1. Swiss Trade Balance
2. Canadian Consumer Price Index
3. New Zealand Business Confidence

Swiss Trade Balance (OCT) (07:15 GMT, 02:15 EST)
Consensus:  N/A
Previous:  1.15B

Consensus: Switzerland's trade balance is likely to continue to benefit from its own cheap local currency in addition to recovering demand in export destinations for October's reading.  Shipments of Swiss goods to foreign countries have benefited over the past year from a near 15 percent depreciation in the value of the Swiss franc compared to the benchmark U.S. dollar.   Besides cheaper goods due to a depreciating currency, the same factors that contributed to the healthy rebound in the surplus over the previous month remained for October.  Business confidence in major destination countries continues to rebound as raw material prices, especially energy costs, steadily soften over the month.  Conditions are also ripe for consumption of Swiss exports by consumers.  Consumer optimism in Germany and France made small steps in recovering from relative lows in October, with Swiss goods and services being one of the indirect benefactors.  Confidence among consumers in Europe's largest economies has also bounced back from slackening petrol and heating prices over the month.  Other economic indicators for the period lend their support to a broadening surplus in October.  For the month producer prices were unchanged allowing production to ramp up, while strength in the manufacturing sector was at its second highest level in 15 months.

Previous: Europe's eighth-largest economy saw its largest trade balance for the third quarter in September when the balance of exports outpaced imports by 1.15 billion Swiss francs.  Strength in Switzerland's export destinations has evolved into strength in the countries domestic economy as money flows into the country spurring investment and employment.  The 13.7 billion francs worth of exports produced over the month was supported by business confidence in Switzerland's largest trade partners.  Business confidence for the countries largest trade partner, Germany, rose to an eight month high; while that of France, the third largest, hit an 11 month high.  Confidence among business leaders in these countries indicate businesses are willing to invest more to strengthen and expand their business despite looming energy prices and soft consumer optimism; and they are looking to Swiss goods to accomplish it.  On an annual basis, Swiss manufacturers and electronics makers sole 9.2 percent more goods in September, while sales of precision instruments over the same period increased 10.5 percent.   Sales of goods and services abroad has played a large part in supporting economic growth over the first half of the year, following a 0.1 percent contraction in the economy for the final quarter of 2004.  The additional strength for the economy has also contributed to a jobless rate that hovers near five year highs.  The only shortfall to exports over the period was in shipments of consumer goods and services.  As citizens of their respective countries are faced with record energy and petrol prices as well as political turmoil, demand for Swiss consumer goods have trailed off; like sales of watches which fell 1.3 percent.

Canadian Consumer Price Index (MoM) (OCT) (12:00 GMT, 07:00 EST)
Consensus:  -0.2%
Previous:   0.9%

Outlook: Consumer inflation in Canada is expected to slow in October as the cost of record oil prices eases on both businesses and consumers' bottom line.  The consensus among economists is for prices to rise 3.0 percent in October from the year before, leaving the indicator just at the upper bound of the central bank's tolerable inflation level.   While the annual read of the indicator is expected to have slowed its pace of growth to 3.0 percent, the month-over-month measure is expected to report 0.2 percent deflation in October.  Pacing the strong slowdown in prices is likely to come from crude oil prices that fell below $60 per barrel.  Oil prices have been the largest contributor to Canada's level of price growth over the past two quarters, creating a dichotomy of energy prices which are making benefiting Canadian producers of the precious commodity while also burdening consumers and businesses that must use it for everyday purposes.  Justification of further rate hikes from the Bank of Canada going into the future will hinge on the price of oil and its second round effects in the economy.   With the winter season coming on, demand for heating oil will press the price of crude higher which could erase the nearly $15 dollar depreciation that has developed since hitting its $70.85 per barrel high in late August.  Second round effects of the sudden jump in oil prices could also prove inflationary stoking.  In August and September, energy prices represented a wide open spicket through which company profits quickly evaporated.  In response to the sudden price shock, companies were unable to pass on prices through their products immediately; but they may raise them at a faster pace in the coming months to salvage net profits for the year as consumers have more income with gasoline and heating prices easing.

Previous: Price growth accelerated to its fastest pace in 30 months in September paced by the higher cost of gasoline prices.  From August, consumer prices rose 0.9 percent; while the closely followed annual-read rose to a historical 3.4 percent high.   With year-over-year price growth above that of the Bank of Canada's 3 percent upper tolerance level, economists expect the Bank to increase the overnight lending rate another 25 basis points to 3.25 percent at its December 6th meeting.  The large jump in the overall price level is being largely attributed to volatile gasoline prices.  It is estimated that the 35 percent increase in the price of regular grade gasoline over the year accounted for nearly half of the total price gain.  Beyond gasoline, restaurant meals and home related costs also moved the overall index higher.  The average cost of restaurant meals rose an annual 2.1 percent in September, while home-related costs rose 4.6 percent on the back of the strong housing market.  Taking a look at the less volatile, core inflation read, it could be argued that interest rate hikes would be premature and on the basis of intermediate energy prices only.   Excluding volatile components, like energy products, the annual read of price growth only increased 1.7 percent in September * unchanged from the month before.  Looking to the other categories in the index, prices fell broadly.  The two largest declines in prices came from a 22 percent price drop in computers and a 0.8 percent decrease in household furnishing prices.

NBNZ Business Confidence (NOV)(13:00 GMT, 8:00 EST)
Consensus:    N/A
Previous:  -54.9%

Outlook:  With no expectations for the November survey, sentiment is still widely held that the region may be headed for a temporary slowdown, leading the bias to the downside.  Raising benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 7 percent, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Bollard attempts to curb rising inflationary pressures plaguing the economy.  However, with the overnight cash rate higher, the cost of money becomes greater for both consumers and corporations.  The effects, of which, cannot be more evident as with retail sales dipping in the month of September.  Falling for the first month in four, consumers dealing with higher credit payments and lofty energy prices lessened their consumption.  Even with businesses looking to scale back inventories and investment on a dreary outlook, inflation still remains a concern.  As a result, further hikes are expected in December when the RBNZ convenes.  Beneficial for an overstretched economy, further rate hikes look to deter further consumer spending and negatively affect the overall economy.

Previous:  Business confidence in the $97 billion economy of New Zealand dropped to a four month low in the month of October.  Deteriorating to a negative 37.5 percent reading in September, the survey dipped to a 54.9 percent as business leaders have become concerned over higher interest rates.  According to Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Alan Bollard, higher overnight cash rates are needed in order to curb an overstretched economy.  Higher energy prices and previous productivity growth have attributed to fears that price increases will surpass the benchmark 1 to 3 percent range set by the central bank.  As a result, higher interests rates will cut through corporate bottom lines and dampen consumer spending as the cost of using money rises.  Additionally, subsequent components of the survey show that businesses are expecting real business activity to slump in line with employment prospects.  Ultimately, at this point, although a rise of 25 basis points may be needed to curb an overheating economy, Alan Bollard may have to ask at what cost he is willing to implement such tightening policy.

Richard Lee is a Currency Strategist at FXCM.