Next week we may have the FOMC meeting, but analysts and economists are looking for no change in rates with the language growing more hawkish on inflation and more cautious on the economy.  But what will rule the roost for potentially many sectors is earnings out of key companies like Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), and Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI).  These may not all spill over into macro-economic events but these are some of the most important earnings announcements on deck for traders next week.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) reports Tuesday (AUG 5) and will bethe key for tech stocks next week, particularly anything tied toconsumer spending.  The networking giant is expected to post $0.39 EPSon $10.31 Billion in revenues.  Among the key here to watch is whatChambers says regarding the outlook for enterprises and if he can turnmore positive than his last report.  The 52-week trading range is$20.56 to $34.24, and analysts still have an average target north of$29.00.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reports Tuesday (AUG 5) will be thekey report for the consumer spending segment for all of the things thatwe aren’t supposed to go without.  Analysts are looking for $0.78 EPSon about $21 Billion in revenues.  The 52-week trading range is $60.05to $75.18 and analysts have an average price target north of $75.00.

Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) in on deck Wednesday (AUG 6).  Finding anyonepositive here is hard to do, but so far analysts are looking at -$0.53EPS on $2.18 Billion in revenues.  We won’t even comment on theseestimates for obvious reasons.  Analyst targets are so far apart thatwe deem them worthless here on this stock.  We won’t be shocked if thisdate changes either.  The 52-week trading range is $3.89 to $67.20, sowe won’t remind you of the pain.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) is also on deck Wednesday (AUG 6) on wemight even get to find just how serious it is about finding a buyer andif that SKTelecom is closer.  Analysts are looking for $0.03 EPS on$9.17 Billion in revenues. Sprint’s 52-week trading range is $5.48 to$21.05 and analysts have an average price target just shy of $11.00.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) is the last of the media titans to reportearnings, which will be on Wednesday (AUG 6).  The media and onlinegiant is expected to post $0.23 EPS on $11.44 Billion in revenues, butwe’d throw out the upcoming spin off of Cable and other restructuringsas a caveat.  The 52-week trading range is $13.50 to $19.42 and theaverage analyst target is almost $20.00.

Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) is set to report Thursday (AUG 7), whichwas just etched in stone today.  Be advised that we are not giving newprojections here because First Call and other ratings agencies are notyet caught up at all to the current new-co on a post merger basis.  The52-week trading range is $1.49 to $3.94 and this just saw new 52-weeklows this Friday.

We’ll be providing all of these with detailed previews at least oncenext week with data on analyst expectations, technical analysis, andeven what options traders appear to be braced for.  Keep in mind thatmany of these dates can change and you can bet that the estimates willall be slightly different by the time these earnings actually get here.

JON C. OGG
AUGUST 1, 2008

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