Oracle, Discover and Tiffany are all expected to report year-over-year growth for their most recent quarters this week. Meanwhile, many will be looking for an updated snapshot of the housing market, with three sets of real-estate data coming out.
After a rough opening session on Monday, stocks rebounded sharply on Tuesday. The Dow enjoyed a triple-digit gain after oil prices eased and bank shares bounced higher on the possibility of further dividend payouts and share buybacks.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway liquidated its positions in a number of high-profile companies during the fourth quarter, but the Oracle of Omaha has hung on to his huge stake in Coca-Cola. And Coke's nearly 4% drop is a weight on Buffett's portfolio.
With corporate earnings season in full swing -- watch for McDonalds, along with Catepillar, Amazon and other -- and with the Fed meeting on interest rates, the GDP estimate and housing numbers coming out -- the week ahead is expected to be quite busy.
Stocks ended the week on a positive note despite economic reports that fell short of expectations. But Cort Gwon of FBN Securities says there was lots to cheer about as fears over the debt crisis in Europe lessened and U.S. companies announced stellar earnings.
This week was all about jobs reports, and after December's employment numbers fell short of expectations, stocks ended the first week of trading in 2011 on a down note. Kenny Polcari, managing director at ICAP Corporates explains from the New York Stock Exchange.





