The Fool Looks Ahead

Monday
The trading week begins with Humana's (NYSE: HUM) quarterly checkup. Analysts see the health maintenance organization earning $1.48 a share in its latest quarter, 38% ahead of last year's profit. With health-care reform efforts softening, investors appear ready to tiptoe back into HMO stocks.

Food-service bellwether SYSCO (NYSE: SYY) also reports, giving a good indication of how restaurants, cafeterias, and other commissaries are holding up these days.

Tuesday
Hershey (NYSE: HSY) reports. Sweet-toothed analysts expect generally flat quarterly results, but given the wave of consolidation among confectionary players, it's bound to be an interesting conference call.

Wednesday
Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) will hope that its earnings report is Comcastic. The country's largest cable television provider will provide a fair glimpse into its fluctuating industry. Comcast has been losing cable television subscribers, with almost 3% fewer customers than it had a year ago. The decrease has been more than offset through higher rates and gains in broadband access and digital telephone services, but the trend is troublesome.

Thursday
Sony (NYSE: SNE) is expected to check in with its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Despite having its fingerprints all over hot industries including e-book readers, video game consoles, and Blu-ray players, the Japanese consumer electronics giant is struggling in a very competitive marketplace.

Friday
Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) wraps up the trading week with its quarterly numbers. The homebuilder's report comes just a few trading days after rival D.R. Horton's (NYSE: DHI) financial open house.

Both real estate developers are expected to post narrower losses than they did a year ago. A return to profitability is the clear objective, but at least they are heading in the right direction.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz