This quarter 'a total disaster'

This week, investors will look at corporate earnings. Nearly 200 companies will be reporting their quarterly results to investors. \n"We all know the quarter is a total disaster," Charles Blood, market analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. told The Wall Street Journal. "So it's not only the earnings reports, but what they have to say about what's happened after the attacks and what's happened since."\nLast week, the markets were able to gain ground. All the major indexes had a third consecutive week of gains. The Nasdaq and S&P are above Sept. 11 levels. Technology stocks performed well last week, as the Nasdaq gained more than 6 percent for the week.\nReporting Earnings\nA few companies reporting earnings this week include: Advanced Micro Devices, Apple Computer, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Bank One, Boise Cascade, Caterpillar, Charles Schwab, EMC, Fannie Mae, Ford Motor, IBM, Intel, Kraft Foods, Maytag, Novellus Systems, Teradyne, Texas Instruments and Wells Fargo.\nStock News\nFriday, a mediator was appointed in the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft. Attorneys for Microsoft and the government agreed on Professor Eric D. Green of Boston University School of Law to help settle the case. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly named Green as a mediator. Microsoft and the government have been at an impasse since Kollar-Kotelly ordered them to agree.\nPolaroid and Regal Cinema filed for Chapter 11 protection Friday. Polaroid has been struggling since the introduction of digital cameras. Talks between Polaroid and its creditors are under way. \nRegal, the largest movie theater chain in America, said most of its creditors supported the restructuring.