Monday
Stateside exchanges are closed Monday, in observance of Independence Day. Now may be a good time to go clean off that grill or check the expiration date on that potato salad that didn't go down so well over the holiday weekend.
Tuesday
The market kicks off its shortened trading week on Tuesday, but it's going to be awfully quiet on the earnings front. There aren't too many companies posting their quarterly financials this week anyway, and those that are realize that traders will be slow to arrive after the long break.
Wednesday
The week finally begins to get interesting Wednesday, with Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO), WD-40 (Nasdaq: WDFC), and Kayne Anderson (NYSE: KED) stepping up to the plate. The bright side is that analysts see all three companies posting higher quarterly profits than they did a year ago.
Thursday
International Speedway (Nasdaq: ISCA) and Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE) are two of the more notable companies divulging their quarterly results on Thursday.
Analysts expect auto racing promoter International Speedway to earn $0.29 a share, just short of the $0.35 a share it delivered through last year's checkered flag. Helen of Troy, on the other hand, is moving in the right direction. The beauty supply specialist is projected to post a profit of $0.55 a share, comfortably ahead of last year's $0.47-a-share showing.
Vanity over speed? Yes -- this time.
Friday
The big movie hitting the local multiplex Friday is Despicable Me, released by Universal Studios. The computer-animated flick has been promoted for months, so it should fare well during the weekend and could spell good news for NBC Universal, which owns Universal Studios and is itself still majority-owned by General Electric (NYSE: GE) pending its deal with Comcast.
Any fears that computer animation had peaked with the disappointing results of DreamWorks Animation's (NYSE: DWA) Shrek Forever After were quickly chased away by the runaway success of Pixar's Toy Story 3 last month.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
