Thursday: Housing Starts, Unemployment Claims, Philly Fed Mfg Survey, Dr. Yellen

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  The consensus is for 255 thousand initial claims, up from 247 thousand the previous week.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Housing Starts for December. The consensus is for 1.200 million, up from the November rate.

• Also at 8:30 AM: the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for January. The consensus is for a reading of 16.0, down from 19.7.

• At 8:00 PM, Speech, Fed Chair Janet Yellen, The Economic Outlook and the Conduct of Monetary Policy, At the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, San Francisco, California