A Fool's Look Ahead

Monday
You may not be much of a palm reader, but you can kick off the new trading week as a Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) reader. The smartphone maker may be losing ground to companies like Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) and now Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), but it never hurts to hear what a pioneer has to say.

Analysts still expect Palm to post a profit, though the projected $0.08 per share showing is far less than the $0.21 a share it earned a year earlier.

Tuesday
The cyclical semiconductor market will pose for a snapshot when Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) steps up to the earnings podium on Tuesday. How bad are things going for Micron? Well, analysts expect the company to post a loss for the period. If so, it will be the first time since 2003 that Micron has posted back-to-back sequential deficits.

Wednesday
If you hike over to Wolverine World Wide's (NYSE: WWW) fiscal third-quarter report, you may want to be wearing a pair of the company's cozy footwear. Wall Street is looking for the company to generate record profits of $0.53 per share for the period, comfortably ahead of the $0.46 a share it earned during the same quarter last year.

Thursday
Marriott (NYSE: MAR) checks in on Thursday. Between sector consolidation and a healthy influx of foreign travelers coming over to make the most of a weakening dollar, Marriott's industry is sitting pretty at the moment. Let's see if it checks out when it checks in.

Friday
We close out the trading week with ATS Medical (Nasdaq: ATSI) reporting. The cardiac surgery device specialist should post a small loss for its latest quarter, but that's typical. Your heart won't skip a beat, because ATS has yet to post a profit on this side of the millennium.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz