What to Watch in the Week Ahead: Fed Eyes the Consumer Price Index

For the week of December 14, there are a handful of key economic reports set to be released. On Tuesday, we get the consumer price index, then Wednesday is a packed one--we get housing starts, industrial production, the PMI manufacturing index flash and the weekly oil inventory data. But, that's not all. Most importantly, the Federal Reserve will meet and make an announcement on whether it's going to raise interest rates. Shortly after, there's going to be a Fed chair press conference. Finally, we end the week with jobless claims. One report that will get extra attention is the consumer price index. This is an indicator of inflation and the Fed will be paying close attention, factoring the results in with their decision to increase interest rates. On the earnings front, we get results from VeriFone Systems (PAY) on Monday, then midweek, we hear from FedEx (FDX) and Oracle (ORCL). Continuing on to Thursday, we get the latest financial results from General Mills (GIS), Red Hat (RHT) and Rite Aid (RAD). We finish off the week with CarMax (KMX), Darden Restaurants (DRI) and BlackBerry (BBRY). TheStreet's U-Jin Lee reports from Wall Street.