Earnings Expectations for the Week of October 31

Halloween and the Day of the Dead arrive this week. If analysts' forecasts are correct, there are only a few earnings reports that may scare investors. For instance, Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) earnings are predicted to have fallen 93.1% year over year to $0.58 per share. Allstate (NYSE: ALL) EPS are expected to have fallen 89.2% to $0.09 and Hartford Financial's (NYSE: HIG) to be 84.5% lower to $0.23 per share.

And companies expected to post net losses when they report quarterly results this week include AIG (NYSE: AIG), Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO), KKR (NYSE: KKR), LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) and Overseas Shipholding (NYSE: OSG).

But, by and large, expectations for this week's other earnings reports are positive. Here is a quick day-by-day rundown of some of the other most anticipated quarterly reports of this week.

Monday

Analysts' forecasts for Halloween earnings:

• Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC): EPS up 69.1% to $0.68
• Avalon Bay (NYSE: AVB): EPS up 17.6% to $1.19
• FMC (NYSE: FMC): EPS up 15.6% to $1.35
• Humana (NYSE: HUM): EPS down 14.9% to $2.02
• Loews (NYSE: L): EPS down 15.4% to $0.66

Tuesday

The earnings crunch is back on Tuesday, with highlights including reports from Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO). Analysts are looking for higher earnings from ADM (up 19.4%) and EPS about the same as a year ago from Pfizer, as well as higher revenues from both. Marathon's earnings are expected to have declined 16.0% year over year, while revenues tumbled 86.0%.

Also on Tuesday:

• CF Industries (NYSE: CF): EPS up 77.0% to $4.79
• Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO): EPS up 73.2% to $1.90
• Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD): EPS up 59.8% to $0.87
• Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI): EPS up 51.2% to $1.21
• Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA): EPS up 32.7% to $0.55
• CME Group (NASDAQ: CME): EPS up 21.1% to $4.64
• Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI): EPS up 19.0% to $1.05
• Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR): EPS up 15.6% to $0.96

Dunkin Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) reports on Tuesday as well.

Wednesday

Mastercard (NYSE: MA) is on deck to report its third-quarter results Wednesday. The consensus forecast calls for earnings of $4.82 per share and revenues of $1.7 billion. That is up from $3.94 per share and $1.4 billion in the same quarter of last year. Note that analysts have underestimated Mastercard's per-share earnings in the past six quarters.

Media will also be a focus Wednesday as Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) and Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) report their quarterly results. Analysts predict year-over-year EPS growth from each of them: 22.5%, 3.4% and 18.4% respectively. Revenues for all three are expected to be higher than a year ago as well.

Also on Wednesday:

• Tesoro (NYSE: TSO): EPS up 74.4% to $1.99
• Avis Budget (NASDAQ: CAR): EPS up 20.4% to $0.98
• Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFM): EPS up 19.5% to $0.41
• Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT): EPS up 14.5% to $0.55
• Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM): EPS up 12.8% to $0.78
• Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN): EPS up 10.9% to $1.47
• Clorox (NYSE: CLX): EPS down 5.1% to $0.93
• Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU): EPS down 27.4% to $1.54
• Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN): EPS down 28.6% to $0.50

Thursday

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Kellogg (NYSE: K) will be reporting on Thursday, though per-share earnings for both of them are expected to be about the same as a year ago, with revenues up marginally. One of the biggest anticipated earnings gainers of the day will be DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV). Earnings are forecast to be 24.7% higher year over year to $0.73 per share, with revenues up 11.9% to $6.7 billion. Starbucks and DirecTV have not fallen short of consensus EPS estimates in the past few quarters.

Others scheduled to report on Thursday:

• NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX): EPS up 34.3% to $0.70
• CBS (NYSE: CBS): EPS up 23.9% to $0.46
• Apache (NYSE: APA): EPS up 21.2% to $2.78
• DaVita (NYSE: DVA): EPS up 19.6% to $1.43
• Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL): EPS up 17.8% to $1.18
• Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK): EPS down 4.3% to $0.67
• Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK): EPS down 9.8% to $0.46

Friday

Analysts expect the week to end with a fairly frightening third-quarter report from the Washington Post (NYSE: WPO). EPS are forecast to have fallen 65.7% year over year to $3.85. Note that the EPS estimate was $5.39 just 60 days ago. Revenue is expected to have declined as well: 15.6% from a year ago to $1.0 billion.

Ameren (NYSE: AEE) is also expected to report a decline in earnings and revenue on Friday.