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The third-quarter earnings season kicks off in earnest this week, with one third of the companies in the Dow Jones industrial average and 93 companies in the S&P 500 index expected to announce their results. Meanwhile, the Labor Department will issue two key inflation reports this week that should go a long way toward determining whether the Federal Reserve is officially done raising interest rates for the year.
Monday, October 16:
FEDSPEAK: Two influential Federal Reserve officials will speak about the economy today. William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will give a speech at the University of Memphis. Meanwhile, Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Fed, will address a meeting of the Hong Kong Association of Northern California.
EMPIRE STATE INDEX: The Federal Reserve Bank of New York will report on recent trends in manufacturing activity in New York State.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Mattel and Wachovia
Tuesday, October 17:
WHOLESALE INFLATION REPORT: The Labor Department will release its latest report on the producer price index, a key gauge of inflation at the wholesale level. Recent reports have shown that inflation is largely in check, which has allowed the Fed to keep interest rates steady in recent months. But any unexpected increases in producer prices could lead to another round of soul-searching about monetary policy.
HOUSING MARKET INDEX: The National Association of Home Builders is expected to release the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, which assesses the residential real-estate market by surveying home builders nationwide.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Intel, Johnson & Johnson, KeyCorp, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, Office Depot, McClatchy, Scripps Co., and Yahoo
Wednesday, October 18:
RETAIL INFLATION REPORT: This morning, the Labor Department will release another key inflation report, the consumer price index, which tracks retail prices.
HOUSING STARTS: The Commerce Department will issue a report on housing starts, which should shed additional light on the state of the real-estate market.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, AMR Corp., Apple Computer, Boston Scientific, E*TRADE Financial, eBay, General Dynamics, JPMorgan Chase, Juniper Networks, Occidental Petroleum, Sonoco, Teradyne, and Washington Mutual
Thursday, October 19:
LEADING INDICATORS: The Conference Board will release the latest results of its closely followed index of leading economic indicators, which attempts to forecast economic activity.
EARNINGS TO WATCH: Bank of America, Bank of New York, Citigroup, Coca-Cola, Continental Airlines, Dow Jones, Eli Lilly, Fifth Third Bancorp, Google, Hershey, Honeywell, McDonalds, McGraw-Hill, Nasdaq Stock Market, New York Times, Nokia, Novartis, Nucor, PMC-Sierra, Southwest Airlines, Union Pacific, and Wyeth
Friday, October 20:
EARNINGS TO WATCH: 3M, Caterpillar, Merck, Schering-Plough, and Schlumberger
