The week ahead: A peek at earnings and exhibits
Microsoft will be hosting its Windows Embedded Developers Conference in Las Vegas, among other highlights.
Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of Nov. 26 through Nov. 30. Technology professionals will be back in the swing of business after the long holiday weekend.
Microsoft will be hosting its Windows Embedded Developers Conference in Las Vegas, giving people a peek into the launch of Windows XP Embedded. The event will bring together developers, engineers and others who are interested in learning the alphabet soup of the embedded market.
Tech watchers will get to see the latest in wireless networking and broadband at conferences such as the 802.11 Planet Conference & Expo as well as the Western Show's CableNET Interactive exhibit. In addition, the System Administration, Networking and Security Institute will host a conference on online security, addressing topics such as firewalls, Web site defacements and security policy.
Russian software programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, who stands accused of five counts of copyright infringement, will head back into federal court in San Jose, Calif., this week. In addition, Edward Felten, a Princeton University professor who filed a suit against the Recording Industry Association of America, the Secure Digital Music Initiative, Verance and the Justice Department, will also have a hearing in federal court in New Jersey.
On the earnings front, investors will scrutinize earnings from computer product distributor Tech Data, telecom equipment maker ADC Telecommunications, storage network software maker Brocade Communications Systems, chip testing equipment maker Credence Systems and Alloy, a Web site focused on teens and young adults.
Lastly, Wall Street will pay attention to government data releases such as new home sales, consumer confidence and the Beige Book, a summary of commentary on current economic conditions.
Other events scheduled this week:
 | Tech Events |  | | | |
| |||||
| |||||
- Plugfest 5 will kick off concurrently with the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 26 to Nov. 29. The event is for adopters of the Department of Defense's Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM), an XML-based standard for the interoperability of educational content that works regardless of access device and enables users to find, access and share content from various federal sources.
- Russian software programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, who stands accused of five counts of copyright infringement, will make a court appearance in San Jose's federal court for a status hearing at 9 a.m. The charges stem from software Sklyarov created that strips copy protections from Adobe Systems' e-book electronic publishing format. Each charge carries a penalty of up to $500,000 and as many as five years in prison.
- Microsoft will host its second annual Windows Embedded Developers Conference at the Bellagio Las Vegas from Nov. 27 to Nov. 30. The event is for developers, engineers and others who are interested in learning about the embedded market. Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft, will deliver a keynote address and announce the launch of Windows XP Embedded.
- The Western Show's CableNET Interactive exhibit will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 27 to Nov. 30. The theme of this year's show is "Broadband Evolution" and will include a display of the latest applications and services that will soon be offered over cable networks.
- The 802.11 Planet Conference & Expo will kick off at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, Calif., Nov. 27 to Nov. 28. The event will focus on wireless networking and broadband. Exhibitors include Lucent Technologies, NextComm, Interlink Networks, NetSeal Technologies and the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.
- The System Administration, Networking, and Security (SANS) Institute will host its Cyber Defense Initiative East Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C., Nov. 27 to Dec. 3. The event will include workshops and discussions about Internet security, including firewalls, intrusion detections, VPNs, perimeter protection measures, Unix issues, Web site defacements and security policies.
- The Institute for International Research will host its Wireless LANs conference at the Radisson Miyako in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 28 to Nov. 30. The conference will bring together executives, directors and senior managers working in wireless engineering, operations, strategy network architecture, wireless local area networks and next-generation technologies. Topics include the management and planning of wireless LANs for both private and public broadband access.
- Edward Felten, a Princeton University professor who filed a suit against the Recording Industry Association of America, the Secure Digital Music Initiative, technology company Verance and the Justice Department, will have a hearing in federal court in New Jersey regarding a motion to dismiss. The suit seeks permission to overturn parts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Portions of the act restrict people from sharing information about devices that could be used to circumvent copyrights.
- The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will hold its first public event at the Mita campus of Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. The event, which will be conducted in both English and Japanese, will offer the public a chance to hear from the W3C about various technologies under development, as well as topics in areas including graphics, the Semantic Web and mobile technology.
- A debate on intellectual property rights in the new digital environment will be held at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Motion Picture Association of America President Jack Valenti and Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig will address topics such as how culture is being shaped creatively by the changes in law and technology. Lessig is the author of "The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World"
- The Belgian presidency and the commission will jointly present a conference on eGovernment policy and practice in Charlemagne, Brussels, Nov. 29 to Nov. 30. The conference will address how citizens and businesses can receive benefits from online public services. Topics include the interactive delivery of online government services, such as e-health and e-transport.
- Jupiter Media Metrix will kick off its 4th Annual Financial Services Forum at The W. New York Hotel in New York City. The event will address topics about online financial products, online payment systems and strategies on how to maintain online customer relationships.
| Earnings | | | | |
| |||||
| |||||
Monday, Nov. 26
- Tech Data is a large distributor of computer products. Per-share consensus estimate for the third fiscal quarter: profit of 51 cents.
- ADC Telecommunications makes telecom equipment for carriers. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: loss of 7 cents.
- Alloy runs a Web site focused on teens and young adults. Per-share consensus estimate for the third fiscal quarter: profit of 8 cents.
- Brocade Communications Systems makes switches and software for storage networks. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: profit of 4 cents.
- Credence Systems makes test equipment for chipmakers. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: loss of 37 cents.
- Novell makes network operation software. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: zero cents.
| Economic Reports | | | | |
| |||||
| |||||
Monday, Nov. 26
- The National Association of Realtors reports Existing Home Sales for the month of October, representing the number of previously built homes sold nationwide. The data indicate the strength of demand in housing and in the overall economy on the premise that the economy heats up as more consumers buy homes, cars and other high-ticket items. Economists expect sales to jump to 5 million from 4.89 million in September.
- Consumer Confidence will be reported by the Conference Board for the month of November. This figure, measured by an index, represents consumer sentiment towards the economy. The index fell for the fourth consecutive month to 85.5 in October from 97.0 in September, its lowest reading since 1994. Wall Street expects the index to fall to 85.3 in November.
- The Federal Reserve will release the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, also known as the Beige Book. The study comes out eight times a year and gathers anecdotal information from business leaders on the economic climate in each Federal Reserve district.
- Durable Goods Orders represents the percentage increase or decrease of big ticket items purchased, such as washing machines and refrigerators as reported monthly by the Commerce Department. Economists use the number to measure demand in the economy. Economists expect orders to rise by 1 percent in October from September's decrease of 8.5 percent.
- Initial Claims refers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits each week as reported by the Department of Labor. Claims will be reported for the week of Nov. 24.
- The Help Wanted Index for the month of October is a monthly survey by the Conference Board that tracks volume of help-wanted advertising in major national newspapers. Wall Street uses the index to measure trends in job growth. In September, the index fell to 52 from August's 53. The index stood at 79 during September 2000.
- The Commerce Department will release New Home Sales figures for October, which represents the number of new homes sold in the United States and serves as another measure of demand in the economy. In September, the government reported 864,000 homes were sold, but the market expects to fall to 850,000 in next week's report.
- The Commerce Department will report preliminary Gross Domestic Product numbers for the third quarter of 2001. GDP represents the value of U.S. goods and services produced within a certain time frame and is a measure of the nations overall economic health. The government previously reported in an advance release that GDP fell 0.4 percent for the third quarter compared with a 0.3 percent increase in the second quarter. Economists expect third quarter GDP will be revised to a decrease of 0.8 percent.