Bankers and Barbies will color in the week that lies ahead.
Monday
The trading week kicks off with Alcoa (NYSE: AA). The aluminum giant is expected to post a profit, compared with a sharp loss from a year ago. It may bear pointing out that Alcoa fell short of Wall Street's guesstimates three months ago, through it did surpass expectations the two quarters before that.
Tuesday
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) is the first of the tech bellwethers to report this earnings season. Consumer demand for the company's microprocessors appears to be rising, and analysts see quarterly profits more than tripling to $0.38 a share. Investors wanting a more complete snapshot can always wait for rival AMD's (NYSE: AMD) report two days later.
Wednesday
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) will be the first of the banking giants to report. Now that the health-care reform debate has handed the relay baton to regulation of the financial services industry, JPMorgan Chase may be able to shed some light on the implications.
Thursday
It's Tax Day, but things shouldn't be too taxing for Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) when it delivers its first-quarter results. Things usually find a way to work out well in the end for Big G. It was able to grow during the recession as many of its smaller peers came undone. Even when it takes a step back -- as it did with its recent retreat in China -- Google still finds a way to score some serious karma points.
Friday
General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT) wrap up the trading week with their quarterly results. Fridays are often sleepy, but there's no rest when earnings season starts. The pros see GE and Mattel going in different directions, with General Electric posting a smaller profit than it did a year earlier as Mattel improves on its loss of a year ago.
Until next week, I remain,
