By James Langton
(September 1 – 17:00 ET) – The summer will be over when traders get back to work next Tuesday. although the schedule won’t be a heavy one. Markets are, of course, closed on Monday for Labour Day.
There won’t be much in the way of U.S. economic data, next week. Even if there were big news, the U.S. Federal Reserve seems to be on hold regarding interest rates until after the American presidential election.
This week has confirmed the notion that the U.S. economy is in for a soft landing, say the analysts at Merrill Lynch. As for Canada, Merrill is saying “the implications for productivity growth and long-term corporate earnings performance are wildly bullish. The data suggest that output per worker is currently rising in excess of 3%, further confirmed by the fact that profit margins improved in Q2 for the seventh consecutive quarter to
10.2%.”
On the economic front in Canada, it’ll be a quiet week until Friday when the employment data is released. Economists are calling for an increase of 28,000 new jobs, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.8%.
Broker conferences start in earnest next week. Salomon Smith Barney starts a four-day technology conference on Tuesday, and CS First Boston begins another four-day meeting on communications technology. On Wednesday, Celestica hosts a company-sponsored analyst meeting that should attract some attention. Lehman Brothers begins a three-day meeting on energy. Goldman Sachs and Prudential are each hosting consumer meetings. Next Thursday, CIBC is scheduled to announce its earnings, as is Hudson’s Bay.
The Bank of England also meets on Thursday and RBC Dominion Securities expects that it will match last week’s 25 basis point hike by the European Central Bank.
-IE Staff