Sunday, November 23, 2008

Give thanks this week that there are only four work days in which more lousy economic data will be released, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The big highlights are on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department will revise its estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product; analysts expect it to have fallen at a 0.5 percent annual rate, not the 0.3 percent rate originally reported. On Wednesday, the government will release data on durable goods orders for October; look for a 3 percent drop. The same day, personal income and spending data for October will be released. Analysts expect income to have risen a meager 0.1 percent and for spending to have fallen 1 percent.

-- Neil Irwin