From Reuters.com
The day ahead: Wednesday
Indications of what markets might expect from Friday’s non-farm payrolls report could emerge from the ADP National Employment private sector survey and the November Challenger Layoff report.
Other highlights:
* The lead committee on financial regulatory reform in the House of Representatives is expected to approve the last two of eight major regulatory bills.
* Ford is expected to reveal its highly anticipated new Fiesta small car at the LA Auto Show, which runs through Thursday, while General Motors plans to showcase the U.S. production version of its new Chevrolet Cruze small car.
* At the third day of the Reuters Media Summit we talk with WPP CEO Martin Sorrell, IAC CEO Barry Diller and Financial Times CEO John Ridding.
* Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testifies before a Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing on OTC derivatives reform at 9:30 a.m. EST.
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.
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.
The day ahead: Thursday
Wal-Mart sales numbers will hold the spotlight along with results from Walt Disney and Anheuser-Busch InBev. Highlights:
* Wal-Mart is expected to report higher third-quarter earnings, but Wall Street is focused on U.S. sales, which the retailer has stopped reporting on a monthly basis.
* Walt Disney is expected to report earnings of 41 cents per share and further emphasize a recovery in advertising sales seen at the cable networks of competitors Time Warner and Viacom.
* Anheuser-Busch InBev is braced to report a decline in consumption of its beers such as Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s, weighing on profits in the first half.
* At the fourth day of the Reuters Health Summit being held in New York, we speak with FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Andrew Witty, and Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan.
* Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrives in Singapore for a meeting of finance ministers from the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
The day ahead: Tuesday
At the Reuters Health Summit expect exclusive interviews with Merck CEO Richard Clark, AstraZeneca CEO David Brennan and Tenet CEO Trevor Fetter.
Other highlights:
* Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner begins a two-day official visit to Japan ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation finance ministers’ meeting in Singapore on Thursday.
* Diversified U.S. manufacturer Tyco International reports third-quarter results. Wall Street expects another drop in profit as the ongoing soft economy saps demand for industrial products.
And what are these “exclusive interviews” really worth? After all, these are rich, powerful people who can wrangle a public hearing any time they choose. What do we gain from giving them yet another forum for their views? Are they going to say anything we can’t already guess at? Will they suggest that the free market is antithetical to giving people life-saving health care? No, they will say the same things they always say…that they won’t be able to do their job effectively with too much government interference, and, yes, they know they’ve made some mistakes, but they will do better. You are doing no service whatsoever to the public that looks to you for information by pandering to their propaganda. For a change, why not let ordinary people, people who struggle to get by and have to hustle to figure out how to pay their bills, let them have an open forum to dispense their own wisdom? This is a waste of time.
