The Week Ahead...

Following Monday's Columbus Day holiday, the week gets underway on Tuesday with the small business optimism index where job readings could spark early talk about the October employment report. Weak gasoline prices are expected to hold down Wednesday's retail sales headline but not the core where a respectable gain is expected. No pressure is expected for consumer prices which are out on Thursday. And Thursday will also see the Empire State and Philadelphia Fed reports and the first indications on October manufacturing. Industrial production will follow on Friday with the first definitive data on September's manufacturing sector, and another decline is expected.