This week we get some really important reports.
CPI (Thursday) and PPI (Wednesday) top of the list. Over the last few weeks, several Fed governors have come out and essentially said inflation is still too high above their comfort zone. This at a time when the official BLS numbers were pretty good on the inflation front for the last several months. Keep an eye on the alternate Fed inflation measures from the Cleveland and Dallas Fed. I'm suspecting these numbers are more important for the Fed than they are letting one.
We get two regional manufacturing reports; the New York (Tuesday) and Philly Fed (Thursday). Let's see how these jibe with the recent uptick from the ISM national survey. We also get industrial production.
Finally, we have housing starts on Thursday. Housing is still in a slump. As I have written before, I don't see a bottom yet because inventories are still very high and sales are still decreasing.
