Reports to set market's mood

This week, a number of companies will release their third-quarter earnings. Those earnings appear to be strong, but Wall Street is more interested in the guidance companies release for following quarters. After last week's large losses, investors are interested in future growth. If companies announce sales will be slowing, investors could punish them.\nA number of high-profile companies will release earnings this week including General Electric, Yahoo!, Motorola and General Motors. Investors will also be looking at the earnings of technology companies Juniper Networks, Veritas Software and Redback Networks.\nTechnology Stocks Pull Nasdaq Down\nLast week, both the Dow and Nasdaq experienced heavy selling. The Dow closed down 128.38 at 10596.54 Friday. The Nasdaq ended the week at 3361.04, down 111.06. The Nasdaq had a week that many investors would like to forget -- dropping 8.5 percent.\nThe Nasdaq is now down more than 17 percent this year. Investors have been selling technology stocks in the past weeks after receiving earnings warnings from several companies. \n"The market is at a very tenuous state that doesn't really handle any news well -- good or bad," Jefferies & Co.'s chief market analyst Art Hogan told MSNBC.\nStock News\nAfter the close of trading Friday, Electronic Data Systems was awarded the largest government information technology contract ever. The contract appears to be worth more than $6.9 billion dollars, according to Reuters.\nIn other stock news, Dell and Xerox warned they would not meet earnings expectations. Dell announced sales would be soft and trading is nearing a two-year low. Xerox has had major trouble recently and announced it expected a third-quarter loss. \nWall Street was looking for a profit from the company, according to Reuters. \nIn acquisition news, General Motors is attempting to buy troubled car maker Daewoo Motor. Ford withdrew its bid to buy Daewoo in September, saying the company had too much debt. \n"There's a lot of anxiety on Wall Street whether this deal makes sense. We think there are cases where it does make sense," GM chief executive officer Richard Wagoner told Reuters. \nFinal Notes\nThe tone of the market will depend on the earnings released this week. If earnings are strong and investors feel the economy is not slowing, the market could turn positive. If earnings are weak and investors feel the economy is slowing, the market will likely see more selling.