Coming Week: More Earnings, Upside

The month of July comes to a close Friday, but not before the earnings onslaught continues with another rush of quarterly reports scheduled to hit.

As the major U.S. averages surged to their best levels of the year in the past week, investors might be expected to book some profits. Yet, with another spate of reports due, market analysts expect money to stay off the sidelines.

Earnings were the main catalyst behind last week's strong rally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 4% after 12 of its 30 components reported quarterly results over the last five sessions. On Thursday, the blue-chip average set a new closing high for 2009, finishing at its best levels since November.

The S&P 500, meanwhile, jumped 4.1% for the week after 143 of its 500 constituents posted earnings. The Nasdaq notched a 12-session win streak before that was snapped Friday.

During the coming week, though, only five of the Dow's components will report quarterly results: Disney(DIS Quote), Exxon Mobil(XOM Quote), Chevron(CVX Quote), Travelers(TRV Quote) and Verizon(VZ Quote).

While the number of Dow components reporting over the next five sessions has dwindled from last week, more than 140 constituents of the S&P 500 are set to report, exceeding last week's total. For that reason, Art Hogan, Jefferies' chief market strategist, says the market will continue to trade off earnings.

"It will be a catalyst-filled week, that's for sure," says Hogan. "There seems to be more momentum in the market to the upside rather than the downside. I also think we came into this earnings season positioned in a way that caught them by surprise. Now they're getting squeezed and that will probably stay the same, although not at the same magnitude."

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting