What to Watch Thursday: Hewlett-Packard Earnings, Jobless Claims

For Thursday, August 20, Hewlett Packard Co. (HPQ) is set to release its fiscal third quarter earnings. The global IT company is expected to post earnings of $0.86 a share on revenue of nearly $25 billion. More retailers are reporting earnings results Thursday. Sears Holding Co. (SHLD) will report before the open with the Gap Inc. (GPS) and Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) reporting after the bell. On the economic calendar at 8:30 A.M., weekly Jobless Claims are expected to be near record lows of 270,000 for the August 15 week. At 10:00 a.m. existing home sales that soared to an 8-year high in June are expected to decline, but they're likely to still show a seller's market. The leading economic indicators index will be released tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and is expected to be up 0.2 percent, a decline from the previous months strong report. Also two federal reserve presidents will speak, albeit at some odd hours for the United States. At 2:45 A.M. eastern, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams will be speaking in Jakarta. He has been an advocate of raising interest rates sooner rather than later. And at 8:20 p.m. eastern, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota will be speaking on macroeconomic policy and price measurement issues in Seoul. TheStreet's Valerie Young reports from New York.