5 Dates to Circle in November

Motley Fool Staff
Updated

Now that we've chased the last of the egg-heaving trick-or-treaters off our lawn, it's time to turn our attention to November.

Let's go over a few of the upcoming days to watch.

Nov. 4
Madison Square Garden (NAS: MSG) knows that it will get nicked on the Knicks. Unlike the NFL lockout that reached an amicable resolution in time to stage an entire season, the NBA's work stoppage has already erased several weeks of basketball games.

Madison Square Garden -- reporting its latest quarterly results Friday -- owns both the New York Knicks and the team's home venue.

Even if a resolution is in place by the time Madison Square Garden reports, there will still be fans and season ticket holders to win back. There are always more than two sides when athletes and league owners are disputing.

Nov. 8
Activision Blizzard's (NAS: ATVI) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 isn't just a video game. The battlefield juggernaut is the industry's biggest franchise. Last year's installment -- Call of Duty: Black Ops -- sold a record $360 million on its first day last November.

Naturally, there will be even greater expectations when the new game hits retailers a week from today. Many stores are planning midnight release parties, giving diehard gamers a good reason to call in sick.

Video game sales have been generally sluggish since 2009, but this is as close to a no-brainer as you will see in this market.

Nov. 9
It's been a rough couple of weeks for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NAS: GMCR) since hedge fund tastemaker David Einhorn went public with his shorting thesis on the company behind the Keurig single-cup brewer. Einhorn's talk of spotty accounting, looming patent expirations, and lofty valuations have weighed on the java heavy.

Green Mountain gets its best shot at selling its side of the story when it reports quarterly results a week from tomorrow. Analysts see revenue and earnings more than doubling, but Green Mountain will have to do more than let its numbers speak for themselves. There are skeptics that need to be vanquished with a clearer outlook on its future.

Nov. 15
Amazon.com (NAS: AMZN) dives headfirst into the tablet market with the Kindle Fire in two weeks. It's smaller than Apple's (NAS: AAPL) iconic iPad, but it's also substantially cheaper at $199.

The low price point, popular Android-fueled platform, and seamless access to what is now 13,000 video titles for Amazon Prime members at no additional cost have easily made it the most successful tablet product not made by Apple.

"We're increasing capacity and building millions more than we'd already planned," CEO Jeff Bezos noted during last month's quarterly report.

In other words, it's going to be a hot holiday item.

Nov. 21
Hewlett-Packard (NYS: HPQ) steps up to post its quarterly results in three weeks, just a few days after rival Dell (NAS: DELL) serves up its latest financials.

These have been tough times for the box makers. Desktop and laptop sales have been sluggish, particularly in this country, where non-Apple unit volume has declined for three consecutive quarters. Tablets and smartphones have grown in popularity, but Dell and HP are fringe players there.

Both companies have been chasing higher margins through acquisitions in business services, but will that be enough? We'll hear from both companies later this month.

We should be covering all of these events as they happen, so stay close by adding the stocks to My Watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Madison Square Garden, and Activision Blizzard.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended buying shares of Apple, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Activision Blizzard, Amazon.com, and Dell.Motley Fool newsletter serviceshave recommended creating a lurking gator position in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a bull call spread position in Apple, and a synthetic long position in Activision Blizzard. Try any of our Foolish newsletter servicesfree for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe thatconsidering a diverse range of insightsmakes us better investors. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz calls them as he sees them. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story, except for HP. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.

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