Let's go over some of the items that will shape the week ahead on Wall Street: Pricey iPads and cheap smartphones will dominate tech; retailers' will report earnings; Winnebago will tell us what it has in the tank; and the smart money will be watching an eye in the sky.
There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially now that we're hitting 2012's first earnings season. What will help shape the week that lies ahead? Earnings and answers from banks, Google, eBay and IBM, and a big education related announcement from Apple.
It'll be an interesting week in the news of the new: Yahoo has a fresh CEO, auto shows and the CES will show off the latest in cars and tech, and a major homebuilder will tell us how new construction is doing. (Oh, and JP Morgan will give us a clue about how the banks are faring.)
On Monday, the stock market will take the day off to shake the confetti out of its hair. But on Tuesday, it'll be back to business as usual on Wall Street. Here are some of the items that will shape the first trading week of 2012.
The holiday shopping season officially kicks off on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Actually, make that during Thanksgiving for some retailers. Here's a rundown of some of the items that will shape this holiday week.
S&P 500 companies have nearly completed the second-quarters earnings season, and overall, investors don't have much to complain about: More than 70% of companies have beaten earnings estimates, the index's earnings have risen more than 19% from last year, and nine of 10 sectors have given us a positive earnings surprise.
Given the market's extreme and distressing gyrations over the past week, you'd be forgiven for thinking corporate earnings had been, on the whole, disappointing. But that's not actually the case: A large majority of public companies have performed quite well.
Next week brings more earnings reports from big-name companies, including several home improvement giants, a couple of "good enough" computer makers, penny-pinching discount masters, and office supplier Staples -- whose results might stand as an indication of the broader economy's health.
Even as investors reel from the stock-market roller coaster this week, Wall Street is moving on, with plenty of news on the way. Next week will bring headlines about retail and gaming earnings, as well as quarterly reports from News Corp., SodaStream and some newly public Chinese firms.
Wall Street will watch second quarter earnings for telltale signs that the economy has slowed or that corporate margins are even tighter than is feared. But the ones reporting negative outlooks are likely to go back to the same old solution they used so often in recent years: layoffs.
Earnings season is near, and investors, as always are worried. Don't fret too much, though: Odds are that your company will come out on top on the bottom line -- because most do. But what will separate the winners from the whiners for the coming quarter? Here are the three key factors.
