State of Union address | USDA reports | Senate returns | Another WOTUS bill
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The Senate joins the House this week in the first week both chambers are in session this year. Key focus comes Tuesday with President Barack Obama’s last State of the Union address. Agricultural reports are also of note on Tuesday, with a bevy of important releases. President Obama’s final State of the Union message comes Tuesday evening to a joint session of Congress. Obama plans to offer an upbeat look at America’s potential in his final State of the Union address. Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said Sunday, moving to draw a contrast with what he called the “doom and gloom” of Republican presidential contenders. McDonough said Obama will break from tradition by eschewing the recitation of specific, year-ahead policy wish-lists and instead offer a broad and optimistic look at the country’s potential over the coming decades. ”The president is going to lay out…a picture of the country moving forward, focused on the future — not afraid of it,” McDonough said on Fox News Sunday. Obama told his staff late last year that he didn’t “want this to be your traditional policy speech that outlines a series of proposals,” McDonough said on ABC’s This Week. The speech will hit on three broad themes, he said: the economy, national security, and civic participation. In a video Wednesday previewing the speech, Obama said the speech would include a look at “what we all need to do together in the years to come.” The House is expected to vote on a measure that would delay an Obama administration rule for coal mines, if implemented. HR 1644 (the STREAM Act), would postpone the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule or any other stream buffer zone rule for at least a year after the Interior Department submits a report on the effectiveness of a current rule to protect stream buffer zones. WOTUS. The House Rules Committee is expected to consider SJRes 22, which would block the Waters of the US (WOTUS) rule. At a hearing Monday, the committee will take up the Congressional Review Act, to disapprove the measure, which would set the federal government’s power to regulate waterways. The House Ag Committee takes a look at the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) while North Korea and flood insurance will also be hearing topics. The House will exit Thursday and Friday for Republican issues conferences over the course of three days. TPP hearing at ITC. Ag and other interests will pay close attention to the Wednesday session by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) as they gather information on the potential impact of the TPP agreement. Economic updates and China will remain in the headlines for the week ahead. From the US side, the data week opens with the Labor Market Conditions Index on Monday, following by the Atlanta Fed inflation expectations update and Treasury Budget report on Wednesday. Thursday’s data updates includes weekly jobless claims and Import & Export Prices with Friday’s releases including PPI-FD, Retail Sales, Empire State manufacturing, Industrial Production and Business Inventories. As for China, their stock market volatility the past week appeared more linked to their economic situation and their data releases ahead now loom large as markets still expect additional stimulus measures to be announced. If data ahead out of China takes on an overly negative tone, that will heighten expectations for more action. Several Fed speakers are on the docket, including some that will be voters on the FOMC in 2016. Atlanta Fed’s Lockhart and Dallas Fed’s Kaplan are set to speak Monday, with perhaps additional focus on Kaplan since he is new in the post atop the Dallas Fed. Tuesday will see Richmond Fed’s Lacker deliver remarks, with Boston Fed’s Rosengren – a 2016 FOMC voter – and Chicago Fed’s Evans to speak Wednesday. St Louis Fed’s Bullard, also a 2016 voter, speaks on Thursday with New York Fed’s Dudley on the schedule for Friday. But the Fed focus Wednesday will also be on the Beige Book, with particular attention to the commentary on inflation, oil prices and the US dollar – all factors that are the focus of the Fed relative to their expected increases in interest rates during 2016. A big batch of USDA data will arrive Tuesday, setting the tone for market action in coming weeks. USDA will release the Crop Production – Annual, Winter Wheat Seedings, Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks data, all of which have potential to surprise traders who have set their expectations for the batch of data. Most other data releases the remainder of the week are linked to the Tuesday reports, providing additional perspective and background on the figures. The Weekly Export Sales report will be watched once again, but will potentially have additional holiday impacts since it covers the Jan. 1-7 period. Weather developments still remain market factors, with particular attention on South America, Russia/Ukraine and US winter wheat areas.
Monday, Jan. 11 Tuesday, Jan. 12 Wednesday, Jan. 13 Thursday, Jan. 14 Friday, Jan. 15
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NOTE: This column is copyrighted material; therefore reproduction or retransmission is prohibited under U.S. copyright laws. |
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