The upcoming week is not very active on the earnings front but we do have some key events to watch for individual equities and companies.  This our cast of “The Unusual Suspects” for the week ahead.

We are reviewing events or ongoing news in shares of Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP), CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX), Five Star Quality Care Inc. (NYSE: FVE), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU), Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN), Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX).

Inside each preview we have shown what the news or upcoming event is, given price indications, and added color on each if applicable.  Also, we had ten top analyst calls of the week that are carry-over events from last week and we also have a full detailed earnings calendar with previews for the top ten companies reporting earnings this coming week in separate articles.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) announced on Friday evening that its board of directors had raised its share buyback plan with an additional 35 million shares of common stock on top of about 15 million shares remaining under the previous buyback plan.  If executed entirely, this would be about 10% of its entire stock’s float.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) is set to split 3-for-1 on Thursday after it declared that split in early May.  This is one of the many pending and current splits, a trend we are seeing more of than we have in years. Shares closed at $73.48 Friday and the 52-week range is $46.51 to $80.42.

Five Star Quality Care Inc. (NYSE: FVE) is expected to have a secondary offering of up to 10 million shares mid-week, with all of the shares expected to be sold by the company.  Shares were pounded on the announcement of the deal with a drop from $7.20 before to $6.27 on the day of the news and then to close out the week at $6.10.  Its market cap is only about $220 million share its 52-week trading range is $2.72 to $8.95.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) disclosed a subpoena from the Department of Justice on Friday after the close, which included requests for documentation on testing of nearly all its products.  The wording also noted “criminal” on top of civil in the subpoena.  If Gilead was Lucille Ball, it would have “splaining” to do.  Surprisingly, shares were only down a little more than 2% at $39.40 after the close on the news. Its 52-week range is $31.73 to $42.93.

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) was up 6% Friday on word that Liberty’s John Malone and Live Nation CEO Irving Azoff were in talks to possibly take Live Nation private.  At $10.92, its 52-week trading range is $8.17 to $12.48, but this stock stalled out at $16.00 in April-2010 and has been dead since.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) again came in at #1 on the IBD 100 after rallying on beating earnings and raising guidance.  Holders also recently approved its 2-for-1 stock split.  Other IBD 100 Stocks: NFLX #2, FOSL #3. Lululemon shares closed just under $90.00 on Friday and the 52-week range is $31.08 to $102.83.

Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) will be interesting to see if shareholders trust the “I’m just too damned busy” excuse from the company… After the close on Friday came word that the memory-license company’s Bruce Dunlevie resigned as Chairman and resigned from its Board of Directors.  The reason was “due to the increased demands of responsibilities at Benchmark Capital and its portfolio companies.”  Rambus named J. Thomas Bentley as Dunlevie’s replacement as Chairman.  Keep in mind that this is when shares are close to a 52-week low.  Shares fell 1.8% to $13.58 Friday and were down another 1.3% at $13.40 in the after-hours, but its 52-week range is $13.09 to $22.80.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) has an upcoming FDA panel review for its macular degeneration drug.  With a market cap of close to $5 billion and a share price of close to $54.50, its 52-week trading range is $20.45 to $71.74.

Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) has its moment of truth with earnings on deck this week on Thursday after the close.  Investors are already expecting the company to come clean about its full year as its smart phone and tablet sales have not only not grown they are doing worse than finding a lower base.  We gave a full preview, but that will likely change between now and Thursday.  Look at its stock chart and it is worse than when it warned…

A special note on RIM: Don’t buy into the notion that this is a “Value Stock,” because that is called a “Value Trap” when stocks look cheap in the back data but the stock keeps falling.  If you want to convince yourself that RIM is a buy, make sure it is because you think that the stock is too oversold, or too out of favor more than reality permits, or because you think they can turn around; just don’t look at “trailing 12-month earnings” or even just relying on “consensus estimates” in your analysis. What will matter more than anything is if the company can convince Wall Street that it will find a base due to its superiority in security.  At $36.56, its 52-week range is $36.08 to $70.54.  Be advised, despite the negativity if it is “less bad” and acceptable in a poor outlook ahead, you could see serious short covering.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) may be “the big IPO comparison” this week as Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) is set to come public mid-week.  Pandora already got a premium boost to its IPO pricing and this has the talk higher.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) will trade ex-split on Thursday to reflect its 2-for-1 stock split.  Shares have more than doubled since it re-emerged from bankruptcy last year.  This reflects the split announced in early May.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are expected to receive a decision from the FDA on approval for Potiga for partial seizures from epilepsy; FDA rejected the drug earlier despite a panel recommendation for approval.  As a reminder, Sequoia outlined why it was sticking with Valeant as its largest holding this last week.

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JON C. OGG

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