By Kathy Shwiff Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Major retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), will report fiscal third-quarter results next week. The industry has been reporting improved year-over-year sales of late. The trade deficit for September, out next Friday, is expected to rise slightly as U.S. economic growth continues. U.S. stock markets are open although bond markets and government offices will be closed Wednesday for Veterans' Day. Wal-Mart Likely To Post Higher Results The world's largest retailer is among the companies posting results next week after retailers this week reported a modest gain in same-store sales for October, the second increase after a year of declines. Wal-Mart, which reports Thursday, is expected to see a slight profit improvement from a year earlier. Also posting results are department stores Macy's Inc. (M) on Wednesday; Kohl's Corp. (KSS) and Nordstrom Inc. (JWN), both Thursday; and J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) on Friday. Disney's 4Q Results To Decline Slightly Walt Disney Co. (DIS), which reports Thursday, is likely to post fiscal fourth-quarter results slightly below a year earlier as the advertising market begins to show signs of recovery. The largest U.S. media company by market value cut costs along with the rest of the industry as ad sales slumped and consumers sought news and entertainment on the Internet. September Trade Deficit Likely To Increase The September trade deficit is forecast to rise slightly after contracting unexpectedly in August. A widening would be taken as a sign of the economy growing, with imports outpacing exports. Also out next Friday is the preliminary November figure for the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. The reading fell last month after rising in August and September. Among appearances by Federal Reserve officials: Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart speaks Tuesday in Atlanta, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen speaks Tuesday in Phoenix, and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher speaks Tuesday in Austin, Texas. Deadline For Revised Google Books Deal Monday is the deadline for Google Inc. (GOOG) and the authors and publishers who sued the company to submit a revised version of their controversial digital book pact. The parties are working to fix concerns that their agreement is anticompetitive. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin set the deadline last month, about a year after Google announced a settlement aiming to resolve separate lawsuits that the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers filed against the Internet giant in 2005. The lawsuits claim the company's book-scanning efforts violated their copyrights. That settlement, which was years in the making, is being redesigned amid growing criticism. House To Vote On Health-Care Bill Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives are planning to have the chamber vote this weekend on health-care legislation, then take a week-long break. Debate on the $1 trillion health-care overhaul bill is set to start Saturday morning, with hopes for a vote late in the day. Democratic leaders said liberal members of their party won't be given time to offer an amendment for a government single-payer health-insurance system. Japan First Stop On Obama's Asian Trip President Barack Obama travels to Tokyo on Thursday for discussions about the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. military base on Okinawa and other topics. Before Obama arrives, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will meet with Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii about the world economic situation. After Japan, Obama will visit Singapore, then China. G20 Finance Ministers, Central Bankers Meet Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting this weekend in Scotland in a bid to step up cooperation amid uncertainty about whether an incipient global economic recovery will take root. One issue on the agenda is when to start withdrawing extraordinary fiscal and monetary measures enacted during the past year to stir stricken economies. The meeting is expected to set out more details on the G-20's proposed mutual-assessment framework for sustainable growth. The initiative aims to coordinate economic policies better and set up a policy of peer review--pursued in part through the International Monetary Fund--to ensure G-20 nations' policies don't threaten global economic stability. Conferences Among the significant conferences next week are the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Banking and Financial Services Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday in New York; the Deutsche Bank Securities FinTech Senior Executive Forum on Tuesday in New York; the Robert W. Baird & Co. Industrial Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago; Thomas Weisel Partners' Alternative Energy Conference on Tuesday in New York; the Credit Suisse Healthcare Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Phoenix; and Sandler O'Neill & Partners' East Coast Financial Services Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Manalapan, Fla. -By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2357; kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com (Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to this report.)
