Next Week's News Today (Election Day, Media Companies, Casinos, Liquor, Steak Houses, and of course Real Estate)

If it's Thursday, then it's time for Next Week's News Today where we publish our own futures calendar of earnings, reports, hearings and political events which will either drive the news, or deserve more attention. Last week we were correct to point out that earnings would be a driver, and that oil companies would get serious play. We were right that regional banks would get play, but we were disappointed to not see an overarching story on the health of the regional banks sparked by the litany of earnings reports last week. We also thought the number of real estate companies reporting last week would have been a terrific piece - but sometimes the market itself overshadows the sidebars.

Before diving into trends for next week, we have an update for tomorrow's calendar: Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke speaks (via satellite) at 2p ET to the "Symposium on the Mortgage Meltdown, the Economy and Public Policy." Sounds exactly like the type of thing for a live webcast.

Here's why you care about next week's trends:

Politics - First, we all know Tuesday is the big day. Barring hanging chads, look for a quick turnaround in the news on what the next administration's cabinet will look like (we wouldn't be surprised to see articles on Sunday looking at both candidates in this light), specifically in the business pages what the financial team for the next administration will look like.

Broadcasting - Last week Comcast reported, next week Cox Radio, Iowa Telecom, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Time Warner, Time Warner Cable, and Time Warner Telecom all report earnings on 11/5 and are among the media companies reporting next week. Advertising dollars, distribution, and what people are willing to live with, and without in a strained economy are interesting if part of a broader look at the industry.

Gaming/Casinos - Ameristar Casino and Churchill Downs (11/5), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (11/7) provide a platform of an examination of how the gaming industry fairs when times get tough.

Liquor - AmBev and Anheuser-Busch report 11/6 and stories on alcohol consumption during a volatile market are always interesting.

Steak Houses - Yes, steak houses. McCormick & Schmick's and Ruth's Chris Steak House (11/5) are both reporting next week, and the question in our minds is - are business lunches on the decline? We'll guess yes, but we could be wrong.

Real Estate - Next week (like last week) offers a deep bench of real estate companies reporting. What interests us is what these companies are thinking for the long term. We'd love to see an article on their 1, 2 and 5 year plans. If anything that would show what each company is betting is the bottom of the market, and how they plan to keep fighting in the years to come.

Utilities - There are again a broader number of utilities reporting next week. This is an opportunity to look at utility costs for homeowners in the same way basic goods have been analyzed.

Reports - Car and Truck sales are out on 11/4 and unemployment 11/7 - both likely to get at least a paragraph on the business pages.

As always, all items are broken down by day below.

MONDAY 11/3
Earnings: Allegheny Energy; Atlas Energy Resources; Automatic Data Processing; Bronco Drilling Co.; Comstock Res Inc.; Cross Country Healthcare Inc; Dynamics Research; Forest Oil Corp.; Herbalife; Goodyear tire; Grubb & Ellis; Hawaiian Electric Industries; Houston Wire & Cable; Health Care REIT; MasterCard; Mercury General; Mohawk Industries Inc.; NICOR Inc; Parkway Properties; PMI Group; Post Properties; Orient-Express Hotels; Oshkosh Corp; Pennsylvania REIT; Principal Financial Group; Rockwell Collins; St. Mary Land and Exploration; Sysco; UDR Inc.; United States Cellular Corp;

Economic Reports: Construction Spending (for September); Federal Reserve posts its statistical release on Foreign Exchange Rates.

Events: Washington Post reporter Liz Mundy signs her Michelle Obama biography "Michelle" at Politics and Prose


TUESDAY 11/4 - ELECTION DAY
Earnings: AMICAS; Archer-Daniels; Ameren; Boston Beer Co; BRE Properties; Cambrex; Emerson; FirstEnergy; Healthsouth; HRPT Properties; Kenneth Cole; Gasco Energy; LoJack; Marvel Enterprises; National Retail Properties; Nautilus Group; Papa John's; Perot Systems; Providence Service Group; Tenet Healthcare; Tenneco; Titanium Metals; TXCO Resources; Ultra Petroleum; Virgin Mobile USA; Vornado Realty Trust; Weight Watchers

Economic Reports: Car and Truck Sales (for October); Factory Order (for September)


WEDNESDAY 11/5
Earnings: Activision Blizzard; Advisory Board; AMBAC Financial; Ameristar Casinos; AvalonBay; Blackstone; Brandywine Realty; CapitalSource; CenterPoint Energy; Checkpoint Systems; Churchill Downs; Cisco; Conseco; Cox Radio; Devon Energy; Digital Realty Trust; General Motors; Hertz Global; K-Swiss; Inland Real Estate; Iowa Telecom; LandAmerica Financial; Marsh & McLennan Co.; McCormick & Schmick's; New Frontier Media; Newstar Financial; Parker Drilling; Plains All American; Polo Ralph Lauren; Quicksilver Gas; Quicksilver Resources; Radian Group; Revlon; Ruth's Chris Steak House; Sara Lee; Sinclair Broadcast Group; Speedway Motorsports; Sunoco; Time Warner; Time Warner Cable; Time Warner Telecom; Whole Foods; Ziprealty

Economic Reports: ADP Employment (for October [this is a private company's research on unemployment figures]); Crude Inventories

Events: National Press Club hosts the RNC and DNC Chairmen (12:30p ET)


THURSDAY 11/6
Earnings: AES Corp.; Allied Capital; AmBev; Anheuser-Busch; Assured Guaranty; AthenaHealth; Barr Pharmaceuticals; bebe stores; Biovail; Blockbuster; Borland; Bristow Group; Building Materials; Cablevision; California Pizza Kitchen; Caribou Coffee; CastlePoint Holdings; Citadel Broadcasting; Continental Energy; Delta Petroleum; Discovery Labs; Dolby Laboratories; Dynergy Inc; Echelon; Elizabeth Arden; Fannie Mae; Frontier Oil; Genesis Energy, LP; GTX Inc.; Hansen Natural Corp; Hospitality Properties; HRPT Properties; IMAX Corp; JMP Group; King Pharmaceuticals; Lexington Realty Trust; Linn Energy; MBIA Inc; Medical Properties Trust; NASDAQ; Natural Gas Services; Nortel; Northstar Realty; Patriot Capital Funding; PG&E; Pioneer Drilling; priceline.com; Public Storage; OM Group; Orleans Homebuilders; Petrohawk Energy; Playboy; Qualcomm; Quanta Services; Sapient; Senior Housing Properties; Spectra Energy; Spectrum Brands; Steven Madden; Tower Group; Stone Energy; Toyota; Tyco Electronics; U.S. Concrete; Vonage; Walt Disney; Williams Companies

Economic Reports: Initial (Unemployment) Claims


FRIDAY 11/7
Earnings: Aircastle; Con Edison; Cooper Tire; Crosstex Energy; Discovery; Edison; Ford Motor Co.; Life Point Hospitals; Metalico; Nordic American Tanker; Reliant Energy; Sotheby's; Sprint Nextel; Sun Communities; Tetra Technologies; Trump Entertainment Resorts; Westar Energy

Economic Reports: Hourly Earnings (for October); Unemployment Rate (for October); Wholesale Inventories (for September); Consumer Credit (for September); Federal Reserve posts its statistical release on Consumer Credit 3p.