(September 8 – 17:30 ET) – Next week will be busy one for economic releases, but with most economists believing the Fed is on hold until November market reaction will likely be muted.

CIBC World Markets says that oil prices seem to finally be capturing market attention, so naturally Monday’s OPEC meeting will be a key to that outlook. The fear that sky-high oil prices will filter through to create inflation will be tested this week with plenty of inflation reports on the schedule.

On Monday, Canadian housing starts will be reported. Tuesday is a quiet day in economics. Wednesday brings the U.S. current account report and import prices. Thursday will be the U.S. PPI report and retail sales; Canada will get the CPI and auto sales reports. On Friday, the U.S. will get its own CPI, industrial production and capacity utilization reports.

CIBC suggests that high energy costs may start pushing up the U.S. CPI, but soft retail sales will likely mute any hawkish reaction. Overall it concludes that OPEC may be the most important factor in the week. BMO Nesbitt Burns agrees that the U.S. reports will likely be muted, although it admits there are some upside risks.

BMO Nesbitt doesn’t expect a large inflation effect from oil prices in Canada. CIBC also expects that Canada’s inflation will be tame. However it doesn’t expect dovish comments from Bank of Canada chief Thiessen on Thursday in Calgary, and it suggests that central bankers may be more likely to raise rates than many economists think. RBC DS remains dovish.

A busy week in economics will cover for a dearth of earnings reports next week. About the only big name next week is Tuesday’s release from G.T.C. Transcontinental, the parent company of Investment Executive. Veritas is reporting Wednesday, and Newbridge is holding a shareholder meeting then too. Several technology companies report Thursday, including Oracle, Adobe Systems, Red Hat, and Tektronix.

There are several broker conferences scheduled for next week, and news out of them often impacts trading. Monday will see the start of a three-day Merrill Lynch conference on financial services, Dain Rauscher Wessels has four-day meeting on technology, DLJ is hosting a four-day affair on growth stocks, and its future buyer CS First Boston begins a four-day event on e-business. Finally Goldman Sachs has just a day-long meeting on the Internet.
-IE Staff