Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Following are forecasts for today’s economic releases as compiled by Bloomberg News.

• Initial Claims 235k; range 220k to 250k (44 estimates)
• Cont. Claims 1890k; range 1780k to 1930k (7 estimates)
• "Unemployment claims have been volatile in recent weeks due to hurricane- related distortions. Economic conditions appear to have largely returned to normal, bringing clarity to the true underlying tone of the labor market”: Bloomberg Intelligence
• In the prior week claims fell to a 44-year low of 222,000
• Adv Goods Trade Balance $-64b; range $-65.6b to $-62b (38 estimates)
• "The U.S. trade balance has been a volatile wild card for U.S. economic growth with five positive contributions and seven negative contributions to GDP over the last 12 quarters”: Bloomberg Intelligence
• Wholesale Inv. 0.4% m/m; range 0% to 0.8% (11 estimates)

To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Middleton in Washington at cmiddleton2@bloomberg.net; Vincent Del Giudice in Denver at vdelgiudice@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Tanzi at atanzi@bloomberg.net Kristy Scheuble

(Bloomberg) -- The ECB decision is in line with the consensus call for a continuation of the QE program at EUR30b per month for nine months, with the most dovish element attached via the open-ended nature of the program changes, said Matthew Cairns, a strategist at Rabobank in London.

• The fact that the “ECB reserves the right to adjust the program further based on economic conditions once we hit the end of September 2018 maintains the Governing Council’s flexible hand as regards steering policy and working toward meeting the inflation target”
• “There was little surprise, a move well orchestrated by the GC over the past couple of months”
• This achieves the dual goals of maintaining support and continuing to support the fledgling recovery across the euro zone whilst ensuring the market is not caught off-guard which runs the risk of destabilizing growth and unwinding the gains the ECB believes QE has made
• Cairns expects bonds “will re-settle toward the levels prior to the decision”
• Yield on 10-year German bunds fell as much as four basis points to 0.44%, was last at 0.45%
• NOTE: ECB Plans to Reduce QE Purchases to EU30b a Month in January: Link

To contact the reporter on this story: Anooja Debnath in London at adebnath@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ven Ram at vram1@bloomberg.net Anil Varma

--PAUL GORDON

--PAUL GORDON

--PAUL GORDON