The Holiday Shortened Week Ahead

A bright spot in the economy has been the housing sector which takes center stage in this week's holiday-shortened calendar. The housing market index comes out on Tuesday and is expected to show a gain as are housing starts on Wednesday, both benefiting from warm weather. Permits, however, are expected to ease back from prior strength. Existing home sales on Friday are expected to surge, reversing prior weakness that was tied to new closing rules. Outside of housing, consumer prices are a major release with moderate pressure once again seen for the core rate, one that would contrast with mostly soft readings for other inflation gauges. The Philly Fed is out on Thursday and if it should prove as weak as the prior week's Empire State report, expectations for the factory sector may slip further. Thursday's data on initial jobless claims, however, may garner the most attention as the sample week matches that of the January employment report.