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Monday, November 19, 2012

Tuesday: Housing Starts, Bernanke on Economy and Policy

by Calculated Risk on 11/19/2012 09:06:00 PM

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM, the Census Bureau will release Housing Starts for October. The consensus is for total housing starts to decline to 840,000 (SAAR) in October, down from 872,000 in September. Goldman Sachs is forecasting a decline in starts to 840,000, and Merrill Lynch is forecasting 815,000.

• At 10:00 AM, the BLS will release the Regional and State Employment and Unemployment report for October 2012.

• At 12:15 PM, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at the Economic Club of New York, New York, New York, The Economic Recovery and Economic Policy. Bernanke will most likely avoid specific policies, but urge policymakers to put the budget on a "sustainable long-run path" and "to avoid unnecessarily impeding the current economic recovery".

Both quotes are from a speech Bernanke gave in June when he also said: "Fortunately, avoiding the fiscal cliff and achieving long-term fiscal sustainability are fully compatible and mutually reinforcing objectives. Preventing a sudden and severe contraction in fiscal policy will support the transition back to full employment, which should aid long-term fiscal sustainability. At the same time, a credible fiscal plan to put the federal budget on a longer-run sustainable path could help keep longer-term interest rates low and improve household and business confidence, thereby supporting improved economic performance today."

Earlier on Existing Home Sales:
Existing Home Sales in October: 4.79 million SAAR, 5.4 months of supply
Existing Home Sales: A Solid Report
Existing Home Sales: The Increase in Conventional Sales
Existing Home Sales graphs


Another question for the November economic prediction contest (Note: You can now use Facebook, Twitter, or OpenID to log in).