Schedule for Week of Sept 17, 2017

The key economic reports this week are August housing starts and existing home sales.

For manufacturing, the Philly Fed manufacturing survey will be released this week.

The FOMC meets this week and is expected to announce the reduction of the Fed's balance sheet.

----- Monday, Sept 18th -----
10:00 AM: The September NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of 65, down from 68 in August. Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

----- Tuesday, Sept 19th -----
8:30 AM: Housing Starts for August. The consensus is for 1.173 million SAAR, up from the July rate of 1.155 million.

This graph shows total and single unit starts since 1968.

The graph shows the huge collapse following the housing bubble, and then - after moving sideways for a couple of years - housing is now recovering.

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

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

10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales for August from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The consensus is for 5.48 million SAAR, up from 5.44 million in July.

The graph shows existing home sales from 1994 through the report last month.

2:00 PM: FOMC Meeting Announcement. The FOMC is expected to announce the beginning of the process to reduce the Fed's balance sheet at this meeting.

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.

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

----- Thursday, Sept 21st -----
8:30 AM ET: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for 303 thousand initial claims, up from 284 thousand the previous week.

8:30 AM: the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for September. The consensus is for a reading of 18.0, down from 18.9.

9:00 AM ET: FHFA House Price Index for June 2017. This was originally a GSE only repeat sales, however there is also an expanded index.

12:00 PM: Q2 Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States from the Federal Reserve.

----- Friday, Sept 22nd -----
No major economic releases scheduled.