Monday
Sleep in, if you have to. The market is closed on the first calendar day of 2007, though you may want to still set the alarm early to get a head start on the New Year's Eve revelers. There are plenty of unanswered questions as we head into a brand-spanking new year. In other words, 2007 is going to be full of opportunities for prepared and enlightened investors.

Tuesday
The opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange was supposed to ring for the first time in 2007 on Tuesday, but that got bumped to Wednesday as both the Nasdaq and NYSE pay tribute to the recently deceased President Ford.

So sleep in a second day if you can. If anything, take this time to reflect on the company that owns that bell that goes off at 9:30 am in New York City every trading day. Two years ago, the New York Stock Exchange was a stodgy, privately held juggernaut. Thanks to last year's merger with Archipelago Holdings, it is now the core business of NYSE Group (NYSE:NYX). The Rule Breakers recommendation has been rolling pretty through technological enhancements and a penchant for acquisitions.

Wednesday
Feel free to pull up to your nearest Sonic (NASDAQ:SONC) and order the company's fiscal-first-quarter earnings report. I hear it goes down really well with one of those blue coconut slushes. Analysts expect the fast-food chain to post a profit of $0.20 a share for the period. That would be a marginal improvement over the $0.18 a share it earned a year ago, yet Sonic has also clocked in a penny better than Wall Street projections for three consecutive quarters, so my money is on blackjack with Sonic earning $0.21 a share for the quarter.

Thursday
 A few bigger companies, including Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) and Monsanto (NYSE:MON), step up on Thursday. Tune in, but don't get your liquor and your agricultural chemicals mixed together.

Friday
If it's payday, Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) is there with its own quarterly report. The financial transactions processing enabler is looking to grow its bottom line by 16% to $0.44 per share for the quarter. It may ultimately be a bit better than that, considering that Global Payments has punched in ahead of expectations for 17 consecutive quarters.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

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