Economic Calendar: February 26-March 2

Time (EST) Indicator (click for definition) Source (click for press release) Actual Forecast Previous (revised) Previous (original) Monday, February 26 No releases. Tuesday, February 27 8:30 a.m. Durable goods orders for January Census Bureau -7.8% -3.0% +2.8% +2.9% Ex-transportation -3.1% n.a. +2.6% +2.3% 9 a.m. ICSC-UBS Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot for the week ended February 24 International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS +0.2% n.a. -0.1% -0.1% 9 a.m. Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index for the week ended February 24, vs. January Redbook Research +3.0% n.a. -1.2% -1.2%* 10 a.m. Consumer Confidence Index for February Conference Board 112.5 109.0 110.2 110.3 10 a.m. Existing Home Sales for January National Association of Realtors 6.46M 6.24M 6.27M 6.22M Wednesday, February 28 8:30 a.m. Gross domestic product for Q4 -- preliminary Commerce Department +2.2% +2.3% see Actual +3.5% (Q4 - advance) -- +2.0% (Q3) Implicit price deflator +1.6% n.a. see Actual +1.5% (Q4 - advance) -- +1.9% (Q3) 9 a.m. Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended Feruary 23 -- Market Composite Index Mortgage Bankers Association 626.1 n.a. 606.6 606.6 Purchase Index 401.3 n.a. 381.4 381.4 9 a.m. Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended February 25 ABC News and Washington Post -1 n.a. +1 +1 10 a.m. Bernanke speech Federal Reserve The Fed chairman speaks to House Budget Committee on the topic: Long-Term Fiscal Challenges and the Economy 10 a.m. Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index for February National Association of Purchasing Management -- Chicago 47.9 50.0 48.8 48.8 10 a.m. New home sales for January Census Bureau .937M 1.080M 1.123M 1.120M Thursday, March 1 8:30 a.m. Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended February 24 Labor Department +338,000 +325,000 +331,000 +332,000 Four-week average +335,000 n.a. +328,000 +328,000 8:30 a.m. Personal income for January Commerce Department +1.0% +0.3% +0.5% +0.5% Consumption +0.5% +0.4% +0.7% +0.7% 10 a.m. Construction spending for January Census Bureau -0.8% -0.4% +0.6% -0.4% 10 a.m. ISM Index - Manufacturing for February Institute for Supply Management 52.3 50.0 49.3 49.3 Friday, March 2 9:45 a.m. Consumer Sentiment Index for February -- final University of Michigan 91.3 93.3 see actual 93.3 (February prelim.) -- 96.9 (January) 10:30 a.m. Weekly Leading Index for the week ended February 23 Economic Cycle Research Institute +3.2% n.a. +3.4% +3.4% 11 a.m. Bernanke speech Federal Reserve The Fed chairman speaks to Stanford Institute for Economic Policy on the topic: Globalization and Monetary Policy

P-Preliminary forecast
*Month through previous Saturday, vs. prior month
Expectations as reported by Reuters

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