Morning Money: BP's Hayward Awaits His Fate; Ford Unveils New Explorer

Monday promises to bring slightly cooler weather in much of the eastern U.S., after days of oppressive 100 degree-plus temperatures in many cities. But the heat is still on BP (BP) CEO Tony Hayward, who appears to be on his way out after bungling the oil giant's response to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The board of the British company will vote on Hayward's fate Monday. BP is due to report quarterly earnings Tuesday, and analysts expect the company to report a record loss.

Ford Motor (F) is set to take the wraps off its 2011 Ford Explorer sports-utility vehicle later today. It is the first major overhaul of the vehicle since its introduction some 20 years ago. The new design, which utilizes more modern unit body construction rather than old-school body-on-frame layout, is lighter and promises much better fuel economy. The new Explorer is expected to sell better than the outgoing one, but Ford isn't anticipating selling the half-a-million-units a year the automaker once sold during the heyday of the SUV in the 1990s.

The Commerce Department will release new home sales figures for June at 10 a.m. ET. Expectations are that sales rose to the second-lowest level on record, indicating the industry is having difficulty maintaining momentum following the expiration of federal first-time home-buyer tax incentives last spring. Purchases likely climbed 3.7% to a 311,000 annual pace last month, according to a median estimate of 60 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The rate would be second only to May's 300,000 as the lowest since data began in 1963, the news agency reports.

The first peak week of earnings season resulted in some impressive reports from U.S. companies, helping to push the Dow Jones industrial average 3% higher last week. As DailyFinance's Dan Burrows reports, the much-watched index is merely a handful of points away from breaking even for the year. But whether the market can extend its streak through a second heavy week of earnings reports will largely depend on reports from other corporate giants, including DuPont (DD), Boeing (BA) and more.

The court-appointed trustee charged with recovering money for victims of Bernard Madoff's ponzi scheme is preparing a wave of lawsuits to pull back money from investors who gained from the fraud, The Wall Street Journal reports. Irving Picard told the newspaper he may sue some 1,000 individual investors who withdrew more money from Madoff's firm than they invested.

Advertisements for high-definition sunglasses, which claim to reduce glare and enhance color and clarity, are lately a staple of late-night TV. But do they really work? Take a gander at WalletPop's latest report in its As Seen On TVseries to find out.