by Calculated Risk on 1/16/2016 08:11:00 AM

The key economic reports this week are December housing starts on Wednesday, and December Existing Home Sales on Friday.

For prices, CPI will be released on Wednesday.

----- Monday, January 18th -----
All US markets will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day

----- Tuesday, January 19th -----
10:00 AM: The January NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of 62, up from 61 in December.  Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

----- Wednesday, January 20th -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:30 AM: The Consumer Price Index for December from the BLS. The consensus is for no changed in CPI, and a 0.2% increase in core CPI.

8:30 AM: Housing Starts for December.

Total housing starts increased to 1.173 million (SAAR) in November. Single family starts increased to 768 thousand SAAR in November.

The consensus for 1.198 million, up from November.

During the day: The AIA's Architecture Billings Index for December (a leading indicator for commercial real estate).

----- Thursday, January 21st -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 275 thousand initial claims, down from 284 thousand the previous week.

10:00 AM: the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for January. The consensus is for a reading of -4.0, up from -5.9.

----- Friday, January 22nd -----
8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for December. This is a composite index of other data.

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for December from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 5.19 million SAAR, up from 4.76 million in November.