Monday
As some us are off enjoying the holiday weekend, 51job (NASDAQ:JOBS) will be back to work in China. The employee-recruitment service will post its third-quarter financials on Monday. Analysts expect profits to climb from $0.12 a share last year to $0.13 this time around. That may not seem like a lot of growth, given the no-brainer backdrop of providing job listings in a booming workplace, but it's up to the company to humble Wall Street.

Tuesday
If it's Tuesday, it must be Home Depot (NYSE:HD). The home-improvement chain is expected to post a dip in bottom-line growth for its latest quarter. There's little reason to believe otherwise. The subprime meltdown is keeping lenders in check. No new homes? No home-equity lines for consumers to improve their existing homes? These are soft times in hardware. Let's hope the company will shed some light on a potential market recovery. After all, Home Depot knows all about building things ... right?

Wednesday
Heading into the telltale holiday shopping season later this month, Macy's (NYSE:M) steps up to the display window to shed some light on its financials. The department-store chain should post a profit of just $0.08 a share, but this is always a seasonally sleepy period. It's during the fourth quarter when Macy's earns far more than in the three previous quarters combined.

Thursday
Looking for a caffeinated pick-me-up on the earnings front? Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) reports on Thursday. Earnings are projected to clock in 24% higher at $0.21 a share. You can hold out for more, but momentum will rain on your latte. Analysts have nailed the java giant's profit performance in each of the past four quarters.

Friday
Let's close out the trading week by hitting the mall. Ann Taylor (NYSE:ANN) reports its fiscal third-quarter financials on Friday. Ann Taylor's numbers aren't as lumpy as Macy's. The apparel chain's dressy workplace merchandise helps smooth out the seasonality. Still, you can stack up Ann Taylor's report against other those of retailers, including Macy's, Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), which will be reporting earlier in the week, to get a fair snapshot of the country's retailers.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz