by Calculated Risk on 9/03/2014 08:31:00 PM

From the WSJ: Small Firms Poised to Spend More on Plants, Equipment

Among 798 small private firms with less than $20 million in revenue, for instance, 51% said in August that they planned to increase their capital outlays in the next 12 months.

That is ... up from 42% a year ago, according to the survey by The Wall Street Journal and Vistage International, a San Diego executive-advisory group.

August marked the first month since June 2012, when the monthly survey began, that owners of small firms who planned to spend more on fixed investments outnumbered those who planned to hold steady or cut back.

This survey has only been conducted for a couple of years, but this is a positive sign. On credit, the Federal Reserve's July Senior Loan Officer survey indicated some pickup in small firm demand for loans, and slightly easier lending standards.

Thursday:
• At 7:45 AM ET, Press conference following the Governing Council meeting of the ECB in Frankfurt with Mario Draghi. Here is the ECB website and press conference page.

• At 8:15 AM, the ADP Employment Report for August. This report is for private payrolls only (no government). The consensus is for 213,000 payroll jobs added in August, down from 218,000 in July.

• At 8:30 AM, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 305 thousand from 298 thousand.

• Also at 8:30 AM, the Trade Balance report for July from the Census Bureau. The consensus is for the U.S. trade deficit to be at $42.7 billion in July from $41.5 billion in June.

• At 10:00 AM, the ISM non-Manufacturing Index for August. The consensus is for a reading of 57.1, down from 58.7 in July. Note: Above 50 indicates expansion.