AnnTaylor, Smucker: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Housing data and retail earnings will be in focus during Friday's session, while investors will also eye options expiration as the week draws to a close.

Tomorrow is the third Friday of the month, marking the expiration of options contracts. Typically, this leads to increased volatility, which often means violent swings in the equity market.

Looking specifically at stock names, AnnTaylor (ANN Quote) will be one of only a handful of companies reporting earnings Friday. Analysts are looking for a profit of 2 cents a share and for sales to tumble 20.3% from the year-ago quarter to $472.2 million.

Some retail analysts have high expectations for AnnTaylor. On Wednesday, UBS analyst Roxanne Meyer upgraded the stock to buy, noting that AnnTaylor's Loft division is a catalyst for the recovery of the company.

Shares of AnnTaylor have been very strong this year despite the economic recession. The stock is up nearly 120% in 2009, although it is still lower by 47% over the last 12 months.

Investors will likely still be sifting through earnings reports from several other retailers set to post results after Thursday's closing bell, including Gap (GPS Quote), Foot Locker (FL Quote) and Pacific Sunwear (PSUN Quote), among others.

Also on Friday's earnings slate, J.M. Smucker (SJM Quote) is expected to report earnings of 80 cents a share on revenue of $1.04 billion, according to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate. Smucker shares are higher by almost 20% in 2009, although they are down 7% over the last 12 months.