Financial Options

Each of the upcoming economic indicators will be linked in this post as they become available. See more general information at the end of this post to help you follow these releases as they come out through the week.

Two numbers get especially close scrutiny this week after the Federal Reserve policy statement last week indicated that the prospects for further interest rate increases depend heavily on inflation risk, Tuesday's Producer Price Index and Wednesday's Consumer Price Index releases.

Monday: In international economic news, the Conference Board will release indexes of leading and coincident indicators for the U.K and the US Department of Treasury will report on international capital flows. The New York Federal Reserve will release the Empire State Manufacturing Index. Housing market watchers will get the National Association of Home Builders ‫ Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

Monday Treasury Schedule: 11 AM Eastern 4-Week T-Bill Announcement, 1 PM Eastern 3-Month and 6-Month T-Bill Auctions

Monday Earnings: ACME Communications Inc [ACME Ticker: ; Industry: Broadcasting - TV ], Target Corp [Ticker: TGT ; Industry: Discount, Variety Stores]

Tuesday: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Producer Price Index for April, the primary indicator of wholesale price inflation. The Federal Reserve will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization figures for April. The Commerce Department will issue housing starts for April.

Tuesday Treasury Schedule: 1 PM Eastern 4-Week T-Bill Auction

Tuesday Earnings: Abercrombie and Fitch Co [Ticker: ANF ; Industry: Apparel Stores], Home Depot Inc [Ticker: HD ; Industry: Home Improvement Stores ]

Wednesday: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Consumer Price Index, the main measure of retail inflation in the US, and Real Earnings for April. The Mortgage Bankers Association will report on the number of new mortgage applications and the direction of mortgage interest rates with the weekly Mortgage Market Survey. The Energy Information Administration weekly petroleum data summary and This Week in Petroleum are due out Wednesday. The Conference Board will issue leading and coincident indicators for France.

Wednesday Treasury Schedule: None

Wednesday Earnings: Vivendi Universal [Ticker: V ; Industry: Entertainment ‫ Diversified ], Zale Corp [Ticker: ZLC ; Industry: Jewelry Stores ]

Thursday: Leading and coincident indicators for Mexico will be released by the Conference Board. The Conference Board will also release leading, lagging and coincident indicator information for the United States. The Labor Department will issue its weekly Jobless Claims report.

Thursday Treasury Schedule: 11 AM Eastern 3-Month T-Bill Announcement and 6-Month T-Bill Announcement

Thursday Earnings: Steak n Shake Co [Ticker: SNS ; Industry: Restaurants ], Barnes and Noble Inc [Ticker: BKS ; Industry: Specialty Retail, Other ]

Friday: No releases scheduled.

Friday Treasury Schedule: No treasury schedule.

Friday Earnings: British Airways plc [Ticker: BAB ; Industry: Major Airlines ]

Each of the upcoming financial items with the exception of Treasury auctions and announcements will be linked in this post as they become available. Housing market indicators will be featured on RealNews under the Housing Market category. Job market indicators wil be featured at Jobs Calling under the Job Market category. International indicators will be featured at Growing Global under the Economic Indicators category. General US economic indicators will be featured on this site, Financial Options, under Economic Indicators category.

The earnings releases listed are companies I've chosen because of their industries, because of market capitalization (the size of the company), because they have local plants in my area or for various other reasons of general interest. Please do not take these as a “recommendation” of any sort. That I list them here simply means that I think the results may be interesting for any number of reason - I may occasionally even choose companies where I expect negative results.

economic indicators,T-bills,earnings