It's a new year for news, with questions begging to be answered this month. January is going to be chock-full of financial news, even as you still scribble "2010" instead of "2011" in your checkbook.

Here are a few of the days that I plan to approach with eyes wide open this month.

Jan. 6
Can Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) wildly successful App Store work outside of the iOS realm of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch gadgetry? We'll find out on Thursday when Apple officially launches its App Store for Macs.

Is this the dawning of a new age of apps? Is web surfing about to be replaced by self-contained diversions? Are the days of conventional software toast? This could be a pretty big deal if things go just right for Apple.

This also happens to be the day that the annual Consumer Electronics Show kicks off in Las Vegas. Expect a lot of meaty consumer tech news to break heading into the weekend.

Jan. 10
Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL) checks in with its quarterly report on Jan. 10.

The for-profit post-secondary educators were challenged in 2010, with industry leader Apollo dealing shareholders a 35% slide for the year.

The big blow came during the summer, when a government report revealed that roughly a third of the niche's enrolled students were paying back their loans. Apollo had previously come under fire for its aggressive marketing strategies, so this was just adding insult to injury.

The end result is that this former speedster has stalled. Analysts see Apollo earning just $4.39 in this fiscal year -- which ends in August -- after ringing up a profit of $5.35 a share in fiscal 2010. Next week's report will be for the first fiscal quarter in what should be a challenging year for Apollo.

Jan. 13
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) reports a week from Thursday, as the first of the major tech giants to step up to the earnings stage.

Wall Street is targeting a quarterly profit of $0.53 a share, ahead of the $0.40 a share in net income it delivered during the final quarter of 2009. The good news is that Intel has handily beat analyst expectations in each of its five previous quarters. The bad news is that those same pros see Intel clocking in with slightly lower earnings during the year ahead.

For a more complete picture on the state of microprocessors, check in a week later when smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) reports.

Jan. 18
Can investors bank on the bankers? Citigroup (NYSE: C) is one of the first financial services giants to come through with its quarterly report on Jan. 18.

The poster child of the financial service industry's bailout has bounced back with three consecutive quarterly profits. It's a healthy trend heading into this month's report.

Jan. 19
eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) steps up to the plate with its fourth-quarter financials. If you're running low on questions for the company, I have more than a few:

  • Is PayPal still the star here over the company's meandering eBay.com marketplace?
  • Why hasn't eBay entered the bidding war for Groupon? It would seem to be a logical landing place if eBay can afford it.
  • How's Skype doing? It's true that eBay sold a majority stake in the voice chat darling, but a 2011 IPO seems likely.

Jan. 25

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) reports on Jan. 25, giving Apple fan boys plenty of time to come up with clever ways to get the company behind wireless carrier giant Verizon Wireless to divulge plans for upcoming iPads and iPhones.

There are already strong indications that an Apple iPad that can work on Verizon Wireless' network is on the way. A Verizon iPhone has a thornier exclusivity issue to resolve, but that, too, is a matter of time.

Like everything good that happens, folks will just have to wait.

What will you be looking forward to this month? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.