On Monday, Statistics Canada reports on international securities transactions in August. Economists expect a net inflow of $1 billion.

Separately, StatsCan reports on wholesale trade in August. Economists expect a drop of 1% from the previous month.

On Tuesday, the Bank of Canada sets its benchmark interest rate. Economists expect the overnight rate to drop one-half percentage point to 2%.

On Wednesday, StatsCan reports on the leading indicators for September. Economists expect no change from the previous month.

Separately, the government agency reports on retail sales in August. Economists forecast no change from the previous month.

On Thursday, the Bank of Canada issues its Monetary Policy Report.

On Friday, Statistics Canada reports on the consumer price index in September. Economists expect an increase of 3.3% over the preceding year, core CPI is expected at 1.7%.

South of the border

On Monday, the U.S. Conference Board reports on leading indicators in September. Economists forecast a drop of 0.1%.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labour Department reports on initial jobless claims for the week ending Oct. 18. Economists expect 465,000 new claims.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department reports on the house price index for August. Economists expect a drop of 0.5% from the previous month.

On Friday, the U.S. National Association of Realtors reports on existing home sales in September. Economists expect annualized sales of 4.95 million, an increase of 0.8% from the previous month.

Corporate earnings

On Monday, quarterly earnings reports are expected from Canadian National Railway Co., American Express Co., Hasbro Inc., Mattel Inc., and Novartis AG

On Tuesday, Apple Inc. is expected to release its quarterly results, as is Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., Husky Energy Inc., Caterpillar Inc., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Pfizer Inc., and Yahoo Inc.

On Wednesday, Amazon.com Inc. is expected to release its quarterly results, as is AT&T Inc., ConocoPhillips Co., General Dynamics Corp., GlaxoSmithKline Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Merck & Co. Ltd., Northwest Airlines Corp., Philip Morris International Inc., Boeing Co., Wachovia Corp., Methanex Corp., and Teck Cominco Ltd.

Quarterly earnings reports are expected Thursday from: Black & Decker Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc., Credit Suisse Group, Shaw Communications Inc., TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.,
Dow Chemical Co., Xerox Corp., Corus Entertainment Inc., EnCana Corp., Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Nova Chemicals Corp., Petro-Canada, and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc.

On Friday, Colgate-Palmolive Co. reports its quarterly results as does Gannett Co. Inc., ITT Corp., Monsanto Co.. and Norbord Inc.