So the earnings crunch continues, and here's a look at some companies scheduled to report results this week that are anticipated to be big winners and losers in terms of earnings growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA): $4.10 EPS (+53.9%) on revenue of $3.8 billion (+54.6%)
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): $2.34 EPS (+50.0%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+62.2%)
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP): $0.47 EPS (+44.7%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+11.5%)
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT): $0.62 EPS (+43.5%) on revenue of $5.3 billion (+7.0%)
• Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES): $2.76 EPS (+38.4%) on revenue of $8.3 billion (+14.6%)
• Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR): $2.19 EPS (+35.2%) on revenue of $7.8 billion (+126.2%)
• Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL): $2.08 EPS (+34.6%) on revenue of $1.0 billion (+40.1%)
• U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): $3.91 EPS (+32.0%) on revenue of $5.9 billion (+39.6%)
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): $0.49 EPS (+30.6%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+21.3%)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): $2.52 EPS (+27.4%) on revenue of $144.4 billion (+46.8%)

Clearly expectations are high for oil and energy. Other companies expected to report double-digit earnings growth include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).

While earlier this month, OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) reported a solid third quarter due largely to cost-cutting and the weak dollar, office supply leader Staples' (NASDAQ: SPLS) third quarter report this week was more like that of second-place rival Office Depot (NYSE: OPD)'s third-quarter report last week. That is, profits and domestic same-store sales fell. However, Staples managed to beat expectations (low expectations though they were), sending share prices up after being dragged down with OfficeMax and Office Depot following their reports.

Staples reported Q3 net income of $274.5 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $289.9 million, or 39 cents per share, in the same period last year. A $38 million charge from the settlement of an employee class-action suit shaved 4 cents per share from Staples' earnings, yet the latest quarter's profit was still 42 cents per share, beating the consensus EPS forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who had expected 40 cents per share.

As Office Depot executives did last week, Staples executives said they expect weak consumer spending due to the housing slump and credit market difficulties to continue into the new year. Yet so far Staples' share price has risen, from a 52-week low of $19.69 before the Q3 report, to close at $23.51 on Wednesday. That's about seven cents shy of halfway from that low back to the 52-week high of $28.00 from mid December of 2006.

The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial is for earnings of 48 cents per share for the fourth quarter (up from 46 cents a year ago), or $1.42 per share for the year (up from $1.28 a year ago). The consensus recommendation is to buy Staples, with forecast growth of 20.4 percent over the next three to five years.

For more news on Staples and its rivals, see BloggingStocks' Staples coverage.

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) warned that its quarter would be disappointing due to weak economic conditions in the U.S. and slow sales of PCs because Vista adoption is anemic.

It would be tempting to view the Office Depot warning as isolated, but it probably is not. The first line of companies that are likely to be having similar problems are Office Max (NYSE: OMX) and Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS). The three companies are already doing badly. Office Depot's shares are down 20% over the last year, and the shares of the other two companies are flat.

Sales at the companies may well be something of an economic indicator of how business in general is doing. They sell a wide range of products from PCs to office furniture. If these purchases are being delayed it means that a lot of the corporate economy across the country is being pinched.

The poor sales at Office Depot and its competition is also probably a sign that PC sales and Vista adoption are weaker then is thought in some circles. With Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NASDAQ: HPQ) trading near 52-week highs, Wall Street clearly assuming there is a pick-up in computer sales. And, if Vista sales are indeed slow, Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) next quarter could be soft.

Look out below.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.