cant changes in Fed monetary policy. Interest rates will almost certainly remain at a range of 0% to 0.25%, where they’ve been for two and a half years, and there will be no expansion of the quantitative easing program scheduled to end in June. But, as has been the case for months now, investors will be closely parsing Fed language for any indication that fiscal policy could be shifting down the road. Earlier this year the thought was that the Fed would be tightening fiscal policy as the economic recovery took hold. But that sentiment has changed in the past few weeks as one economic report after another has indicated that a real recovery may be some ways off. Housing data due next week is likely to receive most of the attention in an otherwise sparse week for economic reports. A report on May sales of existing homes is due Tuesday, and one for new single-family houses on Thursday. Home sales have been at a virtual standstill for months as potential buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for prices to fall even further. The FHFA House Price Index for April is due Wednesday. Late last month, a widely watched housing index showed home values have fallen in 20 large markets. That trend isn’t expected to end any time soon. The Richmond Fed’s Survey of Manufacturing for June is ing for a seat that may not exist?" said Douglas Muzzio, a professor at Baruch College's School of Public Affairs. That option still could present a good political stepping stone for a Democrat looking to move up the ranks in a highly Democratic city, said Matthew Hiltzik, a public relations specialist and political consultant. "It's an opportunity to build name recognition, and be in a position to possibly stay in Congress if something unusual happens," he said. But entering the race could be a tougher call for a GOP candidate, who, if victorious, would be almost certain to see his or her seat gerrymandered out of existence. "You're not going to recruit a big star to win a seat that's not going to exist," Muzzio said. The puzzle-piece nature of redistricting could mean substantial alterations in the borders of a number of congressional districts statewide. Conventional wisdom holds that lawmakers are likely to eliminate one seat in western New York, where the population has declined, and then one downstate seat likely to be held by a Democrat. Registered Democrats in the district outnumber Republicans in the current 9th Congressional District by three to one, and while neither Barack Obama nor John Kerry had runaway victories there in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections (they both took 56 percent of the vote), other contests with lower turnout have a history of Democratic romps. All this suggests that the Democratic nominee holds a big advantage, and, unlike in a regular election, voters will not get to choose who gets that spot on the ballot. Because special elections are held on short notice, there are no party primaries. The candidates are picked instead by party leaders. In Weiner's district, that means the choice will effectively be made by U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley, the party chairman in Queens County, and state Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the party chairman in Kings County. Prospective candidates are expected to begin privately angling to get the nomination in the coming days, if they haven't started already. Some Democratic names being bandied about include City Councilman Mark Weprin, state Assembly members Melinda Katz and Rory Lancman, former City Councilman Eric Gioia, and, on the Republican side,