The producer price index for total final demand fell 0.1% in September. Retail sales fell 0.3% in September. Business inventories increased 0.2% in August. The U.S. Treasury budget showed a surplus of $105.8 billion for September. Industrial production increased 1.0% in September. Housing starts increased 6.3% in September to a higher-than-expected annualized 1.017 million units. Building permits increased 1.5% in September to an annualized pact of 1.018 million units. Initial jobless claims fell 23,000 to 264,000 for the week ended 10/11.

• Existing home sales rose 2.4% to a higher-than-expected 5.17 million annual rate in September. Year-over-year, sales are down 1.7%. Home prices are down 4.0% to a median $209,700, up 5.6% over the year.
• The consumer price index ticked up 0.1% in September. Excluding food & energy, core CPI is up 0.1%. Year-over-year, headline CPI is up 1.7%, as is core CPI.
• New home sales hit a recovery-best rate of 467,000 units annualized for September. The September rate is best since July 2008. The median price fell 9.7% to $259,000; the year-on-year rate fell 4.0%.
• Initial jobless claims rose 17,000 to 283,000 for the week ended October 18^th.