The Week Ahead: July 12-16

KEY EVENT: Hot summer week. One of the busiest weeks of the year features an update on the local employment situation, along with reports on housing, inflation and corporate earnings and two congressional appearances by Janet Yellen.

MONDAY: The U.S. Treasury releases the government's surplus or deficit for June.

TUESDAY: Retail sales for June from The Commerce Department. Earnings: Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo.

WEDNESDAY: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen appears before the House Financial Services Committee for her semiannual monetary policy report. Also, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York posts the July Empire State Index, an update of New York manufacturing activity. And the U.S. Labor Department releases wholesale inflation for June. Earnings: Bank of America, Intel, Netflix.

THURSDAY: The state Labor Department releases Long Island jobs created in June. Also, Fed Chair Yellen's second day of monetary policy testimony, this time before the Senate. Earnings: Citigroup, eBay, Goldman Sachs.

FRIDAY: Consumer prices for June from the U.S. Labor Department, the nation's most watched inflation gauge. The report includes a breakout of prices for 31 Northeast counties including Nassau and Suffolk. Also, The Commerce Department releases housing starts for June. Earnings: General Electric.