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Is Inflation on the Way? Advisor Briefing for the Week of May 9, 2011

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May 9, 2011 • Reprints

Last week the big economic news had to do with employment: the jobless rate edged up in April as more jobs were being created and more people looked for work. This week the focus will be on inflation, with reports on producer prices and consumer prices on Thursday and Friday. In his first-ever press conference as Federal Reserve chairman on April 27, Ben Bernanke said the Fed will continue with policies to support “sustainable” economic growth while it will continue to “closely watch” inflation. The Congress holds hearings on everything from implementing Dodd-Frank—including testimony from Bernanke and Mary Schapiro on Thursday before a Senate panel—to whether there should be a constitutional amendment to address the federal deficit. And it’s not even election season yet. Or is it?

Overseas this week, China has a big economic reporting day on Tuesday, including its trade balance, PPI and CPI, while on Wednesday the European Parliament takes a run at the latest in the debt crisis for the continent.  At home, pray for all those college students in the middle of finals.

Monday, May 9

U.S. House of Representatives is not in session.

Jury resumes its deliberations in Galleon hedge fund insider-trading case in New York

2:00 PM:              U.S. Senate convenes for morning business.

Tuesday, May 10

8:30 AM:              April export and import prices from the Department of Labor.

10:00 AM:            Wholesale business inventories from the Census Bureau.

China trade balance, retail sales, industrial production, producer and consumer price indexes

10:00 AM:            Hearings to review the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s final report, Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee.

10:00 AM:            Hearings to examine perspectives on deficit reduction, focusing on Social Security, Senate Finance Committee.

12:00 PM:            U.S. House of Representatives convenes.

12:30 PM:            Hearing on the “The Future of Capital Formation” by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Vice President Joe Biden resumes congressional budget talks.

2:00 PM:             Open meeting on regulation of money market funds at the SEC.

Wednesday, May 11

7:00 AM:              Mortgage purchase Index from Mortgage Bankers Assn.

8:30 AM:              March trade balance data from the Commerce Dept.

9:00 AM:              Latest developments on European debt crisis at the European Parliament Plenary Session.

10:00 AM:            Hearing on Monetary Policy and the Debt Ceiling: Examining the Relationship Between the Federal Reserve and Government Debt, House Committee on Financial Services: Domestic Monetary Policy & Technology Subcommittee.

10:30 AM:            Crude oil Inventories from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

2:00 PM:              Hearing: Transparency As An Alternative To The Federal Government's Regulation Of Risk Retention, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on TARP and Financial Services.

2:00 PM:              Hearing: Legislative Proposals to Address the Negative Consequences of the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Provisions, Committee on Financial Services, House Capital Markets & Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee.

Thursday, May 12

8:30 AM:              Initial jobless claims from the Department of Labor.

8:30 AM:              April producer price index (PPI) from the Labor Department.

8:30 AM:              April retail sales from the Census Bureau.

9:45 AM:              Hearing to examine the middle class, focusing on whether the American dream is slipping out of reach for American families, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

10:00 AM:            Hearing to examine Dodd-Frank implementation, featuring Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, focusing on monitoring systemic risk, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

2:00 PM:              Hearing to examine need for national mortgage servicing standards, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development.

Friday, May 13

Euro Zone, French, German GDP

8:30 AM:              April consumer price index (CPI) from the Labor Dept.

9:55 AM:              University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index.

10:00 AM:            Hearing on Whether the Constitution Should be Amended to Address the Federal Deficit, House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution.

3:00 PM:              Last possible vote for the week in U.S.House of Representatives.

About the Author
James J. Green, AdvisorOne

James J. Green, AdvisorOne

Jamie Green is Group Editorial Director of the Investment Advisory Group at Summit Business Media, with overall editorial responsibility for AdvisorOne.com, launched in October 2010, and Investment Advisor and Research magazines, monthly print magazines which have served advisors of all kinds for more than 30 years. He can be reached at jgreen@sbmedia.com

He has nearly 30 years experience in print and electronic journalism, with nearly 14 years covering the investment advisory industry. In the 1980s he was editor of Tele/Scope, a pioneering electronic news service based in New York that covered telecommunications business and research, and was editor of Telecommunications Research, a monthly journal. In the 1990s he worked for nine years at The New York Times, where he was editor of TimesFax, an electronic version of the newspaper of record now known as TimesDigest. While at The Times, he led the editorial team that expanded distribution of TimesFax to remote corners of every continent on Earth, to every ship in the U.S. Navy, to scores of cruise ships, and to the international space station.

He joined what was then Dow Jones Investment Advisor in 1999 as managing editor, was appointed Executive Editor of Investment Advisor magazine in 2000, Editor in 2002, Editor-in-Chief in 2005, and Editorial Director of Investment Advisor and Wealth Manager in 2008 before assuming his current position in 2009.

He holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from St. Hyacinth College in Granby, Mass., and studied theology on the graduate level at St. Anthony-on-the-Hudson, Rensselaer, N.Y.

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