From Reuters.com

The day ahead: Wednesday

October orders for durable goods are expected to show a modest rise of 0.5 percent. If the forecast is correct, it would be the third rise in four months and show that demand was picking up for big-ticket items.

Other Highlights:

*  It’s a big day for economic data with personal spending and income, consumer sentiment, new home sales and the weekly jobless claims on tap.

*  Tiffany reports results that will show whether it has been able to sustain the improvement in sales it reported in August.

*  Deere & Co reports fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and will provide investors with a preliminary glimpse into the coming year.

*  At the Reuters India Investment Summit in Bangalore and Mumbai, speakers include top executives from Infosys Technologies, Wipro, SAP India, Mphasis and Mahindra Satyam.

The day ahead: Wednesday

Oil price gains may be starting to help ConocoPhillips’ bottom line, but its fleet of refineries is likely to show the strain when the company reports quarterly earnings.

*  Economic optimists should have a few reasons to cheer from durable goods and housing sales figures — neither of which is expected to be worse than the previous month.

*  A Senate banking subcommittee examines high-frequency trading, naked access and other recent market developments.

*  The impact of the weak economy will loom over the third-quarter results of WellPoint, the largest U.S. health insurer by membership that has been grappling with membership declines as companies lay off workers.