Apple Tablet: Tomorrow's Headliners

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Apple's (AAPL) major product announcement scheduled for Wednesday may be what everyone is waiting for Wednesday, although investors will have plenty of earnings reports to sift through before the event.

The Apple tablet is expected to finally land Wednesday after months of speculation about what the device will actually do and which wireless providers the tablet will be married to. The official unveiling is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST as part of Apple's media event in San Francisco.

Before that, though, investors will be greeted by a plethora of earnings releases, many coming from components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Before the opening bell rings, Boeing (BA), Caterpillar (CAT) and United Technologies (UTX) are slated to report.

In addition, ConocoPhillips (COP), General Dynamics (GD), Hess (HES), Valero Energy (VLO) and WellPoint (WLP) are also scheduled to open their books on the fourth quarter.

After trading ends Wednesday, earnings reports from Qualcomm (QCOM), E*Trade Financial (ETFC) and Netflix (NFLX) are on tap.

The economic docket is filled to the brim as well, starting with the latest read on mortgage applications and rates from the Mortgage Bankers Association, due for release at 7 a.m. EST. Last week, the MBA said mortgage application volume increased 9.1% for the week ended Jan. 15, while the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell to 5% from 5.13%.

At 10 a.m. EST, the Census Bureau will release new home sales data for December, which should show an increase to 368,000 units from 355,000 in November. At the same time, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will begin his testimony before the House Oversight Committee on American International Group (AIG).