The earnings parade continues tomorrow, and in the morning Wall Street will get to see how Swiss Bank UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) made out for its fourth quarter.

The company is going to be reporting in the morning, and expectations are not running very high for the troubled bank. Analysts on average are looking to see the company show a loss for the quarter of $1.15 per share. While this looks pretty bad at first glance, it would be a great improvement over the same period last year in which the company showed an actual loss of $5.43 per share.

IBM (NYSE: IBM), whose tech colleagues include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), is set to report earnings for Q4 on Tuesday, January 20. One of the more exciting attributes that IBM can claim this earnings season is that it isn't a financial company. You don't want to be invested in those things, to be sure. So many observers will be looking forward to seeing exactly how IBM is handling the recession, because even though it isn't a financial entity, it's still affected by what's going on around it (and us, for that matter).

Estimates can vary depending on the source, but according to Earnings.com, Wall Street is looking for somewhere around $3.03 per share. If it hits this number, many will probably be singing the company's praises, because that would represent high single-digit growth on the bottom line of approximately 8%. Hey, as long as profits are growing, you can relax, at least a little bit.

As we all know, though, an earnings beat would be so much better. IBM has a great track record of beating estimates, according to the link. So I would expect that we will see IBM go beyond expectations this Tuesday. Furthermore, looking into the recent past, IBM had a great third quarter. Diluted earnings per share were up 22%, as this piece by Douglas McIntyre mentions. Douglas also highlighted the incredible strength and diversity of the IBM business model. Indeed, it doesn't just sell software, it sells services, too. It's got a great brand, and it tends to do well with its margins. So, yes, I think IBM has what it takes to whip the analysts yet again and to report good numbers.

However, I would not be a buyer ahead of the report. Why take the risk in this trading environment? Clues to the company's outlook will essentially influence the tape, so you'll have to follow the conference call and evaluate management's comments carefully to see whether you want to buy-in after the earnings release. IBM is definitely a solid long-term idea. And is it cheap? I'd say so. Elizabeth Harrow recently made a positive argument in terms of Big Blue's valuation. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of traders will be setting themselves up ahead of the numbers. They probably will turn out to be correct. But I think the idea that IBM is cheap may not mean much in the context of an increasingly bad news flow. I just haven't jettisoned my overall bearish stance just yet, and it's been influencing my trading.

One thing's for sure: IBM is not a short-sell candidate ahead of the release. That I can state unequivocally. So, as for me, I'll just enjoy reading the earnings report without the pressure of having a position in IBM on at the time.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

On Monday July 28, Kraft (NYSE: KFT) will be reporting its earnings results for the second quarter. Kraft is a well-known manufacturer of supermarket foodstuffs. We all know the brands: Oreo cookies, Nabisco, Oscar Meyer and many, many others.

It should be a defensive stock, just like Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) or PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), right? Well, it is and it isn't. It's defensive in the sense that, as the cliche goes, people still want to eat their favorite foods even during recessionary times. It isn't in the sense that the stock is down by 16% (as of this writing) in the one-year time period. It does have a nice dividend yield, however, and Warren Buffet seems to like it.

What should investors be looking for on Monday? Well, they should definitely be looking at the margins. Is Kraft navigating this inflationary period in as efficient a manner as possible? I think Kraft will do OK in this regard. I'm not expecting any sort of wide expansion of gross margin, but I think management will report stability in this area.

Hershey (NYSE: HSY) , which recently reported numbers for its own quarter (see Brent Archer's idea for a trade involving Hershey options), did well in keeping margin-erosion at bay. Hershey also beat estimates by a penny. Considering that Kraft beat analyst estimates last quarter, that it has a good history of going beyond expectations and that Hershey was able to beat, then I would have to say that Kraft should have no problem beating on Monday. Hershey has had its share of troubles lately, keep in mind.

Before the market opens tomorrow morning, American auto maker Ford Motor (NYSE: F) will be reporting its second quarter numbers. Wall Street is not looking for a great quarter from the company.

Analysts on average expect the struggling auto maker to post a loss for the quarter of 25 cents per share, and revenues totaling $34.6 billion. The last time that the company reported earnings was back on April 24 when it shocked Wall Street with a 5 cents a share profit versus consensus estimate for a loss of 16 cents for its first quarter.

This quarter has proven to be tough for the company, which recently posted pretty bad June sales figures. In fact, sales for June declined by a devastating 28% compared to the same period last year.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), whose competitors include Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), and Wendy's (NYSE: WEN), isn't known for being a part of a healthy diet, no matter how much branding it's done in that area. However, it is known for delivering good earnings. That's why investors probably aren't too worried when it comes to Wednesday, the day that the fast-food behemoth is set to hand off a sack of quarterly numbers at the earnings-report drive-thru.

According to AOL Finance, McDonald's beat the street by a wide margin in the first quarter. The call was for about 70 cents per share which Mickey Dee's beat by a whopping 11 cents. The previous quarters weren't as impressive, but they were solid enough. McDonald's seems to have the game of at least matching expectations down pat, so I am confident that come Wednesday, the company's bottom line will be close to the 86 cents per share that Wall Street is looking for in the second quarter, according to Earnings.com.

If McDonald's makes the number, then it will represent growth of over 20%. Double-digit appreciation is a valuable commodity in this time period. I can't say, though, that McDonald's won't have its challenges cut out for it. After all, inflation is affecting everyone, and fuel prices theoretically could hamper the popularity of the company's valuable drive-thru asset (I used one last evening myself). But McDonald's has that famous dollar menu going for it, so even in tough times, fans of fatty foodstuffs can still afford the oily, heart-clogging grub.