Tuesday: New Home Sales, Case-Shiller House Prices, Durable Goods and More

I was looking at the outer Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor today, and I realized I've never seen so many loaded freighters queued up to unload at the port. The West Coast port slowdown is getting serious.

The Long Beach Press Telegram had an editorial today: Enough is enough on West Coast port labor dispute

West Coast dockworkers and their employers need to stop holding the economy hostage and sign a labor contract. ...

Meantime, both sides are blaming the other for slowdowns at the port.

But the real issues, the ones that are being discussed at the table, need to be resolved. Earlier this month, both sides agreed to bring in a federal mediator to do just that.

It’s unclear what’s going on beyond closed doors, but it has become apparent that both parties are going to have to work harder to get this contract signed.

Hopefully this will get resolved soon.

Tuesday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders for December from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for a 0.7% increase in durable goods orders.

• At 9:00 AM, S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for November. Although this is the November report, it is really a 3 month average of September, October and November prices. The consensus is for a 4.6% year-over-year increase in the National Index for November, down from 4.7% in October.

• At 10:00 AM, New Home Sales for December from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for an increase in sales to 450 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in December from 438 thousand in November.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Conference Board's consumer confidence index for January. The consensus is for the index to increase to 95.0 from 92.6.

• Also at 10:00 AM, Regional and State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for December 2014

• Also at 10:00 AM, Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for January.