Walgreen (WAG), Dollar General (DG) and Express (EXPR) all reported higher quarterly profits Tuesday morning, with Dollar General and Express both beating Wall Street consensus earnings estimates. With news like this, it may be beneficial for an investor to take a closer look at the retail sector.

Granted, Walgreen did not impress Wall Street, and shares fell more than 7%. Express and Dollar General, however, are reaping the benefits with Express trading up over 5% and Dollar General enjoying a 3% upswing. Both companies opened trading up in the markets Tuesday.

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.

Barnes & Noble, the Gap, RadioShack, and Sears -- that may sound like the lineup at the local mall, but in fact they are just a few of the retailers scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week. Following last week's disappointing January retail sales numbers from the Commerce Department but strong fourth-quarter reports from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Nordstrom (JWN), the coming week will offer plenty more data on the sector for investors to mull over.

Walmart

Bentonville-based Walmart (WMT) offered free holiday shipping, closed its Moscow office and named a chief merchandising officer during its fourth quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to come to $1.31 per share, up from $1.17 in the same quarter of last year. The world's largest retailer also is expected to post revenues of $117.7 billion for the three months that ended in January. That's 3.5% more than a year earlier.

We're well into the quarter now and the earnings reports continue to roll out.

This week, Dell (DELL) highlights a handful of results from tech companies. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share from the one of the world's top PC purveyors. That's up from 28 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Dell also is expected to report its revenue grew 5.5% year over year to $15.7 billion, for the three months that ended in January.

Last week, Macy's (M) and JCPenney (JCP) kicked off the retail earnings season by posting better-than-expected earnings for the most recent quarter. Many more quarterly reports from retailers are due this week, and by and large expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are high.

Walmart (WMT), the king of retailers, is expected to buck the trend, though. Analysts anticipate that the Bentonville-based company will report that its third-quarter earnings grew only 6.7% year-over-year to 90 cents per share. During the three months that ended in October, Walmart announced an acquisition in South Africa and kicked-off the holiday shopping season, and revenue for that period is predicted to have risen 3.0% to $102.4 billion. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, analysts so far expect sequential and year-over-year growth of both earnings and revenue. Walmart results have not fallen short of consensus estimates in the past five quarters.

This week, JCPenney (JCP), Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M) are the first of the major retailers to report results for the most recent quarter.

Macy's launched an American Express credit card and increased its mobile presence during the fiscal fourth quarter. The analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast Macy's earnings for that period come to three cents per share, which compares to a net loss of three cents per share in the same period of last year. The Cincinnati-based department store operator is expected to post revenue of $5.6 billion for the three months that ended in October, which is 5.2% more than a year earlier. For the full year, the forecast calls for earnings of $1.50 per share (+6.7%) and $8.2 billion in revenue (+4.3%). Macy's earnings results have been better than expected in recent quarters by a penny or a few per share.

As the earnings season begins to wind down, retail earnings move into the spotlight. Already, JCPenney (JCP), Kohl's (KSS) and Macy's (M) have posted earnings that topped consensus estimates, though the former two also offered disappointing guidance, and Nordstrom (JWN) met earnings expectations.

Many more retailers are scheduled to post their second-quarter results this week, including Walmart (WMT), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), and Dollar Tree Stores (DLTR), whose earnings expectations we'll take a closer look at here.

Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meets again on Tuesday. Though the August meeting of the FOMC is generally uneventful, this time there is speculation about whether the FOMC will resort again to some quantitative easing -- a way of pumping additional money into the financial system.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke has already hinted at such a move, given that economic growth has clearly slowed. Last week's disappointing employment numbers are the latest confirmation of that. The question is whether the Fed's decision to take action will happen at this week's meeting, perhaps aggravating deflation fears, or it may wait until the September meeting, at which point it risks impacting the upcoming mid-term elections.

Early Tuesday morning, Best Buy (BBY) announced that its first-quarter profit increased to $155 million from $153 million a year ago. While the overall profit was slightly higher, the per-share results of 36 cents matched those from a year ago. These results fell 14 cents short of the consensus estimate.

The electronics retailer also maintained its full-year earnings of $3.45 to $3.60 per share, which surrounds the $3.50 per share expected by the Street.

Costco (COST) reported Thursday morning a 46% jump in third-quarter earnings. The warehouse retailer had solid sales during the third quarter, which helped push the company's profit to $306 million, or 68 cents per share. Membership revenue also increased 20%. The earnings topped the consensus estimate by two cents per share while revenue of $17.78 billion handily topped the estimates of $17.63 billion.

Technically, the stock finds itself at a bit of a crossroads. The shares have dropped enough in the past few weeks that they are now facing overhead resistance from their 50-week moving average.

After the closing bell sounded Thursday, Gap (GPS) released its first-quarter earnings report, revealing an increase of 40%.

Quarterly income increased to 45 cents per share from 31 cents per share a year earlier and sales totaled $3.33 billion. The earnings were slightly better than the consensus estimate of 42 cents per share and sales matched expectations. The retailer also upped its full-year earnings forecast, calling for a profit between $1.77 to $1.82 per share. The top end of the forecast range falls a penny short of the Street's expectations.

Kohl's Corp (KSS) reported Thursday that its first-quarter earnings increased 45% as a result of an 11% jump in revenue. Kohl's earned 64 cents per share during the quarter, far outpacing last year's same-quarter earnings of 45 cents per share and topping the consensus estimate of 61 cents per share. Revenue increased to $4.04 billion from $3.64 billion a year ago.

Despite the results, shares fell 2% ahead of the bell as the company's forecast disappointed investors. KSS issued a second-quarter forecast for earnings between 70 and 75 cents per share, which is well short of the expected earnings of 88 cents per share. For the full fiscal year, KSS forecast a range of $3.57 to $3.75 per share -- a range that also fell short of the consensus estimate of $3.77 per share.

Late Thursday, Aeropostale (ARO) announced that its fourth-quarter net income came in at 99 cents per share -- far better than last year's same-quarter results (66 cents) and the consensus estimate (87 cents). Quarterly sales increased 16% to $801.2 million, outpacing the consensus estimate of $795 million.

Looking ahead, ARO forecast first-quarter earnings of 39 to 40 cents per share. The Street expected ARO to forecast earnings of 34 cents per share for the first quarter. This news prompted Piper Jaffray to upgrade the teen retailer to "neutral" from "underweight," assigning a new price target of $31 for the stock.

The Federal Reserve's next Beige Book report is scheduled to be released this week. This report is a compilation of anecdotal information on current economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts, and it is released eight times a year. The data comes from interviews with business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The previous report, released in January, showed some improvement in most districts and growth in consumer spending over the holiday period, though unemployment remained high. The December report showed modest improvement in eight of the districts.

Retailers were in the earnings spotlight last week and for the most part made a strong showing of it. Even as the earnings season winds down, some more retailers are scheduled to release quarterly results this week.

Tuesday morning was a big one for retail earnings, with Home Depot, Macy's, Sears and Target reporting good news.

Barnes & Noble (BKS) total sales came to $2.2 billion in fiscal third quarter, a 33% increase year over year. Earnings were $80.2 million, or $1.38 per share. However, same-store sales slipped 4.7% from a year ago to $1.4 billion, despite strength from BN.com due to demand for the Nook. The company expects comps to decline in the fourth quarter, and forecast full-year earnings below consensus estimates.