by Calculated Risk on 12/16/2014 08:04:00 PM

Oil prices and the Russian financial crisis are the big stories ... from the WSJ: Russia’s Economic Pain Is Just Beginning, Bank Group Warns

Russia’s economy is likely already in recession with the ruble tumbling to new lows. But the country’s pain is just starting, says one of the world’s largest banking groups.

“There is complete panic in the financial markets” in Russia, said Lubomir Mitov, chief Europe economist at the Institute of International Finance, a banking industry group in Washington that represents more than 500 of the world’s largest private financial firms.
...
Russia’s economy is verging on collapse for two major reasons: oil and sanctions

Wednesday:
• At 7:00 AM ET, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

• At 8:30 AM, Consumer Price Index for November. The consensus is for a 0.1% decrease in CPI in October, and for core CPI to increase 0.1%.

• At During the day, The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for November (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

• At 2:00 PM, FOMC Meeting Statement. The FOMC is expected to make no change to policy, however the phrase "considerable period" will probably be changed in the statement.

• At 2:00 PM, FOMC Forecasts.  This will include the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) participants' projections of the appropriate target federal funds rate along with the quarterly economic projections.

• At 2:30 PM, Fed Chair Janet Yellen holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement.