Economic Data for the Week of Sept. 8 – 11

The week ahead is going to be fairly light on economic reports, with the most significant releases likely being the Fed’s Beige Book, trade gap, weekly jobless claims and consumer sentiment.

July Consumer Credit report from the Federal Reserve is reported Tuesday afternoon. The amount of consumer credit outstanding in July is expected to have fallen at a slower pace than the previous month due to upward momentum from the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program.

The weekly crude oil inventories report is due Wednesday, as is the Federal Reserve’s  release of its periodic Beige Book survey of the economy, which outlines economic conditions across the Fed’s 12 districts. Also on Wednesday, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to introduce at its media event – iPod Nano and iPod Touch models that include digital cameras, as well as other new updates.

On Thursday, the Fed’s Balance Sheet & Money Supply, the July international trade data, which is expected to hold steady at $27 billion, and the Labor Department release of the weekly jobless claims are reported. More than 550K Americans are expected to have filed new claims for unemployment in the previous week. Despite the large number, new claims should demonstrate improvements (granted, marginal ones) over the coming months as weakness in the labor market slowly abates. Also on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Geithner speaks before the Congressional Oversight Panel.

Friday is all about initial reading on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan, which is due shortly after the start of trading (the consensus on the index is 67.3 in September from 65.7 in August), and the the Commerce Dept.’s report on wholesale inventories. Investors will also be watching on Friday, August Treasury budget data – due in the afternoon (the current Bloomberg consensus for July’s budget deficit is –$140.0bn vs –$180.7 a month prior).

Some more highlight’s on next week’s economic data from MW’s Stacey Delo

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