Thursday: Retail Sales, Unemployment Claims

From Reuters: Euro zone, Greece fail to agree way forward following meeting

We explored a number of issues, one of which was the current program," Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chaired the meeting, told a news conference in the early hours on Thursday in Brussels.

"We discussed the possibility of an extension. For some that is clear that is preferred option but we haven't come to that conclusion as yet. We will need a little more time."

Quote of the day:

“We are not negotiating the bailout; it was cancelled by its own failure.” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras

Earlier I posted some of the details of the failed agreement: Did Austerity in Greece Deliver?

Greece delivered on a primary surplus, but the details on unemployment and GDP show the "program" was the wrong policy.  Time to change the policy!

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to increase to 285 thousand from 278 thousand.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Retail sales for January will be released. The consensus is for retail sales to decrease 0.5% in January, and to decrease 0.5% ex-autos.

• At 10:00 AM, Manufacturing and Trade: Inventories and Sales (business inventories) report for December. The consensus is for a 0.2% increase in inventories.