On Tap Today: Fed Meets; Applied Materials, Nordstrom Report
The Federal Open Market Committee convenes for its penultimate meeting of the year today. The FOMC is expected to leave the Fed funds rate unchanged at 6.5%, where it has been since May.
Investors will pay close attention to the committee's remarks -- to be released on adjourning -- for clues about where interest rates will head in the future. (
TheStreet.com
analyzed the implications of that statement in a separate
story.)
Elsewhere in the marketplace, a new group of companies -- including chipmaker
Applied Materials
(AMAT) - Get Applied Materials Inc. Report
and retailer
Nordstrom
TheStreet Recommends
(JWN) - Get Nordstrom Inc. Report
-- reports results.
Expected Earnings Reports
This table includes S&P 500 companies only. Dates are as expected according to First Call/Thomson Financial, and may change.
Economic Data
(
Forecasts are from
Reuters
. Times are Eastern. For a longer-term economic calendar and more, see
TSC's
Economic Databank.
)
- 7 a.m.:
Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ended Friday. Source:
Mortgage Bankers Associations.
Refinancing Index: Forecast: n.a. Previous: 651.2.
Purchase Index: Forecast: n.a. Previous: 310.5.
8:30 a.m.:
Business inventories for September. Source:
Census Bureau. Forecast: +0.3%. Previous: +0.7%.
9 a.m.:
Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Source:
Federal Reserve. The Fed's monetary policymaking committee holds its seventh meeting of the year in Washington. Any change in monetary policy will be announced at around 2:10 p.m.
9 a.m.:
Treasury buyback announcement. Source:
Bureau of the Public Debt. The Treasury announces the details of tomorrow's reverse auction.
9:15 a.m.:
Industrial production for October. Source:
Federal Reserve. Forecast: +0.2%. Previous: +0.2%.
Capacity Utilization: Forecast: 82.1%. Previous: 82.2%.
6:30 p.m.:
Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Saturday. Source:
Money Magazine and
ABC News. Forecast: n.a. Previous: 28.
