Canadian banks are scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week, with third-quarter reports coming from Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). While Canadian banks on the whole held up better than their U.S. counterparts during the financial crisis, these five are expected to report that their earnings are still declining in the most recent quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for EPS for these banks to have fallen from 15% to 25% from a year ago. Their long-term EPS growth forecast is for between 10% and 12%, which is in the same range as U.S. rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), but better than Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Earnings multiples for these Canadian banks are 10x to 12x, but none of them have a First Call consensus recommendation is to buy. The Motley Fool, though, considers TD as a value stock and RY a stock poised to pop. All of them are trading much closer to their 52-week highs than lows, and shares of all are up more than 100% since March lows.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, lifting shares.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit said it will continue to buy back shares.
• Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) reported lower Q2 earnings and also announced 1,100 layoffs.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) higher Q1 earnings topped estimates even though same-store sales fell.
• BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) earnings prospects after the recent capital raise led to a downgrade.

It was good news, bad news Tuesday for maple leaf stocks Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) and Canadian Solar Inc. (NYSE: CSIQ). While both reported better than expected quarterly results, Bank of Montreal reported lower second-quarter earnings and said it would lay off 1,100 employees, and Canadian Solar posted a first-quarter loss due to plunging revenues.

Bank of Montreal, Canada's fourth-largest bank, reported its profit declined to C$358 million (US$317 million), or 61 Canadian cents per share, in the quarter that ended April 30. Results included one-time charges of C$80 million for losses in BMO's backup financing operations and C$80 million in severance costs for job cuts. Adjusted earnings came to 93 Canadian cents per share, just above analysts' expectations.

After the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the earnings spotlight turns to Canadian banks: Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) are all scheduled to report their second-quarter results.

While banks north of the border of generally have held up better than their U.S. counterparts, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the four listed above to report that earnings declined between 20% and 30% since the same period of last year. All four have P/E ratios around 10, and they are paying dividends. Shares of all four have surged 50% to 83% in the past three months, but are still 26% to 38% lower than a year ago.

While the release of economic data doesn't stop next week (see economic schedule highlights below), the earnings season does wind down dramatically. Most of the S&P 500 companies already have reported on the past quarter, which means dismal earnings news is largely behind us, at least for a while. About the only companies of note expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report falling earnings this week are Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB).

While PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) quarterly profits are expected to be about the same as a year ago, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) are expected to have swung to losses in the most recent quarter.

Last week, Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), one of Canada's oldest and largest banks, reported growth in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. But it may be the only one that does, as at least two of the Canadian banks scheduled to report fourth-quarter numbers this week have already released preliminary results that warn of lower earnings due to debt write-downs and trading losses.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM) to post earnings 42.6% lower than a year ago, or $1.28 per share. CIBC beat estimates by a penny in the third quarter, but missed by a penny in the period before that. The bank faces a class-action lawsuit related to investments in collateralized debt obligations consisting of U.S. subprime mortgages. Shares have climbed 20.7% from a recent 52-week low of $39.52, but are down 37.8% in the past three months.

Toronto Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), and Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) are expected to report more modest earnings declines of $1.01 per share, $0.73 per share, and $0.83 per share, respectively. All three Toronto-based banks topped estimates in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion and RBC have recently announced plans to offer shares in order to raise capital. Toronto Dominion and Scotiabank have been trading near 52-week lows, and their share prices are down around 39% in the past three months. But only Toronto Dominion has a consensus buy recommendation from analysts.

The earnings season is beginning to wind down as we have passed the halfway mark of the quarter and the holiday season begins in earnest next week with Thanksgiving in the United States.

Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO) is anticipated by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to be one of the biggest earnings gainers among companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week. The oil tanker fleet operator is expected to post third-quarter earnings of $1.97 per share, 86.8% higher than in the same period a year ago, on revenues of $399.5 million (+44.6%). Frontline missed estimates by 6.4% in the previous quarter, and the consensus recommendation by analysts is to hold FRO. While Motley Fool likes its robust dividend, Jim Cramer said in a recent Lightning Round that he prefers rival Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT). Shares have fallen 52.9% in the past three months, and reached a 52-week low of $25.00 on Friday.

Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) is also expected to be among the week's biggest earnings gainers. Analysts are looking for the semiconductor chip maker to report a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $0.44 per share, 31.8% higher than a year ago, on revenues of $661.7 million (+2.0%). Analog Devices has beat estimates in three of the past five quarters, but only missed by 1.3% in the previous quarter. Analysts on average recommend buying ADI, which has a forecast long-term EPS growth rate of 17.3%, which better than the S&P 500 and that of rival Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN). Shares sank to a multiyear low of $16.23 on Friday, and are down 41.1% in the past three months.

