This week will yield important economic and financial reports, including forecasts from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and the final third-quarter gross domestic product report on Friday.
Food and restaurant companies dominate the earnings calendar this week, with food giant Conagra reporting as well as Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants and Morgan’s Foods.
What follows are the highlights. (All times are Eastern standard time; forecasts by analysts/economists polled by Bloomberg.)
Federal Reserve
Dec. 17, 18: The Federal Open Market Committee meets, with an announcement and forecasts at 2 p.m. Dec. 18, followed by a press conference with Chairman Ben Bernanke at 2:30 p.m.
Economic Reports
Dec. 16:
Industrial production and capacity utilization, 9:15 a.m.
Dec. 17:
Consumer Price Index, 8:30 a.m.
Housing Market Index, 10 a.m.
Dec. 18:
Housing starts, 8:30 a.m.
EIA Petroleum Status Report, 10:30 a.m.
Dec. 19:
Jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Fed Survey, 10 a.m.
Existing-home sales, 10 a.m.
Dec. 20:
GDP, third-quarter final report, 8:30 a.m. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said earlier this month that the economy probably grew 3.6 percent in the third quarter, more than previously estimated.
Company Earnings Reports
Dec. 17:
Cooper Tire and Rubber (estimate consensus: 54 cents a share)
VeriFone Systems (18 cents a share)
Dec. 18:
FedEx ($1.64 a share)
General Mills (88 cents a share)
Oracle (64 cents a share)
Dec. 19:
Accenture ($1.09 a share)
Cintas (68 cents a share)
Conagra Foods (58 cents a share)
Darden Restaurants (21 cents a share)
Rite Aid (4 cents a share)
Nike (58 cents a share)
Morgan’s Foods (n/a)
Dec. 20:
Aramark (n/a)
CarMax (48 cents a share)
Carnival Corp. (break-even)
Discover Financial Services (n/a)
Walgreens (n/a)
Best wishes,
The Money and Markets Team
