Revisions to GDP: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The preliminary read on third-quarter gross domestic product will be in the spotlight Tuesday, with economists expecting revisions to the advance read from a month earlier.

Third-quarter GDP should be revised lower to 2.9%, according to economists polled by Reuters. That compares to the advance read of 3.5% on Oct. 29, which indicated that the U.S. economy has pulled out of the recession that began in December 2007, and a decline of 0.7% in the second quarter. The GDP revision will be released at 8:30 a.m. EST.

Peter Morici, professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and the former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, said that the downward revision for the third quarter is expected to reflect a smaller contribution from inventory investments and a larger trade deficit. However, expectations for GDP into 2010 are more critical, he argues.

"Overall, economists expect GDP growth in the range of 2.9% in 2010, and that is hardly anything to cheer about," Morici wrote in an email. "Coming out of a deep recession, a much larger jump in GDP should be expected."

Elsewhere on the economic docket, the Conference Board will release its November read on consumer confidence at 9 a.m. EST, which should slip to a reading of 47.5 from 47.7 in October. Later, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will release its home price index for September at 10 a.m. EST, and the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its interest rate meeting on Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. EST.