Building homes, basketball stars, and better cereals will color in the week that lies ahead.

Monday
We kick off the new trading week closer to home. Well, closer to homebuilders, at least. Lennar (NYSE:LEN) will post its fiscal second-quarter results in the morning. Analysts expect profits to climb 20% higher to $1.86 a share, but that doesn't mean that Lennar is in a good place right now. Like most real estate developers, current quarters are often the result of a backlog of new-home orders placed months earlier.

It's more important here to check out the company's outlook. Lennar has held up better than most of its peers, but that's largely due to its geographical strength in some of the more buoyant housing markets. That strength may make it difficult to see chipped paint or cracked foundations in the report.

Tuesday
Is it a case of perfect timing that Nike (NYSE:NKE) steps up to the earnings podium just after the NBA Finals? The athletic footwear maker is probably smiling about the Miami Heat's victory, especially after acquiring Converse three years ago. Converse put out the Dwayne Wade sneakers that should be flying off the shelves briskly after Wade did a little flying himself, landing the series MVP trophy with a scintillating performance.

Wednesday
Hello, Gbuy. Wednesday should mark the official release of Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) new online payment service. The company has contended in the past that it's not looking to take on PayPal, but let's be realistic. If Gbuy is a hit, it will have little choice but to go for the jugular of eBay's (NASDAQ:EBAY) beloved online payment enabler. Watch this closely, especially if you're a Motley Fool Stock Advisor subscriber, because eBay remains an active recommendation there.

Thursday
Hungry for breakfast? Thursday's menu will serve up cereal giant General Mills (NYSE:GIS). Like other cereal-munching rivals, General Mills has switched entirely to whole grain to make its morning fare healthier. Now it's time to see whether its income statements are making the grade. Wall Street thinks it won't be easy, expecting earnings to dip to $0.61 a share after a $0.64 showing a year earlier. Shareholders? Pocket those Lucky Charms.

Friday
The second quarter closes on Friday. July waits on the other side. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's decision time if you're a mutual fund manager. Because your holdings at the end of Friday dictate what shareowners see in the next quarterly update, some less-than-scrupulous managers may clean out some of the losers and buy into some of the recent winners. The practice is called "window dressing," but you know better. Judge a fund on its performance, not on a quarterly roundup of picture-pretty holdings.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

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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.