The Week Ahead: Home Depot & HP Report; Yellen Testimony

Fed Chair Janet Yellen's trip to Capitol Hill and Friday's release of fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data will highlight next week's economic docket. Reporting earnings are a slew of retailers, including Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), Macy's , Inc. (NYSE:M), Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS), and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT); television providers Dish Network Corp (NASDAQ:DISH) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA); solar concerns First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) and SunPower Corporation(NASDAQ:SPWR); and computer maker Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ).

Below is a brief list of some key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All earnings dates listed below are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

Monday

• Existing home sales and the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index kick off a busy week of economic news. On the earnings front, we'll hear from Agrium (AGU), Cooper Tire (CTB), Dish Network (DISH), and Express Scripts (ESRX).

Tuesday

• On Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index is due out, along with the Conference Board's latest consumer confidence index. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will deliver her semi-annual testimony on monetary policy to the Senate Banking Committee. Earnings are expected from Home Depot (HD), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Comcast (CMCSA), Cracker Barrel (CBRL), Domino's Pizza (DPZ), Dreamworks Animation (DWA), First Solar (FSLR), Macy's (M), MannKind (MNKD), Office Depot (ODP), SunPower (SPWR), Toll Brothers (TOL), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX).

Wednesday

• New home sales and crude inventories headline Wednesday's docket, while Yellen concludes her two-day tour of Capitol Hill by addressing the House Financial Services Committee. Cablevision (CVC), Campbell Soup (CPB), Chesapeake Energy (CHK), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Gulfport Energy (GPOR), Lowe's (LOW), Salesforce.com (CRM), SodaStream (SODA), Sturm Ruger (RGR), Target (TGT), and Transocean (RIG) will report earnings.

Thursday

• Traders on Thursday will be reacting to the latest reports on durable goods and jobless claims, along with the consumer price index (CPI). Around midday, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart will take the podium at a banking conference. Among the day's earnings reporters are 3D Systems (DDD), Crocs (CROX), Cyberonics (CYBX), Gap (GPS), Gogo (GOGO), Herbalife (HLF), Kohl's (KSS), J.C. Penney (JCP), Mobileye (MBLY), Monster Beverage (MNST), OmniVision Technologies (OVTI), Seadrill (SDRL), Sears (SHLD), SeaWorld (SEAS), Splunk (SPLK), and Weight Watchers (WTW).

Friday

• The preliminary fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) hits the Street on Friday. Also on the agenda are pending home sales, the Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI), and the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. More remarks on monetary policy could impact markets, with Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, New York Fed President William Dudley, and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester all slated to speak at a forum in New York. Rounding out the week's slate of earnings reports are Goodrich Petroleum (GDP), ISIS Pharmaceuticals (ISIS), and NRG Energy (NRG).