Lights! Corkscrews! Action! What to Watch This Short Trading Week

Updated
during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 16, 2013 in Brooklyn, Michigan.
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You can never know in advance all the news that will move the market in a given week, but some things you can see coming. From a motorsports promoter revving up its latest quarterly financials to a big week at the corner multiplex, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street.

1. Don't Expect Fiscal Fireworks: The market takes major holidays off, so naturally there won't be any domestic trading taking place on Thursday in observance of Independence Day.

However, the exchanges will also close three hours early on Wednesday, and you shouldn't expect a lot of trading activity on Friday as traders shuffle back into the market. Unless there's major news moving the market one way or the other, it's a safe bet that Friday will be one of the quietest sessions of the year.

Add it all up and we're looking at what may be about half of the typical trading volume that the exchanges experience in any given week.

2. Put the Pedal to the Metal: Auto racing buffs know International Speedway (ISCA) well. It's the company that owns and operates the Daytona International Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and several other motorsports venues.

This is a big business, a fact that only became more evident when the company's board approved a whopping $400 million makeover for Daytona's frontstretch two weeks ago.

International Speedway reports earnings on Wednesday, and despite the speed of its motorsports events, analysts expect to learn its progress on the fiscal front has been moving at a snail's pace. They forecast the racing promoter growing its revenue by 2 percent with earnings taking a 4 percent hit.

3. Break Out the Popcorn: It may be a quiet week in terms of trading activity and earnings reports, but this will be a busy week for movie theaters. A couple of big films -- "Despicable Me 2" and Disney's (DIS) "The Lone Ranger" -- open on Wednesday, hoping to take advantage of a holiday-backed boost in ticket sales.

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"Despicable Me 2" follows on the heels of the wildly successful animated original three years ago in which a villain and his army of minions have a change of heart after caring for three young girls. Comcast's (CMCSK) Universal is the company behind the movie.

"The Lone Ranger" will be a tougher sell. It's been a long time since a Western was a box office smash. Then again, this one comes from the same team that made swashbuckler films cool again with the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.

4. Liquor License: Constellation Brands (STZ) has seen its stock nearly double in the last 12 months and it's easy to see why. The company behind Mondavi wines, imported Corona beers, and other heartier libations has blown through Wall Street's profit targets with ease every quarter over the past year.

It's against this welcome backdrop that Constellation Brands will report its fiscal first-quarter financials on Tuesday morning. Wall Street is only forecasting modest improvement on the top and bottom lines, but the liquor leader has had the last laugh on analysts in recent quarters.

5. Light It Up: Another company reporting results on Tuesday will be Acuity Brands (AYI).
The lighting specialist may not be a household name, but the Atlanta-based company rang up $1.9 billion in sales last year for its indoor and outdoor applications.

Analysts predict that profitability will improve from $0.82 a share a year ago to $0.88 a share now. Acuity actually missed Wall Street targets in two of its past three quarters, so it could use some glowing results this time around.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends International Speedway and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of International Speedway and Walt Disney.

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