Food Inflation Risks
This week is all about inflation. Reuters

The economic calendar this week -- April 9 to 13 -- is all about inflation. The market will be monitoring import prices, producer prices and Friday's key consumer prices index. On the policy front, the Atlanta Fed will host 2012 Financial Markets Conference: The Devil's in the Details, between April 9 and 11. We will be hearing from a bevy of Federal Reserve officials, including Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Below are entries on the economic calendar:

Monday

8:30 a.m. -- Midwest manufacturing for February.

7:15 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (voter) speaks on Fostering Financial Stability before the 2012 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Financial Reform: The Devil's in the Details.

Non-U.S.:

China: March CPI and PPI.

Tuesday

7:30 a.m. -- NFIB business optimism index for March.

7:45 a.m. -- ICSC's weekly U.S. retail chain store sales.

10:00 a.m. - Wholesale inventories for February is likely to increase by 0.5 percent, after advancing 0.4 percent in the prior month.

12:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher (non-voter) speaks to the University of Oklahoma on the economy and the Dallas Fed's views on too-big-to-fail banks.

12:45 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart (voter) gives welcome remarks before the 2012 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

2:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota (non-voter) speaks on Thoughts About the Outlook before the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

Non-U.S.:

Japan: Bank of Japan sets target rate for April.

China: March exports and imports.

Germany: February trade balance.

France: February industrial production; March BdF industrial business sentiment index.


Wednesday

7:00 a.m. -- MBA mortgage index.

8:20 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart (voter) gives welcome back remarks before the 2012 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

8:30 a.m. - Import price index is expected to rise 0.8 percent in March, stronger than the 0.4 percent increase in February. Rising oil prices will again be the primary contributor for the higher import prices. Excluding petroleum, economists are looking for a 0.3 percent decline in import prices, after a 0.2 decline in February. Export prices should have increased 0.4 percent in March.

9:30 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George (non-voter) speaks before the 21st Annual Hyman P. Minsky Conference: Debt, Deficits and Financial Instability, hosted by the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College.

10:30 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren (non-voter) participates in policy session, Money Market Funds: Past Devils? Reformed Into Future Angels? before the 2012 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

10:30 a.m. -- EIA petroleum status report.

12:00 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart (voter) gives closing remarks before the 2012 Financial Markets Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

2:00 p.m. -- Fed's Beige Book for April.

2:00 p.m. -- Treasury budgets for March.

5:00 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard (non-voter) gives welcome remarks before a Homer Jones Memorial Lecture event.

6:15 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen speaks on The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy before a Money Marketeers of New York University dinner.

Non-U.S.:

France: Finance Minister François Baroin and Budget Minister Valérie Pécresse present multi-year budget plans to the Senate.

Spain: February industrial production.



Thursday

7:15 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley (voter) speaks on regional and national economic conditions before the Center for Economic Development.

8:30 a.m. -- Trade balance likely narrowed slightly in February, with a deficit of $52.0 billion, down from $52.6 billion in January.

8:30 a.m. -- Headline PPI is expected to rise 0.3 percent in March, following a 0.4 percent increase in February. Energy prices are likely to be the strongest contributor. Economists are looking for a 0.2 percent increase in the core PPI, which excludes food and energy.

8:30 a.m. -- Initial jobless claims for the week ended April 7.

9:45 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart (voter) moderates Bridging the Border: Reinforcing Ties Between the U.S. and Mexico panel discussion presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.

10:00 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of New York First Vice President Christine Cumming will speak on a panel on progress and implications of financial reform proposals at the Hyman P. Minsky Conference.

11:00 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley (voter) speaks on regional and national economic conditions before students and faculty at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Speech nearly identical to morning remarks.

12:30 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser (non-voter) speaks on the economic outlook before a National Economists Club luncheon.

1:00 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota (non-voter) speaks on Thoughts About the Outlook before the White Bear Lake Chamber of Commerce.

3:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Board Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin speaks on The State of the Economy before a community leaders luncheon hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Non-U.S.:

Greece: Debt swap operation is expected to be completed; January unemployment rate.

E17: European Central Bank publishes April bulletin; February industrial production.

France: March CPI.


Friday

8:00 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley (voter) speaks on regional and national economic conditions at the Buffalo Niagara Partnership's Movers & Shakers Breakfast series.

8:30 a.m. -- Headline CPI is likely to increase 0.3 percent in March after a gasoline-led 0.4 percent in the prior month. Gasoline prices rose sharply again in March, but economists think seasonal factors should offset rather than augment the increase as they did in March. Other energy prices fell last month, while food prices rose modestly. Core CPI should eek out a soft 0.2 percent increase for March. With growth barely managing to keep pace with trend, underlying inflation should remain modest this year, though a sharp increase in oil prices remains the main risk to inflation.

9:55 a.m. -- University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April. Economists expect the index to advance for the eighth straight month in April, to 76.5, from 76.2 recorded in March.

1:00 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks on Reflections on the Crisis and the Policy Response before the Russell Sage Foundation/Century Foundation Conference on Rethinking Finance.

Non-U.S.:

China: First quarter 2012 GDP; March industrial production; fixed asset investment; retail sales.

Germany: Final March CPI.

U.K.: March PPI.

Italy: Final March CPI.

Key Earnings Release:

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), the U.S. aluminum giant, is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings results Tuesday after markt close.

Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) will report its first quarter 2012 earnings Thursday after market close.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) will report first quarter earnings Friday before market open.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) will release first quarter earnings Friday before market open.

All listed times are Eastern Daylight Time. Dates and times are subject to change.

Source: Central banks, European Commission, Reuters, Market News, Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.