by Calculated Risk on 1/12/2014 08:16:00 PM

From the WSJ: Why Business Investment Could Break Out

One gauge of business investment—new orders of nondefense capital goods, excluding aircraft—grew 4.1% in November, the biggest jump in nearly a year, after shrinking for two months. A broader measure of business spending that includes buildings and software grew at an annualized pace of 4.8% in the third quarter of 2013 and 4.7% in the second, after declining 4.6% in the first quarter.

Economists now expect business spending to keep accelerating. ... Several things are pushing economists' forecasts for business spending higher. For one, businesses often follow consumers when it comes to spending, not the other way around. When the economy began growing again after the 2007-2009 recession, spending on equipment shot up—but then flagged when it became clear, by 2011, that the recovery had stalled. If the economic recovery now shifts into higher gear, businesses will expand capacity to meet demand.

When demand picks up, companies invest ...

Monday:
• At 2:00 PM ET, the Monthly Treasury Budget Statement for December. The CBO estimates that the Treasury ran a surplus of $44 billion in December.

Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of January 12th

• Update: When will payroll employment exceed the pre-recession peak?

From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: the S&P futures and DOW futures are unchanged (fair value).

Oil prices are mostly unchanged with WTI futures at $92.80 per barrel and Brent at $107.49 per barrel.

Below is a graph from Gasbuddy.com for nationwide gasoline prices. Nationally prices are around $3.30 per gallon (about the same as a year ago).  If you click on "show crude oil prices", the graph displays oil prices for WTI, not Brent; gasoline prices in most of the U.S. are impacted more by Brent prices.

Orange County Historical Gas Price Charts Provided by GasBuddy.com