US EQUITIES WEEK AHEAD: Retail Results, Heart-Drug Studies

NEW YORK -- Major retailers, food processors as well as troubled insurance giant American International Group Inc. (AIG) are among the companies reporting results next week as the third-quarter earnings season winds down.

Meanwhile several drug makers will present recent studies on heart medications at a meeting of the American Heart Association, and bond markets will close early Monday and remain shut Tuesday for Veterans Day.

Retailers Report Results Amid Sales Slump

Major retailers will begin reporting their fiscal third-quarter results next week, including the world's largest, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT). It is expected to post per-share earnings of 76 cents, up 10%, on Thursday.

Also scheduled to report are Liz Claiborne Inc. (LIZ) and TJX Cos. (TJX), both Tuesday; Macy's Inc. (M) on Wednesday; and J.C. Penney Co. (JCP), Kohl's Corp. (KSS) and Nordstrom Inc. (JWN), all Thursday.

This week, retailers detailed dismal sales for October, with almost 60% of chain stores reporting sales that fell below already-weak forecasts. The Thomson Reuters index of 34 retailers showed a comparable-store sales decline of 0.7%; without Wal-Mart, the index fell 4.1%. The International Council of Shopping Centers said the October results were the worst it had seen in 35 years.

AIG Seen Posting Another Quarterly Loss

AIG is expected to report a third-quarter loss of 90 cents a share on revenue of $18 billion Monday. The insurer has borrowed more than $80 billion from the federal government since being bailed out to prevent the insurance giant's bankruptcy.

Other companies scheduled to post results are satellite-television company Dish Network Corp. (DISH) and satellite-radio company Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI), both Monday; conglomerate Tyco International Ltd. (TYC) on Tuesday; and struggling casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) a day later.

Tyson Foods, Starbucks Post Results

Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) report results Monday as the troubled U.S. poultry industry finds it more difficult to pass on higher raw-material costs to consumers, who are eating at home more and trading down to dark meat or pork.

Also reporting Monday is Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), which is expected to report per-share earnings of 13 cents, down 38% from a year earlier. Last week, Chairman Howard Schultz said he was seeing signs of improvement early in the current quarter, suggesting the coffee chain may have hit bottom.

Heart-Drug Study Results On Review

The American Heart Association holds its annual scientific sessions Saturday through Wednesday in New Orleans, and several drug makers will present studies they hope support broader use of existing heart drugs or regulatory approval of experimental ones.

Results of a positive trial of AstraZeneca PLC's (AZN) cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor are to be released Sunday, while new data on drugs from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and others also are due.

The conference will feature a debate Wednesday among cardiologists about the safety and effectiveness of Merck & Co.'s (MRK) and Schering-Plough Corp.'s (SGP) cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia, whose sales have declined on concerns raised by recent studies.

U.S., Canada Mark Holidays Tuesday

U.S. bond markets will close early Monday and remain closed Tuesday for Veterans Day. Government offices also will be shut, but stock and commodity markets will be open.

Tuesday is Remembrance Day in Canada, where markets, banks, businesses and government offices will be closed.

Lower Sept. Trade Deficit Expected

The U.S. trade deficit likely narrowed in September as oil prices continued to slide amid lower demand for crude. Details on the trade balance and import and exports prices will be released Thursday.

The next day, the government reports on October retail sales, which are expected to be down 0.9%, more than September's 0.6% decline.

Also due Friday, a report on September business inventories and the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index's preliminary figures for November. The index dropped sharply to 57.6 in October from 70.3 the month before.

On Monday, the private Conference Board releases its October Employment Trends Index.

Global-Exchange Chiefs At Expo

Global-exchange industry leaders gather in Chicago for the annual FIA Expo, with the outlook for trading volumes, a new regulatory framework in the U.S. and competition for a slice of clearing the credit default swap market expected to dominate the event Tuesday and Wednesday. Outgoing Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Walter Lukken provides the keynote address, with senior executives from CME Group Inc. (CME), NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) among the panelists.

Obama To Visit Bush At White House

President-elect Barack Obama will visit the White House on Monday to discuss transition plans with President Bush.

Also, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will meet Obama's aides as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a visit to Washington next week.

Palestinian Factions To Talk In Cairo

Representatives from all major Palestinian political movements have been invited to Cairo next week to discuss a reconciliation plan, which has been welcomed by Fatah and 11 other factions. However, Hamas, which violently seized power in Gaza in June 2007, has threatened to boycott the talks, accusing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of arresting hundreds of members of the Islamist movement.

Among the significant conferences next week are the Rodman & Renshaw Annual Global Investment Conference from Monday through Wednesday in New York; Merrill Lynch Banking & Financial Services Conference from Tuesday through Thursday in New York; Credit Suisse Group Healthcare Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Phoenix; UBS Building and Building Products Sixth Annual CEO Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in New York; Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP East Coast Financial Services Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Palm Beach, Fla.; and Bank of America Securities Energy Conference on Thursday and Friday in Key Biscayne, Fla.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com

(Doug Cameron, Peter Loftus and other Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to this report.)