Economic Calendar - 24 May 2010

Here's the Economic Calendar for the week commencing the 24th of May 2010. This week there's more GDP updates with the second estimates due out for Q1 in the US and UK. There's also trade figures due out from New Zealand, Japan, and Switzerland. And of course, there's the monthly S&P Case Shiller house prices index and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence index due out in the US (as well as personal income and expenditure).

(More commentary follows the table)

Day	Time (GMT)	Code	Event/Release	Forecast	Previous
MON	12:30	USD	Chicago Fed National Activity Index (APR)		-7.0%
MON	14:00	USD	Existing Home Sales (MoM) (APR)	4.7%	6.8%
TUE	3:00	NZD	RBNZ 2-Year Inflation Expectation (2Q)		2.7%
TUE	8:30	GBP	Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) (1Q P)	0.3%	0.2%
TUE	8:30	GBP	Private Consumption (1Q P)	-0.1%	0.4%
TUE	8:30	GBP	Gross Fixed Capital Formation (1Q P)	-0.3%	-2.7%
TUE	8:30	GBP	BBA Loans for House Purchase (APR)	37000	34905
TUE	9:00	EUR	EU Industrial New Orders s.a. (MoM) (MAR)	2.5%	1.5%
TUE	13:00	USD	S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-20 (YoY) (MAR)	2.4%	0.6%
TUE	14:00	USD	Consumer Confidence (MAY)	59	57.9
TUE	14:00	USD	House Price Index (MoM) (MAR)		-0.2%
WED	0:30	AUD	Westpac Leading Index (MoM) (MAR)		0.5%
WED	12:30	USD	Durable Goods Orders (APR)	1.3%	-1.3%
WED	13:00	CAD	Canada House Price Index (YoY) (APR)		9.9
WED	14:00	USD	New Home Sales (MoM) (APR)	2.2%	26.9%
WED	22:45	NZD	Trade Balance (New Zealand dollars) (APR)	455M	567M
WED	23:50	JPY	Merchandise Trade Balance (Yen) (APR)	687.5B	666.2B
THU		EUR	German Consumer Price Index (MAY P)	1.2%	1.0%
THU	0:00	AUD	Conference Board Leading Index (MAR)		-0.3%
THU	1:30	AUD	Private Capital Expenditure (1Q)	2.5%	5.5%
THU	7:15	CHF	Employment Level (YoY) (1Q)		-0.1%
THU	12:30	USD	Gross Domestic Product (Annualized) (1Q S)	3.5%	3.2%
THU	12:30	USD	Personal Consumption (1Q S)	3.7%	3.6%
THU	23:30	JPY	National Consumer Price Index (YoY) (APR)	-1.1%	-1.1%
THU	23:30	JPY	Jobless Rate (APR)	5.0%	5.0%
THU	23:50	JPY	Retail Trade s.a. (MoM) (APR)	-1.0%	0.8%
THU	23:50	JPY	Retail Trade (YoY) (APR)	3.6%	4.7%
FRI	6:15	CHF	Trade Balance (Swiss franc) (APR)		2.01B
FRI	12:30	CAD	Current Account (BoP) (Canadian dollar) (1Q)	-$7.0B	-$9.8B
FRI	12:30	USD	Personal Income (APR)	0.5%	0.3%
FRI	12:30	USD	Personal Spending (APR)	0.3%	0.6%

Starting off with the GDP numbers, the UK and US are expected to report GDP broadly in line with the first estimates. The UK is expected to report q/q GDP growth of 0.3% vs 0.2% previously estimated. Meanwhile the US is expected to report 3.5% annualised vs previously announced 3.2% annualised (or 0.8% in proper q/q terms).

Japan, who announced its Q1 GDP result last week, will this week update on April numbers for Merchandise Trade, Unemployment, Inflation, and retail sales. So it will be a good chance to see where the Japanese economy is in its struggle to forge a strong sustainable economic recovery in the face of risks to global trade, fiscal challenges, and deflation.

Back to the US, the S&P Case Shiller house prices index will provide a good update as to where the ever vital US housing market is at. And the Consumer Confidence index, will likewise give an indication as to the health and prospects for the US consumer. Thus are the two drivers of the pre-crisis economy, this is one area I am watching - will these continue to be the growth engine, or will structural change and sustainability put the US on a new track?

So as always, have a great week, watch out for surprises, stay tuned for updates...

Sources
DailyFX www.dailyfx.com/calendar
Forex Pros www.forexpros.com/economic-calendar/
Forex Factory www.forexfactory.com/calendar.php
Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com
+various statistics websites and central bank websites for verification

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