5 Things to Watch on Wall Street This Week

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 the release of a hot new video game to an earnings report out of the world's leader in family entertainment, here are some of the items that will help shape the week that lies ahead on Wall Street.

Monday -- Blender's Game: You can find icy fruit smoothies offered at a growing number of fast food chains and coffee houses, but let's not forget about the juice bars that made them popular. Jamba Juice is the largest of the standalone smoothie chains, and on Monday its parent company reports quarterly results.

It won't be pretty forJamba (JMBA). The company announced a couple of weeks ago that it had a rough summer. It sees same-store sales clocking in roughly flat for all of 2013, and that's pretty bad when one considers that those same comps rose through the first half of the year. In other words, it's going to a rough second half of the year for Jamba.

Jamba did announce that it would be adding its JambaGo kiosks to Target (TGT) cafes, but that wasn't enough to offset the lower guidance. We'll see the company address the more somber outlook on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday -- Ghosts in the Machine: Don't be surprised if diehard gamers call in sick to work or fail to show up to class on Tuesday.Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) Call of Duty: Ghosts hits retailers on Tuesday, with some stores making plans to open at midnight on Monday to give players early dibs on what should rival last month's Grand Theft Auto V to be the best-selling game of the year.

Profits in the video game industry have been languishing in recent years, but between the bar-raising success last month of Grand Theft Auto V and three major releases coming out this month -- Tuesday's release of Activision Blizzard's annual installment in the Call of Duty franchise, followed by the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles -- there may be signs of life here.

This is the holiday season where the video game industry proves that it's not going away.

Wednesday -- The Whole Truth: Organic groceries have been growing in popularity, and there's no better gauge in measuring that success as watching Whole Foods Market's (WFM) growth in recent years.

%VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks%Acquiring rival Wild Oats helped increase the synergies in its model, but the market for premium groceries that have been naturally grown free of pesticides has never been hotter. Whole Foods reports on Wednesday. Analysts see modest growth, expecting revenue and earnings to climb 3 percent to 4 percent higher for the quarter that ended in September.

Thursday -- It's a Great, Big Beautiful Tomorrow: Things have been going well for Disney (DIS). Disney's ESPN has never been more popular. Even its more recent Marvel acquisition has paid off with several theatrical blockbusters, and it will have another entry on Friday when Thor: The Dark World opens.

On Thursday afternoon we'll see how Disney as a whole is doing. The family entertainment giant will serve up its fiscal fourth quarter financials. Wall Street sees revenue climbing 7 percent for the quarter with earnings growing even faster.

Friday -- Cut the Cord: It's been a rough couple of years for cable television providers. Customers are "cutting the cord" and relying on cheaper Web-based entertainment solutions.

We saw that a few days ago when Comcast (CMCSA) reported. The country's largest cable provider closed out its latest quarter with 355,000 fewer video customers than it had a year ago and 129,000 less than it had just three months ago. Comcast has made up the difference by charging those that stick around more. It has also been able to grow its Internet access and Web-based phone service by bundling the services together.

We'll get another snapshot on how the industry is doing when smaller rival Cablevision (CVC) reports on Friday morning. Don't hold out for growth.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney and Jamba. The Motley Fool recommends Activision Blizzard, Walt Disney, and Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Activision Blizzard, Walt Disney, and Whole Foods Market. Try any of our newsletter services free for 30 days.