US EQUITIES WEEK AHEAD: Alcoa To Report, G8 Nations Summit

Alcoa Inc. (AA) posts results Wednesday in the unofficial kickoff of the second-quarter earnings season for blue chips.

Major retailers are expected to report a decrease in June same-store sales Thursday, compared with a small increase a year earlier.

The Group of Eight nations will summit in Italy this week, with global warming and Iran among the possible issues to be covered.

 
   Alcoa Begins 2Q Earnings Season 
 

Aluminum company Alcoa leads off the U.S. earnings season on Wednesday. The company has struggled as collapsing demand pressures volumes and prices. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to swing to its third consecutive loss, with revenue expected to be nearly halved.

 
   A. Schulman, Pepsi Bottling Group Report Results 
 

A. Schulman Inc. (SHLM), Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG) and Lawson Software Inc. (LWSN) are among the few companies also posting quarterly results next week. A. Schulman, a supplier of raw materials for plastics, is projected to post a steep drop in earnings and revenue on Tuesday as the company battles falling demand.

Pepsi Bottling, due a day later, is expected to report a single-digit decline in earnings. The results aren't entirely bad news as the company raised its second-quarter and 2009 profit estimates last month due to improved soda results in the U.S. and Canada as well as easing commodities costs and foreign-exchange volatility.

Lawson Software, set to report Thursday, in April forecast fiscal fourth-quarter earnings in line with analyst estimates, but issued a lower-than-expected revenue view. The business-software maker's new license revenue, an important measure of software growth, has fallen recently although margins have improved.

Other companies reporting results are motorsports promoter International Speedway Corp. (ISCA) on Tuesday, discount chain Family Dollar Stores Inc. (FDO) on Wednesday, and personal-care and household consumer-products maker Helen of Troy Corp. (HELE) on Thursday.

 
   Retailers To Report June Sales 
 

Same-store sales likely fell 4.5% in June, compared with 1.9% growth a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters. The year-to-year comparison is skewed, as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), the world's largest retailer and a pocket of strength in recession, no longer reports monthly sales.

The teen/child apparel segment is seen posting a double-digit drop, while the discount, apparel and department-store segments are expected to post single-digit declines. The drug segment, which includes Walgreen Co. (WAG) and Rite Aid Corp. (RAD), is expected to post a small improvement.

 
   Index Expected To Show Higher Consumer Sentiment 
 

The major economic reports next week include the Institute for Supply Management's services index for June, the trade deficit for May and the preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July.

On Monday, the ISM report is expected to improve for the third consecutive month, suggesting the nonmanufacturing sector is shrinking at a slower pace than before.

The May trade deficit is expected to widen slightly from April but to remain well below levels seen as recently as the middle of last year.

The University of Michigan index, to be released Friday, is expected to show consumer sentiment rising in July, although the levels are still depressed.

 
   G8 Members Summit In Italy 
 

The Group of Eight will meet for their annual summit in Italy for three days beginning Wednesday, and talks are likely to call on industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050, according to a report from a Japanese economic daily. Possible sanctions against Iran's nuclear ambitions could also be mulled by the group. The Group of Eight includes the host nation, U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the U.S.

 
   U.S. Delays Decision On Honduras Following Coup 
 

The U.S. delayed any decision to cut aid to Honduras until Monday in order to give a diplomatic initiative time to return ousted President Manuel Zelaya to power, a U.S. official said. Tensions flared in Honduras since Zelaya was deposed in an army-backed coup last week and swiftly flown out of the country. The coup was the first in the major banana and coffee exporter in more than 20 years.

 
   Obama, Medvedev To Meet In Moscow Monday 
 

President Barack Obama will make his first visit to Russia on Monday, meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow for their first summit. In April, the leaders laid out a broad agenda to reinvigorate ties, including a pledge to conclude a new nuclear arms limitation agreement this year. Last month, Medvedev said the two nations could agree on nuclear disarmament if the U.S. gave up existing plans to set up a missile defense shield in Europe.

-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; [e-mail]

(Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to this report.)