The big event this week will be the 2-day Federal Open Market Committee's monetary policy statement that will be released at 2:00pm ET on Wednesday. The talks at the meeting will revolve around when to begin easing back on the Fed's massive stimulus program, which comes in the form of the Fed purchasing $85 billion per month in Treasury and Mortgage Backed Securities. Due to the government shutdown and the somewhat fragile labor market, tapering will most likely begin at the end of the first quarter of 2014.
The week's economic calendar is packed with a broad array of reports. Consumer spending, wholesale and consumer inflation, housing, manufacturing and jobs data will highlight the week. Earnings season will continue, but most of the big names have already reported. Of the 213 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 141 have exceeded expectations and 43 have missed, with the remainder in line with forecasts.
It is getting a little cheaper to fill up your tank at the pumps lately as oil prices have declined. The national average price for a regular gallon of gasoline is $3.28, down from $3.41 a month ago. With demand for gasoline easing after the summer driving season ended along with cheaper refining costs, no major hurricanes in the oil producing areas of the U.S. and little headlines out of the Mideast and you have a recipe for declining gas prices.
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