Results for the tech stocks in last week's preview were a mixed bag, some beats, some misses, some in line. By and large, expectations for tech companies reporting results this week remain high, though. Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are anticipating in the way of earnings, as compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF): $1.48 EPS (+73.0%) on sales of $1.3 billion (+171.0%)
• Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL): $0.21 EPS (+71.4%) on sales of $836.7 million (+27.4%)
• Solera Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SLH): $0.29 EPS (+51.7%) on sales of $137.0 million (+11.8%)
• Applied Signal Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: APSG): $0.14 EPS (+42.9%) on sales of $46.4 million (+17.4%)
• China Finance Online Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JRJC): $0.14 EPS (+42.6%) on sales of $13.3 million (+131.5%)
• OSI Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: OSIS): $0.38 EPS (+36.8%) on sales of $162.0 million (+6.0%)
• LaBarge Inc. (AMEX: LB): $0.27 EPS (+33.3%) on sales of $71.6 million (+10.4%)
• Esterline Technologies Corp. (NYSE: ESL): $0.69 EPS (+11.6%) on sales of $374.6 million (+14.8%)
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL): $0.36 EPS (+11.1%) on sales of $15.9 billion (+7.8%)
• HEICO Corp. (NYSE: HEI): $0.46 EPS (+13.0%) on sales of $147.1 million (+10.5%)
• Daktronics Inc. (NASDAQ: DAKT): $0.17 EPS (flat) on sales of $141.5 million (+17.0%)
• Novell Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL): $0.05 EPS (flat) on sales of $241.4 million (-0.7%)
• Omnivision Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OVTI): $0.29 EPS (-17.1%) on sales of $172.5 million (-0.4%)
• Sigma Designs Inc. (NASDAQ: SIGM): $0.39 EPS (-18.8%) on sales of $58.7 million (+37.9%)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Thornburg Mortgage, Whirlpool and Jackson Hewitt were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Thornburg Mortgage (NYSE: TMA) to Hold from Buy to reflect the ongoing dislocation of the mortgage markets and lowered their target to $3.75 from $14. While they believe Thornburg will probably survive its current liquidity crisis, they think the company's capital structure will be impaired further.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) to Underweight from Neutral, citing valuation, higher steel prices, the difficult macro environment and competition.
  
• Stephens cut Jackson Hewitt (NYSE: JTX) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the company's recent results and concerns over the issues that have impacted the basic business.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill lowered Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• Lehman downgraded PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Tessera (NASDAQ: TSRA) to Market Perform from Outperform.

I've been talking about the Super SIV bailout plan since the plans for the fund first became public October 14. Today The Wall Street Journal is questioning whether the Super SIV bailout fund can be funded in time [subscription required] to help struggling SIVs who need to find investors for $100 billion in debt coming due in the next six to nine months. The Journal reports some of the biggest SIV operators already are selling their assets, including Citigroup (NYSE: C), the Super SIV champion and the operator of the largest chunk of SIVs, and Rabobank of the Netherlands. Moody's Investor services continues to downgrade the types of assets held by the SIVs, especially assets based on subprime mortgages in the U.S.

Why should you care? You may be holding a money market fund or mutual fund that holds debt from these SIVs in trouble. If the bailout doesn't arrive in time, SIVs will have to restructure their debt, wind down, or in the worst-case scenario become unable to pay their debt investors. When the Journal first started talking about this mess, it reported SIVs held $400 billion in assets globally. Today, because of the write-downs and sale of assets, the Journal is estimating the total value of SIV assets at $350 billion.

With its recent acquisition of GoldKist, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC) is now the largest chicken company in the United States. This acquisition was part of a larger consolidation of the chicken industry, a development that has given large companies like PPC and its rival Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) a great deal of pricing power, especially with the industry-wide production cuts that have limited supply and helped sustain higher prices.

This pricing power has been especially important with the rising price of corn, which has increased feed costs to a substantial degree. Fortunately for PPC, it's been able to offset these costs with higher prices, and its most recent quarterly report announced net income of $62 million, compared with a $20 million loss in the same quarter of 2006. For the nine months of fiscal year 2007, PPC's revenues are up nearly 65%.

It's no surprise, then, that PPC's stock price has benefited, and it is now trading near its 52-week high. It's not clear whether its margins will be sustainable, given the potential for corn prices to keep rising and the cyclical nature of poultry prices. But a recent report from Bank of Montreal's food analyst argued that corn prices have been self-correcting (they were down 25% over the summer), and it also pointed to the rise of Blue Ear disease in China, which could mean a rise in demand for protein-rich food like chicken; meanwhile the consolidation and production cuts should stabilize price volatility for the foreseeable future. At the right price, this one could well be a nice meal for your portfolio.

Type of Stock: The largest chicken company in America, with a newfound return to profitability.

Price Target: The Bank of Montreal report predicted a 12-month price target of $47. With the stock near $40, that
would be a nice gain of more than 10%. But this stock tends to go up and down a bit, and you might be able to make your purchase closer to $35.

Hilary Kramer is a financial editor and money coach for AOL and an authority on investing. Visit her at www.hilarykramer.com.