The Week Ahead: Jan. 23-27
In his 2012 budget proposal, President Barack Obama will urge Congress to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion. Here he speaks during an appearance at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. (Jan. 19, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
KEY EVENT: GDP report (Friday). This initial look at business activity and consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2011 will indicate if the economy is getting stronger, beginning to stall or teetering toward recession.
MONDAY: Oil-field-services provider Halliburton posts earnings, and the report often contains clues about the direction of energy prices.
TUESDAY: Unemployment rates for Nassau, Suffolk and Long Island as a whole are released. After hitting a 2011 high of 7.9 percent last January, the Island's jobless rate has been under 7 percent the past four months. Also, President Barack Obama's State of the Union address is expected to include proposals that could impact consumers in the future and the stock market the next morning. And earnings reports from Apple and McDonald's also have market-moving potential. Locally, Islandia software giant CA Technologies posts earnings.
WEDNESDAY: The Federal Reserve releases its decision on interest rates. And earnings from Lake Success-based Astoria Federal, one of the region's biggest mortgage lenders, will be examined for signs of the health of the local housing and credit markets.
THURSDAY: The December durable goods report, which tracks orders to factories for longer-lasting items ranging from computers to washing machines to airplanes, provides an end-of-the-year reading of the manufacturing sector. And the report on December leading indicators is designed to predict where the economy will be in about six months. Locally, Carle Place-based 1-800-Flowers posts earnings for the crucial holiday quarter.
FRIDAY: University of Michigan's sentiment index for January is one of the first gauges of consumers' post-holiday mood.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
