From Reuters.com
The day ahead: Thursday
Dell reports quarterly results for the first time as the No. 3 maker of personal computers — unfamiliar territory for a company that not so long ago was the world’s largest PC maker. Other Highlights:
* In what promises to be a fiery debate, the Senate Banking Committee begins discussion on Committee Chair Christopher Dodd’s Restoring American Financial Stability Act, a comprehensive bill to reform the financial system.
* Also in Washington, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies on financial regulatory reform before the Joint Economic Committee.
* Quarterly results are expected from Gap, Sears, AnnTaylor and Children’s Place.
The Day Ahead: Thursday
Sales results will pour in from a wide range of chain retailers, while investors who bought media shares on hopes for an ad comeback will look to CBS for guidance.
*Chain stores ranging from J.C. Penney to Target to Gap report their October monthly sales results.
*Starbucks reports fiscal fourth quarter results. After months of slashing costs and closing stores, the coffee chain’s turnaround appears to be at hand.
*On the economic front, more strength is forecast for productivity in the third quarter, with the Labor Department scheduled to issue preliminary nonfarm productivity and costs data at 8:30 a.m. EST.
The day ahead: Thursday
Investors’ attention will turn to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as policy-makers from around the world gather to talk about how to prevent another global financial crisis. Results from Gap and Sears are also expected.
- The Kansas City Federal Reserve’s yearly conference at a mountain retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, draws central bankers and top economists together as the current crisis appears to be easing. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke speaks on Friday.
- Gap’s results will show whether its focus on boosting margins, even as a widespread slump in consumer spending has cut into sales, has been successful.
- Eddie Lampert’s efforts to break Sears into five segments and taking his scattered approach to finding a format for growth will be on display when the retailer reports quarterly financials.
- August business activity and weekly employment data should reinforce investor expectations that the economy is on the mend.
So Dell is #3? Too bad we can’t find out more about ithere, without clicking around for several minutes and then finding we’ve just gone in circles. What a confusing format. Maybe I’ll check out CNN.