On Monday, Bank of Canada deputy governor Pierre Duguay addresses the Canadian Association for Business Economics in Kingston, Ont.

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada releases a study on long-term productivity growth (1961-2006) in Canada and the U.S.

On Thursday, StatsCan reports on the balance of international payments for the second quarter. Economists expect a current account surplus of $8-billion, up from $6.5 billion in the first quarter.

Separately, the government agency releases July industrial product and raw materials price indexes. The price index for industrial products is forecast to have fallen 0.5% from June; the raw materials index to have risen 0.7%.

On Friday, Statistics Canada releases annualized GDP data for the second quarter and June GDP data by industry. Economists expect annualized quarterly GDP growth of 2.8% and a June gain of 0.1%.

South of the border

On Monday, the National Association of Realtors reports on U.S. existing home sales for July. Economists anticipate a 0.9% drop from the previous month to annualized sales of 5.7 million homes.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Conference Board reports on U.S. consumer confidence for August. Economists expect the confidence index to fall to 104.3 from 112.6.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve issues minutes from its Federal Open Market Committee meeting of Aug. 7.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce releases preliminary GDP figures for the second quarter. Economists forecast an annualized gain of 4.1%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor releases initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 25. Economists expect 320,000 claims, down from 322,000 the previous week.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce releases personal income and consumption data for July. Economists expect incomes to have risen 0.3% while personal spending is to have grown 0.4%.

Also, the Chicago purchasing managers’ index for August is released. Economists expect a reading of 52.9, down from 53.4 in the prior period. A reading above 50 denotes an expanding manufacturing sector.

Corporate earnings

On Tuesday, Bank of Montreal reports third-quarter earnings, as does Bank of Nova Scotia.

CIBC and National Bank of Canada report Q3 earnings on Thursday.

Other companies scheduled to report results this week include:

  • Tundra Semiconductor;
  • Bombardier;
  • DaimlerChrysler;
  • Corby Distilleries;
  • Dell;
  • Diageo;
  • Freddie Mac;
  • Mosaid Technologies;
  • Open Text; and
  • Vivendi.