The Fool Looks Ahead

Monday
The new trading week kicks off with Hasbro (Nasdaq: HAS  ) reporting its second-quarter results.

It's great timing for the country's second largest toymaker, as Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- based on its product line of transforming action figures -- is a summer blockbuster. The company should give investors a feel for how related toy sales are holding up, and it's never too early to begin speculating on who will have the hot toys that kids want this holiday season.

Tuesday
Coke is it! Pop star Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO  ) cracks open its quarterly can on Tuesday. The world isn't tiring of the beverage giant's fizzy drinks and vitamin-charged water. Slow and steady growth has been Coke's calling card over the past few years, and Tuesday's report should bring more of the same.

Wednesday
8x8 (Nasdaq: EGHT  ) , eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY  ) , and F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV  ) are some of the tech names reporting on Wednesday. Analysts see all three companies posting higher quarterly net income than they did a year earlier.

Thursday
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT  ) checks in with investors on Thursday, and the pressure's on for the world's largest software company. It's been less than two months since Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn publicly suggested that CEO Steve Ballmer step down. The fact that the stock ticked higher on the suggestion just proves the lack of faith that investors have in the company these days.

Friday
General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) closes out the midsummer trading week. The conglomerate seems to be on the mend, with investors seeming to have largely forgotten that the mighty GE was temporarily trading in the single digits when the market bottomed out on financial concerns two years ago. Earnings should come in higher this time around. Can a dividend increase be far away?

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz