It’s a busy week for economic and corporate news.

On Monday, the Conference Board of Canada releases its spring 2007 edition of the Canadian Outlook.

Also, the Bank of Canada releases its Business Outlook Survey.

On Tuesday, StatsCan reports on manufacturing shipments in February. Economists expect a rise of 0.7%, compared with a drop of 2.1% a month earlier.

On Wednesday, the statistical agency reports on international securities transactions in February.

On Thursday, StatsCan reports on the consumer price index for March. Economists expect the measure of inflation to rise 2% from a year ago.

Separately, the government agency reports on wholesale trade in February. Economists expect an increase of 0.2%, compared with a drop of 0.5% a month earlier.

On Friday, StatsCan reports on retail sales in February. Economists expect a drop of 0.3%.

South of the border

On Monday, the U.S. Commerce Department reports on retail sales in March. Economists forecast a rise of 0.5%.

Separately, Commerce reports on business inventories in February. Economists expect an increase of 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. National Association of Home Builders releases its housing index for April. Economists expect a reading of 35, down from 36 a month earlier.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Labor Department reports on the consumer price index in March. Economists expect a monthly gain of 0.6%, compared with 0.4% a month earlier.

Also, the U.S. Commerce Department reports on housing starts and building permits in March. Economists forecast 1.5 million starts and 1.515 million permits, annualized.

As well, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board reports on industrial production and capacity utilzation in March..

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board reports on capacity utilization in March. Economists expect a utilization rate of 81.9%, down from 82% the previous month.

On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reports on initial jobless claims for the week ended April 14. Economists expect 325,000 claims, down from 342,000 in the previous week.

The U.S. Conference Board reports on the leading indicator in March. Economists expect an increase of 0.1%, compared with a decline of 0.5% a month earlier.

Corporate earnings

The flood of earnings reports continues this week. Among the companies scheduled to report include:

  • Caterpillar Inc.;
  • Honeywell International Inc.;
  • McDonald’s Corp.;
  • Xerox Corp.;
  • Citigroup Inc.;
  • Dow Jones & Co. Inc.;
  • Husky Energy Inc.;
  • International Business Machines Corp.;
  • Intel Corp.;
  • Jean Coutu Group (PJC) Inc.;
  • Johnson & Johnson;
  • TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.;
  • Yahoo Inc.;
  • Abbott Laboratories;
  • Metro Inc.;
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.;
  • Kraft Foods Inc.;
  • Motorola Inc.;
  • Advanced Micro Devices Inc.;
  • Altria Group Inc.;
  • American Express Co.;
  • Bank of America Corp.;
  • D.R. Horton Inc.;
  • Google Inc.;
  • Merck & Co. Inc.;
  • Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.;
  • New York Times Co.; and
  • Wyeth.