Investment updates for the local area!

THE BIG ECONOMIC PICTURE (ALMOST)... We get lots of economic news this week, the sole exception being any reports on our beloved housing market. There's Retail Sales on Tuesday, expected to still be up, though at a slower pace. Wednesday has manufacturing, which continues its slow but steady recovery, as measured by the Empire State Index, Industrial Production, and Capacity Utilization. We get wholesale inflation with the Producer Price Index and inflation for the rest of us with the Consumer Price Index, both of which should show prices under control and deflation not a threat. We end with University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, expected to reveal a lessening of fear over a double-dip recession.