by Calculated Risk on 4/13/2019 08:11:00 AM

The key reports this week are March housing starts and retail sales.   Other key reports include March industrial production and the February trade deficit.

For manufacturing, the March Industrial Production report and the April NY and Philly Fed manufacturing surveys will be released this week.

----- Monday, Apr 15th -----
8:30 AM: The New York Fed Empire State manufacturing survey for April. The consensus is for a reading of 6.8, up from 3.7.

----- Tuesday, Apr 16th -----
9:15 AM: The Fed will release Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for March.

This graph shows industrial production since 1967.

The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in Industrial Production, and for Capacity Utilization to increase to 79.2%.

10:00 AM: The April NAHB homebuilder survey. The consensus is for a reading of  63, up from 62.  Any number above 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

----- Wednesday, Apr 17th -----
7:00 AM ET: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index.

8:30 AM: Trade Balance report for February from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum, through the most recent report. The blue line is the total deficit, and the black line is the petroleum deficit, and the red line is the trade deficit ex-petroleum products.

The consensus is the trade deficit to be $53.7 billion.  The U.S. trade deficit was at $51.1 billion in January.

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

2:00 PM: the Federal Reserve Beige Book, an informal review by the Federal Reserve Banks of current economic conditions in their Districts.

----- Thursday, Apr 18th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for 206 thousand initial claims, up from 196 thousand the previous week.

8:30 AM: Retail sales for March is scheduled to be released.  The consensus is for 0.8% increase in retail sales.

This graph shows the year-over-year change in retail sales and food service (ex-gasoline) since 1993. Retail and Food service sales, ex-gasoline, increased by 3.2% on a YoY basis in February.

8:30 AM: the Philly Fed manufacturing survey for April. The consensus is for a reading of 10.2, down from 13.7.

----- Friday, Apr 19th -----
8:30 AM ET: Housing Starts for March.

This graph shows single and total housing starts since 1968.

The consensus is for 1.230 million SAAR, up from 1.162 million SAAR in February.

10:00 AM: State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for March 2019