The Business News Week Ahead

 Central banks will be busy in the week amid outside chances perhaps for new stimulus, if not rate cuts than increases in QE. The Bank of Canada will be posting its statement on Wednesday with the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank both on Thursday. For economic data, it will be a very busy week for the US starting with new home sales on Monday where yet another gain is the call; this will be followed on Tuesday by durable goods orders and consumer confidence, neither of which are expected to show much improvement. And expected to deepen yet further is the US goods deficit on Wednesday. But the highlight for the record books will be the US GDP report for the third quarter where a spectacular gain is expected to nearly match the catastrophic collapse of the second quarter. Confidence readings in Europe have been slumping as Covid has been rising; Germany's Ifo report will be posted on Monday and the EC economic sentiment report on Thursday, and both are expected to slip. Germany's unemployment rate on Thursday and Japanese industrial production on Friday will also be worth watching. Note that clocks will be moving backward in Europe as well as the UK on Sunday, October 25, followed in the subsequent week in the US and Canada on Sunday, November 1.