports are companies of interest, NOT recommendations.