Monday
With the market closing three hours early heading into Christmas Eve, companies won't compete for your attention. Head out to the malls and do some hectic last-minute shopping. If that's not up your alley, use the market's 1 p.m. ET closing bell as a lunch bell. If you're on the West Coast or anywhere in between, snack accordingly.
Tuesday
The market is closed for Christmas. Did you really think that Santa would come down Wall Street's chimney to go over the naughty and nice lists?
Wednesday
It's a slow week on the earnings front, with mostly international players chiming in on Wednesday. As retailers brace for returns, I like to look forward to an annual promotion on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY ) to regift for profit. A day or two after Christmas, eBay offers a day of discounted listings. It used to be free, but the past few years have offered the still-attractive promo of $0.10 listing fees on most items.
Thursday
Finally, the companies awaken. Christopher & Banks (NYSE: CBK ) and Luby's (NYSE: LUB ) are posting their quarterly reports on Thursday. The apparel retailer behind the Christopher & Banks, C.J. Banks, and Acorn chains is expected to announce a profit of $0.27 a share, 13% higher than last year's showing. Luby's should post earnings flat with the $0.08 a share it earned a year ago.
Expect some fireworks at the Luby's conference call. The eatery is locked in a proxy battle with a hedge fund that's looking to supplant some of the cafeteria chain's directors. The meeting isn't until mid-January, but expect Luby's to tell its side of the story come Thursday.
Friday
The abridged trading week closes with another slow day on the earnings front. Cal-Maine Foods (Nasdaq: CALM ) , Mesa Air (Nasdaq: MESA ) , and Charles & Colvard (Nasdaq: CTHR ) are bravely stepping up.
One can only hope that the yolk won't be on egg distributor Cal-Maine. It did earn $0.27 a share during last year's fiscal second quarter. Mesa will have a bigger challenge. The air carrier transports both passengers and air-freight goods, but air traffic has been trending lower at the company, with its shares trading for less than half of its 52-week high.
Meanwhile, Charles & Colvard is the only global source of moissanite, primarily a lab-created jewel. Why can't I find it at diamond specialist Blue Nile (Nasdaq: NILE ) ? Stick around until the end of the week to learn everything you ever wanted to know about lab-concocted gemstones.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
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