What to Watch in the Week Ahead: Twitter, Facebook Earnings, GDP

For the week of July 27, TheStreet highlights the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the key earnings reports and economic data to watch on Wall Street. Policymakers will gather in Washington on Tuesday, as economists expect the central bank to begin raising interest rates in September. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its policy decision after the end of the meeting on Wednesday afternoon. On the earnings front, it’s another busy week. The notable companies reporting their latest quarterly earnings include Chinese-language Internet search provider Baidu (BIDU), pharmaceutical company Merck & Co (MRK), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Ford Motor Co (F), United Parcel Service (UPS), Twitter (TWTR), DuPont (DD), Facebook (FB), MasterCard (MA), Colgate-Palmolive Co (CL), Procter & Gamble Co (PG), Cigna Corp (CI), professional networking site LinkedIn Corp (LNKD), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM), and oil giant Chevron Corp (CVX). On the economic calendar we note durable goods orders, the S&P Case-Shiller home price index, the GDP report, and the consumer sentiment level. TheStreet's Kurumi Fukushima reports from New York.