The general election this Thursday will no doubt overshadow all economic and business events on the domestic front, and indeed the days leading up to the election are unusually bereft of new Irish economic data.
However, a number Central Statistics Office (CSO) releases are due out on the day of the election itself, which could potentially sway the mood of the electorate.
A sectoral breakdown of private-sector credit in April may well serve as a reminder of the unprecedented levels of personal borrowings that exist at the moment. Public-sector earnings for the last quarter of 2006 should also make for interesting reading.
Meanwhile, technology company Trintech will release its first-quarter results on Wednesday.
A number of annual general meetings will take place this week, including those of FBD Holdings and Paddy Power tomorrow, while Elan and Kingspan's agms will be held on Thursday.
Monday 21
RESULTS: Campbell Soup; Big Yellow; Homeserve, MITIE and Thus.
AGM:Royal & Sun Alliance
INDICATORS:UK M&A lending (Apr) and PSNCR (Apr), US Chicago Fed national activity index.
OTHERS:Austrian central bank holds annual economic conference. Speakers include the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council members Klaus Liebscher and Lucas Papademos, and EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Joaquin Almunia (Vienna, until the 22nd), pre-close trading statement from Irish Life & Permanent.
Tuesday 22
RESULTS:Analog Devices, Marks & Spencer, British Land, Dairy Crest, De La Rue, Emap, Kingston Communications, Yell.
AGM:FBD Holdings (FBD House, Bluebell), Paddy Power (Conrad Hotel, Dublin)
INDICATORS:Euroland external trade (Mar); US weekly retail sales (May 19th) and ABC/Washington Post weekly consumer confidence (week ended May 13th); German ZEW expectations (May), French current account (Mar) and Japanese minutes of April 9th/10th monetary policy meeting.
OTHERS:FED Lacker speech; global bond market forum, organised by the OECD, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (Paris, to 23rd); US treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke (right) and China's vice-premier Wu Yi participate in US -China Strategic Economic Dialogue (Washington, to 24th); John Robbins, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers' Association, delivers remarks at a National Press Club meeting (Washington), African Partnership Forum, with participation of OECD (Berlin, to 23rd)
Wednesday 23
RESULTS:Trintech (Q1); Abercrombie & Fitch; Bank Of Montreal; EMI Group; Gymboree; Landesbank Berlin Holding AG; Target; EMI; Experian; ICAP; Speedy Hire; SSL International, Tate & Lyle.
AGM:Bodycote International; GlaxoSmithKline; ICI, Kesa Electricals.
INDICATORS:Euroland industrial orders (Mar); US Mortgage Market Index and Refinancing Index (week ended May 18th); UK minutes of May MPC meeting; Italian retail sales (Mar), Spanish GDP.
OTHERS:Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President, Jeffrey Lacker, speaks on The Inflation Outlook before a Money Marketers of New York University meeting (New York); ECB governing council member Erkki Liikanen speaks at an international conference of social security actuaries and statisticians Ageing and financial markets (Helsinki); Marketplace Ireland - Converting Opportunities to Business, international business event for Ireland's food and drink industry (Croke Park)
Thursday 24
Irish general election
RESULTS:Air France-KLM; Barnes & Noble; Burberry; Gap; Mothercare; Cable & Wireless, Domestic & General.
AGM:Elan (Four Seasons hotel); Kingspan (Herbert Park hotel); Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland (ICAI); Amlin; Avis Europe; Cadbury Schweppes; Cookson; Friends Provident; LogicaCMG, Morrisons.
MEETINGS:Waterford Wedgwood egm chaired by Sir Anthony O'Reilly (above).
INDICATORS:Irish wholesale prices (Apr), PPI; Home sales (Apr); sectoral breakdown of private-sector credit (Mar) and public-sector employment and earnings (Q4); US durable goods (Apr); jobless claims (May 19th); new homes sales (Apr) and money supply (week ended May 14th); UK CBI monthly industrial trends survey (May); German GDP (Q1) and Ifo survey (May), French business climate.
OTHERS:Trading update from Barclays, ECB governing council non-policy meeting; French industrial trends (Mar); OECD releases economic outlook containing analysis and projections for major world economies; Swiss National Bank board member Thomas Jordan holds speech on communication, transparency and monetary policy at the Basel association of economists (Switzerland), How to Raise Venture Capital seminar (The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, until the 25th)
Friday 25
RESULTS:Royal Bank Of Canada
AGM:UTV (UTV Havelock House, Belfast), HSBC.
INDICATORS:Irish external trade (Mar) and new private car licences (Apr); US existing home sales (Apr); UK GDP (Q1) and index of services (Mar); French household consumption of manufactured goods (Apr); Spanish producer prices (Apr), Japanese CPI (Mar).
OTHERS:Trading update from Smurfit Kappa, annual conference of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (Radisson Hotel, Little Island, Cork).
