General Mills earns, existing home sales, consumer spending

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

MIXED RESULTS?

General Mills serves up its latest quarterly snapshot Tuesday.

The maker of Cheerios, Nature Valley granola bars and Yoplait yogurt is expected to report that its earnings edged lower in its fiscal second quarter compared with a year earlier. Wall Street also predicts General Mills’ revenue rose in the same period.

HOUSING MARKET BAROMETER

The National Association of Realtors issues its November tally of U.S. home sales Wednesday.

Economists predict sales of previously occupied U.S. homes accelerated to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.51 million properties last month. That would be the highest rate since January. Continued job growth, a stock market near all-time highs, and historically low mortgage rates are helping to fuel sales and lift prices.

Existing home sales, in millions, seasonally adjusted annual rate:

June 5.87

July 6.00

Aug. 5.88

Sept. 6.29

Oct. 6.34

Nov. (est.) 6.51

Source: FactSet

EYE ON CONSUMERS

Americans have been ramping up spending in recent months, even as inflation has accelerated sharply.

U.S. consumer spending rebounded by 1.3% in October, double September's pace. At the same time, consumer prices rose 5% compared with the same period last year, the fastest annual gain in over 30 years. Did consumer spending keep rising in November? Find out Thursday, when the Commerce Department delivers its latest snapshot of consumer spending.

Consumer spending, monthly percent change, seasonally adjusted:

May 0.0

June 1.1

July 0.0

Aug. 1.1

Sept. 0.6

Oct. 1.3

Source: FactSet