Looking Ahead: Week of November 4 to November 8
Market News International surveys between 15 and 20 Wall Street economists each week for their forecasts of economic indicators.

Monday
Factory orders are expected to post a 3.0 percent drop in September after remaining unchanged in August. This incorporates the sharp 5.9 percent plunge already reported for durable goods orders. (Forecast range: -1.5 to -4.0 percent)

Tuesday
The ISM non-manufacturing index should dip to 52 percent in October from a level of 53.9 in September. While down from last month, this would still point to a growing service economy. (Forecast range: 48.5 to 53.0)

Wednesday
The FOMC is meeting on Wednesday this week - probably so Fed officials could vote in their own districts on Tuesday. The majority of economists are now predicting that the Fed will vote to reduce rates by 25 basis points at their meeting bringing the federal funds rate target down to 1.50 percent and the discount rate down to 1.00 percent.

Thursday
Economists are predicting that new jobless claims will decrease 10,000 in the week ended November 2 from last week's level of 410,000. Changes in jobless claims are typically more volatile in the fall because of a variety of holidays; it becomes more difficult to adjust the data for seasonal variation. (Forecast range: -15,000 to +5,000)

The market consensus shows that nonfarm business productivity rose at a whopping 4.5 percent rate in the third quarter, faster than the 1.5 percent gain posted in the second quarter. The productivity figures are dependent on GDP and employment growth. GDP expanded more rapidly than employment in the July to September period. (Forecast range: 3.5 to 5.5 percent) At the same time, unit labor costs are estimated to fall at a 0.6 percent rate in the third quarter. Typically unit labor costs and productivity move in the opposite direction to one another. (Forecast range: -1.5 to 2.0 percent)

Consumer installment credit is expected to rise $7.0 billion in September after expanding by only $4.2 billion in August. Consumers may be taking advantage of low interest rate offers by credit card companies as well as retailers. (Forecast range: $3.0 to $10.0 billion)