Corporate earnings reports will likely dominate the attention of investors this week, as the flow of Canadian economic data slows to a trickle.

On Wednesday, Statistics Canada reports on new motor vehicle sales for September. Economists forecast a 4% drop from August.

StatsCan also releases its manufacturing survey for September. A 0.8% decline in shipments is expected.

South of the border

On Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department releases retail sales figures for October. Economists forecast a decline of 0.4%.

Separately, Commerce also reports on business inventories for September. A 0.5% increase is expected.

Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Labor issues producer price index data for October. Economists forecast a 0.6% decrease from September.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reports on consumer price index figures for October. Economists forecast a 1.5% increase from a year earlier.

Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve Board releases industrial production and capacity utilization data for October. Industrial production is forecast to increase 0.3%. Economists expect a capacity utilization rate of 82%, up marginally from 81.9%.

On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department releases housing starts and building permits figures for October. Economists forecast 1.7 million starts and 1.6 million permits, both annualized.

Corporate earnings

Among the companies schedule to release quarterly earnings are: Onex Corp.; Mega Brands Inc.; Shermag Inc.; Clearwater Seafood Income Fund; Connors Bros. Income Fund; Boardwalk REIT; Alamos Gold Inc.; Terravest Income Fund; Compton Petroleum Ltd.; Goldcorp Inc.; Bema Gold Corp.; CGI Group Inc.; Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Home Depot Inc.; Target Corp.; ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc.; Finning International Inc.; Gabriel Resources Ltd.; Ivernia Inc.; Teranet Income Fund; and Agilent Technologies Inc.