Economic Events To Watch: US GDP, Durable Goods Orders & More

Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital, discusses next week’s economic calendar, including revised second quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), durable goods orders, the Core PCE Price Index, personal income, and consumer confidence and consumer sentiment.The Commerce Department’s initial reading on second-quarter GDP on Wednesday revealed the U.S. economy grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate in the second-quarter, up from a 1 percent estimate projected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.“There’s no doubt that we’ll be focusing on the revisions in the second quarter gross domestic product, which we’re calling for an uptick of a half of a percent. So we’re probably looking at 2.3 percent, which is consistent with slow and modest growth,” said Cardillo.Along with the revised second-quarter GDP figure, economists will also look to a wide range of other economic indicators.“The most important ones that we really want to concentrate on will be durable goods, personal income, personal spending, and of course both consumer confidence and consumer sentiment,” Cardillo said. “I think all of them will continue to show modest growth.”Policy makers gather this weekend to discuss the global economy in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; however, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will not attend the meeting.The Dow fell under 15,000 on Wednesday, after investors were unclear on when the Federal Reserve planned to taper its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program. Minutes released by the Fed revealed FOMC members were split on when to reduce the central bank’s asset purchasing program.As for the Jackson Hole symposium, Cardillo said the markets would most likely not hear anything new from officials out of the meeting.“Just a lot of noise and the markets will remain as confused as ever,” Cardillo said.