Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

The key economic report this week is November New Home Sales.

Update from Census:

"Due to the executive order closing the federal government on December 24, 2024, the Monthly Advance Report on Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders will now be released on Monday, December 23 at 8:30 a.m. and the New Residential Sales report will be released on Monday, December 23 at 10:00 a.m."

----- Monday, December 23rd -----
8:30 AM: Chicago Fed National Activity Index for November. This is a composite index of other data.

8:30 AM: Durable Goods Orders for November.  The consensus is for a 0.4% decrease.

10:00 AM: New Home Sales for November from the Census Bureau.

This graph shows New Home Sales since 1963. The dashed line is the sales rate for last month.

The consensus is for 650 thousand SAAR, up from 610 thousand in October.  Sales in October were impacted by the hurricanes, with the South region down 27.7% year-over-year.

----- Tuesday, December 24th -----
10:00 AM: Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for December.

The NYSE and the NASDAQ will close early at 1:00 PM ET.

----- Wednesday, December 25th -----
All US markets will be closed in observance of the Christmas Holiday.

----- Thursday, December 26th -----
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. Initial claims were at 220 thousand last week.

----- Friday, December 27th -----
No major economic releases scheduled.