Look Ahead: Bernanke, Weekly unemployment claims, Q1 Flow of Funds

The focus on Thursday will be on the comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke during his Senate testimony. Here is the schedule:

' At 8:30 AM ET, the initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released. The consensus is for claims to decline to 379 thousand from 383 thousand last week.

' At 10:00 AM, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify before the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Senate, "Economic Outlook and Policy"

' At noon, the Fed will release the Q1 Flow of Funds report.

' And at 3:00 PM, the Fed will release Consumer Credit for April. The consensus is for a $12.0 billion increase in consumer credit.