The Fool's Look Ahead

Monday
The new trading week begins with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) reporting. Handout recipients like Bank of America will make more waves than usual, now that taxpayers have more than just a passing interest here. Another telltale conference call will be IBM (NYSE:IBM) checking in with its quarterly financials. It is a decent proxy for the state of corporate spending. Analysts see a profit of $1.66 a share at IBM, in line with the $1.64 a share it earned a year ago.

Tuesday
It's going to be a busy day, with several bellwethers ringing in with their latest financials. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) will hope to show its recession-resistant ways, with Bank of New York (NYSE:BK) providing another important glimpse into the state of the banking industry.

Wednesday
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) headlines a stable of big companies on the slate. The company has been a solid performer in recent years, but this report may be an eye-opener for growth investors. Apple is expected to post a 7% decline in profitability for its fiscal second quarter. Yes, even Apple isn't immune to the malaise.

Thursday
Another market darling that Wall Street sees clocking in with lower net income is Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). Analysts are looking for earnings of $0.31 a share from the leading online retailer, less than the $0.34 a share it rang up a year ago.

Friday
The market is usually sleepy on the final trading day of the week, but not during earnings season. One of the big companies reporting will be Xerox (NYSE:XRX). The photocopying giant unfortunately won't be able to duplicate last year's profitability. Analysts see first-quarter earnings diving to $0.04 a share from last year's $0.27 a share.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz