Monday
The new trading weeks gets revved up with Avis Budget Group (NYSE: CAR) and Ford (NYSE: F) pulling in for their quarterly checkups.
There's a lot riding on Avis Budget. The car-rental specialist has been a 25-bagger for the lucky investors who snagged shares at its $0.34-per-share bottom in March. Analysts see it earning more than that in its latest quarter, and it had better not disappoint.
Ford has also had a healthy run since the market's rally began. How successful was "Cash for Clunkers" in clearing out showrooms? Wall Street expects a substantially narrower deficit here than what the automaker delivered a year ago.
Tuesday
Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) "posts" its third-quarter results, and they won't be much to write home about. The pros expect earnings to dip from $0.67 a share last year to only $0.54 a share this time around. It is still an earnings report worth checking in on, because Pitney Bowes should be an early indicator on improvement in the corporate space. If companies are sending out more metered mail -- as long as we're not just talking about collection agencies and bank foreclosure notices -- it's a good sign for the economy.
Wednesday
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) reports on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see whether its cable subscriber numbers are growing. Given the bumpy economy, telcos that are jumping into digital television with cutthroat pricing, and content creators that are adopting ad-supported digital-streaming initiatives, it can't be easy being the country's largest cable provider these days.
Another subscriber service under the microscope will be Vonage (NYSE: VG). The Web-based telephone service has had its challenges over the years, but it offers a compelling value proposition.
Thursday
Satellite radio tunes in come Thursday morning, as Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI) beams its quarterly report. The broadcaster should post a narrower deficit as it closes in on outright profitability. After shedding net subscribers during the first and second quarters, investors will be interested to see whether the company is gaining or losing accounts at this point.
Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) also steps up to the podium. As one of the few companies to go public this year, the foreign-language educator needs to earn its IPO. The stock gave back most of its post-IPO gains when it provided disappointing guidance this summer. If it falls short on Friday, I wonder how many languages it can apologize in.
Friday
The trading week closes out with only a handful of mostly small and overseas companies reporting, so feel free to head out to the local multiplex. A few of the likely big-ticket winners include The Men Who Stare at Goats, The Fourth Kind, and Disney's A Christmas Carol.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
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