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This Week: Caterpillar and Amazon results, GDP estimate

This Week: Caterpillar and Amazon results, GDP estimate

FILE- In this Sept. 27, 2018, photo Daniel Thorpe, of Hoboken, N.J., uses the Amazon app to pay for his purchase at the Amazon 4-star store in the Soho neighborhood of New York. On Thursday, Oct. 25, Amazon reports its latest quarterly snapshot. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:

TEARING IT UP

Demand for construction and farming equipment has helped boost Caterpillar's earnings this year.

The trend led the company to raise its full-year earnings forecast in July. Wall Street predicts Caterpillar's third-quarter results, due out Tuesday, will show that the company's earnings and revenue improved from a year earlier. That would echo Caterpillar's results in the first half of this year.

ANOTHER BIG QUARTER?

Amazon has a hard act to follow in its third quarter.

The e-commerce giant's profit in the second quarter soared past $2 billion for the first time. The surge reflected continued growth in the company's online shopping, cloud computing and advertising businesses. Did Amazon deliver another blockbuster profit in the third quarter? Find out Thursday, when the company reports its latest quarterly snapshot.

GROWTH PULLBACK?

The Commerce Department delivers its first estimate of third-quarter economic growth Friday.

Economists project that America's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.3 percent in the third quarter. That would be down from the second quarter, when the GDP increased by a robust 4.2 percent annual rate, the best performance in nearly four years.

GDP, seasonally adjusted annual rate, by quarter:

Q2 2017: 3.0

Q3 2017: 2.8

Q4 2017: 2.3

Q1 2018: 2.2

Q2 2018: 4.2

Q3 2018 (est.): 3.3

Source: FactSet