A quarter of the companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and 10% of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index report quarterly results next week as earnings season kicks into a higher gear.

Meanwhile, people worldwide will be focused Tuesday on Washington, when former Sen. Barack Obama becomes the first black president of the U.S.

The main economic reports next week are expected to show a continuing decline in home construction as the market remains saturated with unsold new homes and those for sale after foreclosures.

 
   GE Reports As Investors Worry<

General Electric Co. (GE) is set to report fourth-quarter results Friday amid widespread investor jitters regarding the company's performance. Barclays analyst Robert T. Cornell speculated GE may unveil an unpleasant surprise, posting earnings at the low end of last month's downbeat view, with more than half of profit coming from a tax benefit.

The conglomerate is generally considered something of a barometer for the industrial economy, but concerns regarding its big finance unit have been at the heart of its precipitous stock decline amid the ongoing credit crisis. GE-owned CNBC reported Friday that GE Capital will eliminate about 7,000 jobs, almost 40% of its work force.

 
   Major Tech Companies Issue Reports<

Some of the nation's biggest technology companies issue results next week, including International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG). Analysts are largely expecting IBM, which reports Tuesday, to provide some welcome - if only temporary - steadiness to a tech sector that has become rife with disappointing quarterly results and weak outlooks. Microsoft, which reports Thursday, several months ago cut its revenue-growth target at its client division, which is responsible for the company's most important product: the Windows operating system.

When Apple unveils on Wednesday, concerns about the health of Chief Executive Steve Jobs and the company's outlook are likely to be the focus of attention. A slight revenue gain is expected for the quarter, but earnings are seen falling. By contrast, online-ad and Internet-search giant Google's per-share earnings are expected to rise to $4.97 on revenue of $4.14 billion, from $4.43 and $3.39 billion, respectively, a year earlier.

 
   J&J, Abbott Labs To Post Results<

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which reports Tuesday, is expected to post higher earnings, though delays on drug approvals and growing generic competition to the oral form of blockbuster antipsychotic Risperdal made for a tough quarter at J&J's pharmaceutical division, its largest by sales.

Abbott Laboratories (ABT), which this week agreed to acquire Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (EYE) for $1.36 billion, reports Wednesday. It too is expected to report increased profit.

 
   Railroad Results May Show Pricing Power<

Several major railroads will report quarterly results next week, with interest keen about whether they've been able to retain pricing power amid slumping shipping volumes and fuel costs. CSX Corp. (CSX) reports Tuesday, while Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (BNI) comes a day later and Union Pacific Corp. (UNP) on Thursday.

CSX warned recently that it will take a fourth-quarter charge related to economic baggage from the lavish Greenbrier resort it owns in West Virginia. Still, the railroad said higher overall freight charges led to a 4% increase in revenue.

Also reporting next week are several major airlines, including AMR Corp. (AMR), parent of American Airlines, and UAL Corp. (UAUA), parent of United, both Wednesday, and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) on Thursday. Most U.S. carriers face another quarter of red ink amid lower demand, despite a break in fuel prices, though Southwest is expected to return to a profit after a rare loss in the third quarter.

 
   Reports Detail Builder Sentiment, Housing Starts<

In a light week for economic reports, the National Association of Home Builders releases its January builder sentiment index Wednesday, and the government reports on December housing starts on Thursday. Last month, the builder index remained at a record-low level, signaling continued weakness in construction. A month earlier, construction of new dwellings dropped 19% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000, the lowest since the Commerce Department began keeping records 50 years ago. Housing starts are expected to fall to 610,000 for December.

 
   Markets Closed Mon, Open Tue<

Stocks and other U.S. financial markets will be closed Monday, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but will be open as usual Tuesday, Inauguration Day. In staying open with normal hours as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president, the markets are following precedent. The closest the New York Stock Exchange came to an inauguration-related closing was when it was closed for three business days in 1889 for the 100th anniversary of President Washington's inaugural.

 
   President-elect To Ride Rail To DC<

President-elect Barack Obama kicks off his inauguration festivities Saturday with a train trip from Philadelphia to the nation's capital. The trip renews a tradition that has lain dormant for more than 50 years and is one of several tributes Obama will pay during the next few days to Abraham Lincoln, who traveled a similar route before his inauguration in 1861.

Record crowds, including an estimated 2 million visitors, are expected in Washington for Obama's swearing-in ceremony. On Sunday evening, a free concert at the Lincoln Memorial features singers Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am and Stevie Wonder. There will also be historical readings by Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington.

 
   Senate Panel Hearing On Geithner Wed<

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Timothy Geithner to be Treasury secretary Wednesday. The hearing was delayed from Friday after reports that the current head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank failed to pay more than $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes on money he earned at the International Monetary Fund between 2001 and 2004.

Stuart Levey, currently a Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will effectively run the department until a successor for current Secretary Henry Paulson is confirmed.

 
   Men's Fashion On Stage In Milan, Paris<

New designs for men's fall fashion will be shown next week in Milan and Paris. Shows start Saturday and continue through Wednesday in Milan before attention shifts to Paris, where men's ready-to-wear clothing for next fall and winter goes on display beginning Thursday.

 
   Conferences

Among the significant conferences next week are the Institute for International Research's 13th Annual Drug Delivery Partnerships Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Las Vegas, Information Management Network Winter Forum On Real Estate Opportunity & Private Fund Investing Conference from Wednesday through Friday in Laguna Beach, Calif., and Green Power Conferences Voluntary Carbon Markets USA Conference on Thursday and Friday in New York.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; kathy.shwiff@dowjones.com

(Bob Sechler and other Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to this report.)

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.