Earnings Preview for Dec 1 - 5

Companies that could issue positive surprises include Casey's General Stores (CASY - Snapshot Report). Meanwhile, Sigma Designs (SIGM - Snapshot Report) might disappoint investors.

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The Week's Events

December greets investors with a light earnings calendar and a large amount of economic data.

The week's biggest scheduled event will be the Big 3 bailout. American automakers Chrysler, Ford Motor Co. (F - Analyst Report) and General Motors Corporation (GM - Analyst Report) are required to provide Congress with a turnaround plan by Tuesday, Dec 2. Hearings are scheduled for the end of the week, with a vote occurring as soon as Dec 8. (A suggestion to the CEOs, don't use the corporate jets to travel to Washington.)

Just 47 companies are confirmed to report. The largest companies are S&P 500 members Big Lots (BIG - Analyst Report), Novell Inc. (NOVL), Sears Holdings (SHLD - Analyst Report) and Staples Inc. (SPLS - Analyst Report).

Key economic data will include the November ISM manufacturing index (Monday), Beige Book (Wednesday) and November employment numbers (Friday).

• Monday: November ISM manufacturing index, October construction spending
• Tuesday: November auto sales
• Wednesday: November ISM services index, Revised third-quarter productivity, Federal Reserve Beige Book (afternoon release), weekly crude inventories
• Thursday: October factory orders, weekly initial jobless claims
• Friday: November unemployment and nonfarm payrolls, October consumer credit

No Fed members are scheduled to deliver speeches.

December is typically a bullish month; however, given the current economic backdrop and continued volatility, the markets remain unpredictable. Black Friday sales data could have an impact early in the week, while reaction to the automakers' turnaround plans could affect market direction late in the week.

Unscheduled events remain a wildcard, including any new actions taken by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson or new economic proposals from President-elect Barrack Obama.

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Companies That Could Issue Positive Earnings Surprises

Casey's General Stores (CASY - Snapshot Report) has topped expectations during 3 out of the last 4 quarters. Ahead of the company's fiscal second-quarter report, 2 out of the 3 covering brokerage analysts have raised their forecasts on the gas and convenience store chain. These revisions have pushed the consensus earnings estimate 6 cents higher to 58 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is even more bullish at 61 cents per share. CASY is scheduled to report on Wednesday, Dec 3, after the close of trading.

Companies That Could Issue Negative Earnings Surprises

Sigma Designs (SIGM - Snapshot Report) recently warned that third-quarter revenues would be well below its previous guidance. The company now expects to report revenues of $46.5 million. Previously, the company projected that third-quarter revenues would stay near those of the second-quarter, which totaled $58.2 million.

Nearly all of the 5 covering brokerage analysts cut their guidance in response, causing the consensus earnings estimate to fall 10 cents to 24 cents per share. The most accurate estimate is more bearish at 21 cents per share. The semiconductor company has missed earnings once in the past 2 quarters. SIGM is scheduled to report on Tuesday, Dec 2, after the close of trading.

Charles Rotblut, CFA is the senior market analyst for Zacks.com. He can be reached at crotblut@zacks.com.

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Earnings Calendar

Here is a list of companies that we have confirmed will report during the week of Dec 1 - 5¹. Prices are as of Tuesday's, Nov 25, close.

