The market had more than a few speed bumps in January. Will February be any better?

Between earnings reports and programming milestones, there are plenty of events that could move the market this month.

Here are a few of the days that I plan to approach with eyes wide open.

Feb. 9
Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) reports its fourth-quarter results a week from tomorrow. The release from China's leading search engine usually doesn't bring anxiety here. I've been following Baidu religiously since I recommended it to Motley Fool Rule Breakers subscribers four years ago, but there's typically plenty of room during the conference calls.

Next week should be different. It's not necessarily Baidu's results that will be enchanting, even though it's certainly worth noting that analysts see quarterly profits rising 38%. The real draw to Baidu will be political, especially because tensions between China and the United States have been increasing since Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) threatened to stop censoring its search results in China.

Big G has since softened its stance, but the same can't be said about the two countries.

Feb. 12
The Winter Olympics begin on this day. This should be a good time for General Electric's (NYSE:GE) majority-owned NBC to shine -- especially after all of the negative Conan vs. Leno fallout.

The games will give NBC two weeks and change of fresh prime-time programming. And unlike other Olympics in host cities at the other end of the planet, being in Vancouver means that NBC won't have to either broadcast live events as they happen during the wee hours or package replays for prime time in this Twitter-ific age of instant information.

Another potential winner from the events may be Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN). No, the operator of several Colorado resorts doesn't have Vancouver powder, but interest in skiing and snowboarding could provide a late-season boost to a company that sorely needs it. Back in early December, Vail announced that advanced nightly bookings were clocking in 13% lower than at that point in the previous year. And it's not as if that year was all that hot to begin with, off 23% from the year before that.

Feb. 16
There are plenty of barometers out there to gauge an economic recovery, but one of my favorites is simply Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFMI). If folks have no problem paying up for organic groceries and premium prepared foods, discretionary income has surely bounced back.

The news is encouraging. After posting five consecutive quarters of declines in identical-store sales, Whole Foods Market appears to have turned the corner. Comps were positive during the first two months of the fiscal first quarter; the company will post the results for the quarter in two weeks.

Sure, most industry mavens will closely watch the Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) report two days later, but the world's leading retailer has already proven to be an all-weather performer. If I'm looking for encouraging signs that we've licked this brutal recession, I'm sticking to Whole Foods Market's report.

Feb. 25
Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) has historically posted its results during the final week of February. Last year was an anomaly because Sirius had finally completed its gargantuan purchase of XM.

A lot of the good news is already out of the bag:

  • Sirius XM already revealed that it added 257,000 net new subscribers during the final three months of the year. It's also targeting more than $100 million in free cash flow for all of 2009.
  • Analysts are trickling in with upgrades or bullish coverage initiations.
  • Shares of Sirius XM Radio hit a 52-week high this morning.

This doesn't mean that that all of the good news has been leaked. Analysts still expect a loss of $0.02 a share after Sirius XM's surprising break-even results during the third quarter (when analysts were also braced for a $0.02-a-share deficit). There is also the possibility that contract renewal talks with Howard Stern can firm up, since that five-year deal ends in December.

In short, Sirius XM may not be reporting exactly on the 25th -- it has only revealed that it will put out its quarterly report later this month. That's not the biggest mystery that remains here.

Are you circling any particular dates in February for financial news? Share your calendar in the comments box below.