by Calculated Risk on 8/18/2012 01:29:00 PM

Update: Dates fixed!

Earlier:
• Summary for Week Ending Aug 17th

There are two key housing reports to be released this week: July existing home sales on Wednesday, and July new home sales on Thursday.

On Friday Durable Goods orders for July will be released.

There are a few key European meetings and announcements on Thursday and Friday (included below).

Note: The FDIC might release the Q2 Quarterly Banking Profile late this week.

----- Monday, Aug 20th ----- 8:30 AM: Chicago Fed National Activity Index (July). This is a composite index of other data.

----- Tuesday, Aug 21st ----- No releases scheduled.

----- Wednesday, Aug 22nd ----- 7:00 AM: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the mortgage purchase applications index.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for July from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The consensus is for sales of 4.50 million on seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) basis. Sales in June 2012 were 4.37 million SAAR.

Housing economist Tom Lawler is forecasting the NAR will report sales of 4.47 million in July.

A key will be inventory and months-of-supply.

2:00 PM: FOMC Minutes for Meeting of July 31-August 1, 2012. Once again the minutes will be closely scrutinized for hints about QE3.

During the day: The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for July (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

----- Thursday, Aug 23rd ----- 8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decrease to 365 thousand from 366 thousand.

9:00 AM: The Markit US PMI Manufacturing Index Flash. This is a new release and might provide hints about the ISM PMI for August. The consensus is for a reading of 51.0, down from 51.8 in July.

10:00 AM ET: New Home Sales for July from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the June sales rate.

The consensus is for an increase in sales to 362 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in July from 350 thousand in June. Watch for upgrades to the sales rate for previous months.

10:00 AM: FHFA House Price Index for June 2012. This is based on GSE repeat sales and is no longer as closely followed as Case-Shiller (or CoreLogic). The consensus is for a 0.6% increase in house prices.

Europe Note: German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande will meet in Berlin

----- Friday, Aug 24th ----- 8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for July from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 1.9% increase in durable goods orders.

10:00 AM: Worker Displacement from the BLS for January 2012. This report will probably receive some attention because of weak labor market.

Europe Note: On Friday, the Spanish Government is expected to announce the details of the bank bailout. Also on Friday, Greek Prime Minister Samaras and German Chancellor Merkel will meet in Berlin with a press conference to follow.