What to watch in the day ahead

By Editor

Nov 12, 2013 03:42 PM EST

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke addresses the Teacher Town Hall Meeting in Washington. Also Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto speaks at a conference in Philadelphia and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks in Atlanta.

Cisco is expected to report higher quarterly profit for its fiscal first quarter of 2014. Chief Executive John Chambers warned in August the business environment is not improving at the pace he wanted, so the report may uncover any evidence of sales pressure from the U.S. federal government shutdown and weakness in China.

Analysts will scrutinize Macy's third-quarter results to hear whether mall traffic declines from the summer eased, how much JCPenney's aggressive discounting is affecting sales and whether consumers continued to cut back on spending on clothes. The company may also update its full-year forecast ahead of the holiday season.

Google-owned Motorola is expected to unveil the Moto G phone, a low-cost smartphone aimed at consumers in developing economies and young people such as students in Western countries. Perhaps more so than the first Moto X - the first phone that Motorola released since it became part of Google - the Moto G's low price tag may give it a better shot at becoming a mass-market hit and revitalizing Motorola's business.

Mike Cavanagh, co-CEO of JPMorgan's corporate and investment bank, speaks at a conference and may seek to turn investor attention away from the company's legal issues and toward ways it can use its large market share in trading and investment banking to make money even as regulators impose more restrictions. Cavanagh, 47, is seen as a possible successor to CEO Jamie Dimon.

Toronto-based gold miner Kinross is expected to report weaker profits on the back of lower metals prices. The market will be focused on Kinross' cost-cutting initiatives as well as the ramp-up of its newest mine, Dvoinoye, in Russia, which started commercial production in October.

Brazilian state-run power utility Eletrobras reports quarterly results. It has been struggling since it agreed in December to a government plan to renew expiring hydroelectric dam concessions in exchange for electricity rate cuts. Investors will be watching for signs a massive cost-cutting effort is bearing fruit after weak first and second quarters.

Tim Sloan, Wells Fargo's chief financial officer, will present at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2013 Banking & Financial Services Conference. In his first public appearance since the bank's third-quarter earnings were released on Oct. 11, he could address the outlook for mortgages and update any guidance on fourth-quarter results.

Solar panel maker Canadian Solar is expected to turn profitable this quarter after eight straight quarters of losses. The company's margins have improved as it has ramped up exposure to Japan, where panel prices are among the highest in the world. Focus will be on the company's project business and if it plans to spin off some of these plants to raise funds.

Extended Stay, the hotel chain backed by hedge funds Paulson & Co and Centerbridge Partners and by private equity firm Blackstone Group, is scheduled to go public after raising close to $600 million through its initial public offering. Extended Stay, which would be valued at up to $4.2 billion at the top of its planned $18-$21 per share range, will look to take advantage of a recovery in the U.S. hotel industry and the offering would be watched closely as an indication of investor appetite for the upcoming Hilton Worldwide IPO. 

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