Big names in a small trading week will color in the week that lies ahead.

Monday
The market is closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so don't even think about pulling a stock quote or stateside trade. Pause. Reflect. Get ready for the abridged trading week.

Tuesday
Rested up? Good, because the bellwethers are coming pretty fast despite the short week. On Tuesday, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) are scheduled to report.

Intel is no longer a dirty word in the Mac world now that Apple Computer (NASDAQ:AAPL) has introduced Intel-powered desktops and laptops. The computer chip giant is expected to report earnings of $0.43 a share for the fourth quarter. It would be the company's best quarterly performance in more than five years. Yahoo! wouldn't want to go back five years, though; that was when the company's profitability temporarily eroded as the dot-com revolution stumbled. It's been pretty much smooth sailing ever since for the popular online portal.

Wednesday
More big names follow on Wednesday as eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Apple report. Apple has been blowing away estimates since its iPod became a smash hit, and it already announced that sales would come in at a whopping $5.7 billion for the holiday quarter. Earnings should also come in ahead of Wall Street's expectations.

Over at eBay, the name of the game will be its domestic marketplace growth. Thanks to accelerating growth in its flagship auction business and the excitement over the company's acquisition of Skype, eBay is creeping back into darling stock circles. We'll see whether this active Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation earns the right to stay there.

Thursday
Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HDI) just keeps motoring along. The company has been a market-thumper for decades. It proved that recently, when some figured that sales would drop after the company came off its centennial celebration. Didn't happen. The chances of it coming up short on Thursday with Harley's fourth-quarter report on the line? If history is any kind of teacher, that isn't likely to happen, either.

Friday
In a short week of big names, it's only fitting that a company with a market cap second only to ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) should close out the busy slate of earnings. Yes, it will be General Electric (NYSE:GE), hopefully bringing good things to life as the widely diversified conglomerate sheds some light on its various subsidiaries.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

eBay is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick. For a 30-day free trial subscription, click here.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield-wiper fluid when trying to look forward. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.