Texas Instruments, by the way, is reported by the Wall Street Journal to be considering layoffs of about 2,000 workers. If anything is limiting the downside for Wall Street, it would be the release of several economic reports this morning, all of which could help the market understand where the economy is heading. Everyone desperately wants to see the market's lows from two weeks ago as the floor, but that's not likely if the economy continues to slump. Even if the Federal Reserve were to cut interest rates again, if corporate profits continue to slump, Wall Street won't be happy. So here's the latest economic soup the Fed will be tasting as it decides when to spice up the economy.
Economists widely expect to see slower growth putting little pressure on prices.
The CPI is expected to have gained a mere 0.1 percent. Housing starts, meanwhile, are expected to have a declined after two monthly increases. Most analysts say starts will be down 1.3 percent last month, to an annual rate of about 1.6 million units. They say, however, that low mortgage rates are keeping starts from falling even further. The median estimate is for a 0.1 percent decline, though some economists say production may be up a hair after falling for five straight months.