The holiday- shortened week includes an update on the Federal Reserve's assessment of current conditions, as well as data on inflation and trade.

The Fed’s Beige Book comes out on Wednesday, and economists look for it to reflect modest improvement in the economy. Furthermore, the import price and producer price indices will likely reflect soft inflation, mostly driven by energy prices.

Many of the world’s top central bankers will travel to Tokyo next week for the IMF/ World Bank annual meetings. Details of the meetings and the full program of seminars are available here.

IMF will release the latest editions of its World Economic Outlook on Tuesday at 9 a.m. Tokyo time, and its Global Financial Stability Report will be published at the same time the following day.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will appear before lawmakers in Brussels on Tuesday morning. Tuesday’s European Parliament hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. local time, will see Draghi respond to questions on the European Systemic Risk Board, followed by the ECB president’s quarterly hearing before the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Also on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Athens to hold talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.

Below are entries on the economic calendar between Oct. 8 and Oct. 12. All listed times are EDT.

Monday

No significant events or releases.

*Columbus Day holiday – bond markets, government offices closed. Stock markets open.

Non-U.S.:

E17 -- First meeting of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) Governors.

E17 – Eurogroup meeting.

Italy -- Prime Minister Mario Monti meets Social Democratic Party of Germany president Sigmar Gabriel in Rome.

Switzerland – September unemployment rate.

Switzerland – September CPI.

Germany – August trade balance.

Germany – August industrial production.

France – September BdF industrial business sentiment.

New Zealand – September house prices.

Japan – August current account.

Tuesday

7:30 a.m. -- The National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, Index of Small Business Optimism for September.

8:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen (FOMC voter) participates in International Monetary Fund panel "Sovereign Risk, Capital Markets, and Financial Stability: The Interconnections" in Tokyo.

Non-U.S.:

Global – IMF/World Bank annual meeting (to Oct. 14).

Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Athens.

E27 -- The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meeting.

E17 -- The European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi speaks on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Belgium.

E17 -- European Central Bank Executive Board member Peter Praet speaks at Bundesbank Cash symposium.

Egypt – September CPI.

Venezuela -- September CPI.

Mexico – September CPI.

Australia – September business and consumer confidence.

France – August trade balance.

Czech – September CPI.

U.K. – August industrial output and manufacturing output.

U.K. – August visible trade balance.

Italy – Q2 GDP, final reading.

Greece – September HICP.

Wednesday

7 a.m. -- Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage index for the week ending Oct. 6.

10:00 a.m. – Wholesale inventories are expected to rise 0.4 percent in August, after gaining 0.7 percent in the prior month. Sales likely increased 0.7 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent decline in July.

2:00 p.m. -- The U.S. Federal Reserve Board issues its Beige Book, a survey of economic conditions around the country.

2:45 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota (FOMC non-voter) speaks on "Planning for Liftoff" before a group of area business and community leaders in Montana. [NOTE: Repeat of Sept. 20 speech.]

4:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Board Governor Daniel Tarullo (FOMC voter) gives lecture on "Financial Stability Regulation" at an event hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

4:45 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher (FOMC non-voter) speaks before the CATO Institute's "Europe's Crisis and the Welfare State: Lessons for the United States" conference in Washington DC.

Non-U.S.:

France -- President Francois Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy holds Franco-Spanish summit.

E17 – European Union Parliament panel debates on Banking Union proposals.

E17 -- European Central Bank Executive Board member Peter Praet speaks in Bargeld symposium in Germany.

Philippines – August total exports.

France – August industrial production.

Italy -- August industrial production.

Denmark – September CPI.

Romania -- September CPI.

Norway -- September CPI.

Sweden – August industrial production.

Thursday

8:30 a.m. -- Economists look for initial jobless claims to rise to 374,000 for the week ending Oct. 6. That is up from the 367,000 print in the prior week.

8:30 a.m. – Import prices likely rose 0.7 percent in September, reflecting a further rise in petroleum prices. Export prices probably rose 0.4 percent, after posting a 0.9 percent gain in August.

8:30 a.m. – Economists look for a widening in the nominal trade deficit in August, to $44 billion from $42 billion. The good news is that the non-petroleum deficit probably narrowed.

10:00 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Board Governor Jeremy Stein (FOMC voter) speaks on "Evaluating Large-Scale Asset Purchases" before the Brookings Institution in Washington DC.

11:00 a.m. -- Crude inventories for the week ending Oct. 6.

11:15 a.m. -- Federal Reserve Board Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin (FOMC voter) participates in panel "Why Has Growth Become So Inequitable, And What To Do About It?" before the 2012 Women's Forum Global Meeting in France. [NOTE: webcast live at: www.womens-forum.tv]

12:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser (FOMC non-voter) speaks on the economic outlook before the 2012 Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce Fall Luncheon in Pennsylvania.

2:00 p.m. – Treasury budget balance for September. Economists look for a deficit of $35.0 billion in the last month of fiscal year 2012. Because of the timing of Labor Day weekend, many payments usually made at the beginning of the month (including Social Security payments) were shifted to August from September. This resulted in a substantial widening in the August deficit compared with 2011, and should also translate to a narrower September reading.

3:30 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen (FOMC voter) participates in International Monetary Fund panel "Japan in the Global Economy: Fiscal and Debt Challenges and Aspirations" in Tokyo.

6:00 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard (FOMC non-voter) holds media availability during the Annual Fall Research Conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis in Missouri. [NOTE: Conference information: http://research.stlouisfed.org/conferences/annual/index.html]

Non-U.S.:

Korea -- South Korea 7-day repo rate.

E17 -- ECB publishes monthly bulletin for October.

China – September new loans, M2 growth and foreign reserves.

Australia – September unemployment rate.

New Zealand – October consumer confidence.

Malaysia – August industrial production.

Germany – September HICP and CPI.

France -- September HICP and CPI.

Spain – September HICP.

Hungary – September CPI.

Sweden -- September CPI.

Portugal – September HICP.

Ireland  -- September HICP.

Greece – July unemployment rate.

Friday

8:30 a.m. – Economists look for a 0.8 percent increase in producer prices in September. This largely reflect further gains in the gasoline and food components, the former in line with market energy prices and the latter partly reflecting the effect of droughts in the Midwest on grain prices. Meanwhile, they have penciled in a 0.2 percent gain in the core, in line with the trend in recent months.

9:55 a.m. – Last month’s rise in the University of Michigan consumer confidence index, from 74.3 to 78.3, will probably be partly reversed in October, as the boost from QE3 and the equity market rally fades. Economists expect the index to edge down to 77.8.

12:35 p.m. -- Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker (FOMC voter) speaks on "Challenges to Economic Growth" before students, faculty and business leaders at the University of Virginia.

Non-U.S.:

E17 – August industrial production.

Singapore -- Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) monetary policy statement.

Singapore – Q3 GDP, advance estimate.

India – August industrial production.

Italy – September CPI, HICP.

Argentina – September CPI.

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

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