Company	Ticker	Zacks Consensus Estimate	Year Ago Actual	Last Qtr Surprise	Report Date	Report Time	Price
Inergy Hldgs Lp	NRGP	$0.44	$0.19	28.6%	12/1/2008	BTO	$18.47
Inergy Lp	NRGY - Snapshot Report	($0.51)	($0.72)	(45.0%)	12/1/2008	BTO	$14.66
Shanda Interact	SNDA	$0.55	$0.44	12.0%	12/1/2008	AMC	$23.22
Americas Car-Mt	CRMT - Snapshot Report	$0.34	$0.29	21.6%	12/2/2008	BTO	$9.55
Bank Of Nova Sc	BNS - Snapshot Report	$0.74	$0.94	(2.1%)	12/2/2008	N/A	$27.13
Beacon Roofing	BECN - Analyst Report	$0.39	$0.25	36.7%	12/2/2008	BTO	$10.92
Beazer Homes	BZH - Snapshot Report	($2.30)	($3.21)	(7.1%)	12/2/2008	BTO	$1.79
Gladstone Captl	GLAD - Snapshot Report	$0.35	$0.39	(13.5%)	12/2/2008	AMC	$5.50
Marvell Tech Gp	MRVL - Snapshot Report	$0.15	$0.03	21.4%	12/2/2008	AMC	$5.34
Omnivision Tech	OVTI - Analyst Report	$0.07	$0.36	(25.0%)	12/2/2008	AMC	$6.06
Sears Hldg Cp	SHLD - Analyst Report	($0.46)	$0.01	(41.7%)	12/2/2008	BTO	$33.39
Sigma Designs	SIGM - Snapshot Report	$0.24	$0.72	20.7%	12/2/2008	AMC	$8.13
Solarfun Power	SOLF	$0.15	$0.17	4.6%	12/2/2008	BTO	$4.13
Staples Inc	SPLS - Analyst Report	$0.41	$0.42	(8.7%)	12/2/2008	BTO	$17.13
Aeropostale Inc	ARO - Snapshot Report	$0.62	$0.48	0.0%	12/3/2008	AMC	$14.40
Casella Waste	CWST - Snapshot Report	$0.10	$0.14	166.7%	12/3/2008	AMC	$4.31
Caseys Gen Strs	CASY - Snapshot Report	$0.58	$0.54	17.6%	12/3/2008	AMC	$28.80
Collective Brnd	PSS - Snapshot Report	$0.41	$0.39	86.2%	12/3/2008	AMC	$6.65
Del Monte Foods	DLM	$0.12	$0.14	20.0%	12/3/2008	BTO	$5.33
Diamond Foods	DMND - Analyst Report	$0.62	$0.52	23.1%	12/3/2008	AMC	$27.50
Dynamex Inc	DDMX	$0.42	$0.39	7.1%	12/3/2008	AMC	$16.86
Infineon Tech	IFX	($0.13)	($0.51)	113.8%	12/3/2008	N/A	$2.64
Jo-Ann Stores A	JAS	$0.33	$0.32	28.8%	12/3/2008	AMC	$12.91
Synopsys Inc	SNPS - Analyst Report	$0.30	$0.28	16.1%	12/3/2008	AMC	$15.44
Synovis Lif Tec	SYNO	$0.13	$0.12	27.3%	12/3/2008	BTO	$13.00
Xeta Tech Inc	XETA	$0.06	$0.07	20.00%	12/3/2008	AMC	$1.90
Amer Software A	AMSWA - Snapshot Report	$0.05	$0.10	(40.0%)	12/4/2008	N/A	$3.46
Argon St Inc	STST	$0.27	$0.23	0.0%	12/4/2008	BTO	$19.55
Cascade Corp	CAE - Snapshot Report	$0.80	$1.00	(6.9%)	12/4/2008	AMC	$25.45
Cdn Impl Bk	CM - Snapshot Report	$1.47	$2.23	(4.2%)	12/4/2008	N/A	$34.47
Jackson Hewitt	JTX	($0.75)	($0.60)	1.4%	12/4/2008	BTO	$11.91
Layne Christens	LAYN - Snapshot Report	$0.66	$0.59	25.8%	12/4/2008	BTO	$18.15
Liquidity Svcs	LQDT - Snapshot Report	$0.10	$0.11	0.0%	12/4/2008	AMC	$6.67
Magma Design	LAVA	($0.32)	$0.02	0.0%	12/4/2008	AMC	$1.50
Novell Inc	NOVL	$0.04	($0.03)	66.7%	12/4/2008	AMC	$4.27
Sanderson Farms	SAFM - Snapshot Report	($0.47)	$1.18	0.0%	12/4/2008	BTO	$30.37
Sirona Dental	SIRO - Snapshot Report	$0.35	$0.26	23.5%	12/4/2008	BTO	$11.00
Smithfield Food	SFD - Analyst Report	($0.08)	$0.24	71.4%	12/4/2008	BTO	$6.15
Softbrands Inc	SBN	$0.02	$0.03	(100.0%)	12/4/2008	N/A	$0.61
Toll Brothers	TOL - Snapshot Report	($0.42)	($0.52)	35.7%	12/4/2008	BTO	$18.54
Toronto Dom Bnk	TD - Snapshot Report	$0.98	$1.38	(5.7%)	12/4/2008	BTO	$33.38
Uti Worldwide	UTIW - Snapshot Report	$0.35	$0.35	3.7%	12/4/2008	BTO	$10.02
Williams-Sonoma	WSM - Snapshot Report	($0.11)	$0.25	0.0%	12/4/2008	BTO	$6.71
Wind River Sys	WIND	$0.03	$0.01	450.0%	12/4/2008	AMC	$7.65
Big Lots Inc	BIG - Analyst Report	$0.15	$0.14	18.5%	12/5/2008	BTO	$16.06
Blyth Inc	BTH - Snapshot Report	$0.18	$0.24	(40.0%)	12/5/2008	BTO	$6.94
Royal Bank Cda	RY - Snapshot Report	$0.97	$0.99	(12.4%)	12/5/2008	N/A	$31.83

BMO = Before The Market Open, AMC = After Market Close

¹Some of the companies listed in the earnings calendar may not be in the Zacks Rank universe.

Read the full analyst report on NOVL

Read the full analyst report on MTLQQ

Read the full analyst report on BIG

Read the full analyst report on F

Read the full analyst report on SIGM

Read the full analyst report on SPLS

Read the full analyst report on SHLD

Read the full analyst report on CASY