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As the calendar year winds down, the news no doubt will be full of stories (like the one below from AP) analyzing incoming holiday sales figures and speculating on what they mean for the big picture.
About the only confirmed company reporting quarterly earnings results next week is Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NYSE: CALM), the largest producer/distributor of eggs in the U.S. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are, on average, looking for the Jackson, Miss.-based company to report earning $1.26 per share in its fiscal second quarter. That's 25.4% lower than in the same period of the previous year. In its first-quarter report back in September, Cal-Maine also reported a drop in net income as rising feed costs offset increased demand. While the share price has fallen 22.2% in the past three months, it is up 14.0% from a year ago. Cal-Maine recently completed its acquisition of a Tampa Bay egg producer.
Economic data scheduled to be released this week include:
- ICSC-UBS retail chain store sales (w/o Dec. 27, 2008): Tuesday, 7:45 AM
- Redbook Retail Sales Index (w/o Dec. 27, 2008): Tuesday, 8:55 AM
- Chicago Purchasing Manager Business Barometer (Dec. 2008): Tuesday, 9:45 AM
- Consumer Confidence Index (Dec. 2008): Tuesday, 10:00 AM
- Initial jobless claims (w/o Dec. 26, 2009): Wednesday, 8:30 AM
- Monster Employment Index (Dec. 2008): Friday, 6:00 AM
- ISM manufacturing survey (Dec. 2008): Friday, 10:00 AM
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