The earnings season is winding to a close, but there are still some big names left to report, including AutoZone Inc. (AZO), which will report its fiscal second quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday.

Going into tomorrow's earnings report, analysts are expecting to see Autozone announce earnings of $3.06 per share. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $2.46.

This week we turn the calendar page, and that change brings with it a raft of economic data. Scheduled for release on Monday are pending home sales and personal income numbers for January, as well as the Chicago PMI and car and truck sales data for February.

On Tuesday, look for the ISM Manufacturing Index for February and construction spending numbers for January. That's followed on Wednesday by the week's first employment data: the Challenger Job-Cuts announcement and the ADP employment report for February. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver his semiannual monetary policy testimony before Congress on both days.

Coca-Cola (KO) has more than $13 billion in cash.

The top five companies (according to market cap) are:

• Exxon Mobil (XOM): $398.3 billion
• Apple (AAPL): $309.0 billion
• Microsoft (MSFT): $237.5 billion
• General Electric (GE): $215.0 billion
• Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A): $202.5 billion

There are plays that work out, and then there are standout plays. In December 2010, Monro Muffler Brake (MNRO), announced a 3-for-2 stock split, which brought the trade's entry point down to $17.33 ($26.01 pre-split).

Meanwhile, auto repair chain Monro remains on a roll: the shares pulled back following the split, but have since recovered some of the ground, to about $33, and now may be a good time to consider taking some profits off the table.

In another sign that auto industry has bright day ahead of it, Ford Motor Company (F) announced today that it planned to hire an additional 7,000 employees over the next 2 years.

While this is definitely good news, the figures are still way down from where they were before the auto crisis ravished the industry. Ford currently has 42,000 compared to 103,000 just ten years ago.

December is traditionally a slow month for auto sales. Most people are caught up with holiday shopping and tend to put off large purchases.

This year was different. December auto sales were higher for most makers, Toyota being the exception. Here are the numbers by company, as reported by CNNMoney:

Although the U.S. economy has added jobs in recent months, the unemployment rate remains uncomfortably high at 9.8%. The rate for December is due out on Friday and is expected to drop to 9.7%. However, no one seems to expect significant improvement until well into the new year.

Other economic data on this week's schedule include:

• Monday: ISM Manufacturing Index, construction spending and auto sales data

According to the Labor Department, U.S. producer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.4% during October thanks mainly to an increase in energy prices.

Energy prices increased 3.7% during the month, the largest monthly increase since January. This increase was driven (so to speak) by a 9.8% increase in gasoline prices. Food prices dropped 0.1% during the month, with plunge led by a drop of 8.1% in the government's index for fresh and dry vegetables.

Sales for most major auto makers were down in September from August, as reported by MSNBC. Ford (F) was the standout with sales up 2%. Here are the numbers for the other companies:

• General Motors (GM) sales declined 3%.
• Chrysler was up less than 1%.
• Toyota (TM) fell less than 1%.
• Nissan (NSANY) was down 3%.

Both GM and Ford posted sales increases in May. Some of the numbers are a bit confusing due to discontinuation of several brands. For the year to date, GM and Ford's continuing brands were each up 31%.

For GM, if we adjust the number to include discontinued brands like Hummer, Pontiac and Saturn, sales were up 16.6%. Ford Motor Company's (F) sales rose 21.9%, making it the six consecutive month of 20% increases. Ford plans to increase production by 80,000 in the third quarter.

In this market, you take the good news where you can get it. It's been thin gruel lately, what with concern about European government debt morphing into concern that a second European stabilization package may be needed.

Further, this bit of good news technically isn't an economic fundamental but a forecast, but we'll take it, just the same: U.S. auto sales should reach 11.7 million vehicles this year, according to research by A.T. Kearney Inc., Dow Jones reported Tuesday (Subscription required).

For the first time since 2007, General Motors announced a quarterly profit this morning for its first quarter.

The Detroit automaker reported that it earned $865 million during the quarter, and that revenues were up 40% to $31.8 billion. During the same period last year the company had a loss of $6 billion.

Auto sales jumped 20% in April from a year ago. The numbers were quite strong, but still down 8% from March. Sales have been uneven as we continue to emerge from the greatest recession since the 1930s.

Auto sales are closely tied to buyer incentives. In April, manufacturers reduced incentives by 5%. Given a stable economy, nothing affects sales more than incentives. If you pull the incentives, sales usually slack off.

Earlier this month Toyota Motor Company (TM) was forced to halt sales of its Lexus GX 460 after it received a "Don't Buy" rating from Consumer Reports, but the company announced today that the problem has been fixed, and it had resumed U.S. sales.

The problem with the SUVs involved the vehicles electronic stabilizer, which was unable to adequately correct the SUV when sliding out in corners.

As my old friend Mark reported earlier this morning, Ford Motor (F) posted strong sales in Europe last month. Sales increased 16.1% on the continent in March, making the Detroit-based automaker the leading seller of vehicles in the European market.

This news has not gone unnoticed on the Street today, as F has jumped almost 2% higher. The options market has perked up as well, as more than 205,000 option contracts have already traded today and calls are outpacing puts roughly six to one. Early on (shortly after the opening bell sounded), more than 21,000 May 15 calls were purchased for about 25 cents apiece. This is a small premium to put at risk for the potential unlimited upside above $15.25 (the breakeven price).