News Calendar: Alcoa's Up Next

Updated from 12:34 p.m. EDT

Editor's note: Welcome to our newest feature. This week, we're starting a column that will contain stock and economic news, analysis and maybe a little wit. The first version will be published before the market opens, and updates will follow throughout the trading day. Writer Robert Holmes will be the primary author, but the rest of us might pitch in from time to time.

(At 4 p.m. EDT)

Looking Ahead to Tuesday

Tuesday looks to be more exciting than Monday's ho-hum session, if only marginally. The unofficial start of earnings season comes after the next close, when Alcoa (AA Quote) will post its quarterly numbers.

Don't get your hopes up, though. Alcoa has fallen short of the average forecast of analysts four out of the last six quarters, according to Thomson Reuters. Analysts are looking for a loss of 58 cents a share when Alcoa reports.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY Quote) and Ruby Tuesday (RT Quote) are also set to report after Tuesday's close, with both expected to notch a profit during what was an especially brutal stretch for consumer discretionary names.

Still, the major rush of earnings season won't come until next week, when heavyweights like Goldman Sachs (GS Quote), Intel (INTC Quote), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ Quote), JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote), Citigroup (C Quote) and many others will report.

Tuesday's economic calendar isn't much more exciting. The lone report of the day will be delivered at 2 p.m. EDT when the February report on consumer credit is released. After consumer credit unexpectedly rose in January to $1.8 billion following December's $7.5 billion drop, credit is expected to have fallen by $1.5 billion in February.

Winners & Losers

Defense contractors were the leaders Monday after Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled a plan that would overhaul the U.S. security program. Lockheed Martin (LMT Quote) jumped nearly 9% after Gates said funding for the F-35 Lightning jet will be increased in 2010 to $11.2 billion in order to buy 30 jets, up from 14 previously.