Nov. 18- Producer Price Index, Final Demand (Oct) EX food and energy, Home builders' Survey (Nov)
Producer Price Index (PPI), Final Demand (Oct) EX food and energy
PPI rose by 0.2% driven by price increases in the service industry. This was welcomed, as economist estimated a decline of 0.1%. Inflation staying low may keep the fed from raising rates. Therefore, it's important to keep a pulse on inflation as the fed's other variable in raising rates, unemployment, is well below the fed's target.
Home builders' Survey (Nov)
Home builder confidence grew to a level of 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo Gauge. Reading above a 50, tend to show optimism in the sales trends. This is a good sign since consumer confidence coupled with a strong labor market is making the builder confidence rise.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-builder-confidence-rebounds-near-nine-year-high-2014-11-18
Nov. 19- Housing starts (Oct), FOMC minutes
Housing starts (Oct)
Starts of one-family houses rose 4.2% to an annualized rate of 696,000 for the month of October. Construction starts of apartments dropped 2.8% to a pace of 1.01 million.
"While the market recovers, demand is outpacing construction. The U.S. requires between 1.6 million and 1.9 million new units a year just to accommodate population growth and household formation, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing."
FOMC minutes
Fed sees limited impact on the US economy from global markets. They also suggested that they are in no hurry to raise short-term rates. Lastly, inflation still lingers as the variable that most look at with the fed's willingness to raise rates.
Nov. 20- Consumer Price Index (Oct) EX food and energy, Initial and continuing jobless claims, Existing Home Sales (Oct), Leading Indicators (Oct)
Existing Home Sales (Oct)
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said that existing home sales rose by 1.5% to annual rate of 2.26 million units. Sales rose by 2.5% compared to last years numbers. Economist had estimated a fall in sales to 5.16 million.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/20/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSKCN0J41P620141120
Initial and continuing jobless claims
Initial claims for state unemployment fell by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted amount of 291,000. Even though new claims fell, Economist estimated a drop to 285,000. Continuing claims fell by 73,000 to 2.33 million, which is the lowest level since December 2000.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102200071
Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Oct) EX food and energy
CPI rose by 0.20% which is the biggest jump in the last 5 months. If inflation keeps going up, coupled with a strong labor market, we can see rates rising sooner than the 2015 Q2 prediction many have.
