While Federal Reserve policymakers aren't likely to change a key interest rate when they meet next week, investors will be watching for their description of the economy and any change in their policy of buying Treasurys.

Drugstore chains, food companies, home builders and tech firms, including business-software giant Oracle Corp. (ORCL), will report quarterly results next week.

And both General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) are due in bankruptcy court.

 
   Investors Await Fed Panel's Statement

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee holds a two-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss monetary policy strategy. According to minutes from the last meeting in April, the committee considered expanding its securities purchase programs beyond the $1.75 trillion earmarked for this year. If the Fed instead decides to scale back its massive monetary stimulus, that could be a sign that the central bank believes the end of the recession is in sight.

 
   Pharmacy, Food Companies To Report

Drugstore chains, tech firms and food companies are among those scheduled to post quarterly results next week. Walgreen Co. (WAG) and Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) report Monday and Wednesday, respectively. Walgreen is likely to see higher revenue but slightly lower adjusted earnings, while Rite Aid is expected to report its eighth consecutive quarterly loss.

Oracle is expected to post lower fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue Tuesday, while Palm Inc. (PALM), which recently released its Pre smartphone, is likely to report its eighth consecutive quarterly loss Thursday.

Also reporting are supermarket chain Kroger Co. (KR) on Tuesday, agribusiness giant Monsanto Co. (MON) on Wednesday and packaged-food company ConAgra Inc. (CAG) on Thursday. Tax-preparation chains H&R Block Inc. (HRB) and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. (JTX) post results Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

 
   Home Builders' 2Q Results Likely Improved

Two home builders will report fiscal second-quarter results next week, and they may provide some reason for optimism about the long-term downturn in the housing market. The fifth-largest, KB Home (KBH), which reports next Friday, is expected to post a loss of 64 cents a share, narrowing sharply from its loss of $3.30 a share a year earlier. KB's revenue is seen 47% lower at $339 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. The company has redesigned its product to compete with foreclosures.

Lennar Corp. (LEN), the fourth-largest builder by annual closings, reports Thursday and is likely to post a loss of 63 cents a share, down from 76 cents. Revenue is expected to be 46% lower at $597.5 million. Analysts say the results will show whether buyers responded to Lennar's efforts to sell homes, ranging from no-money-down, no-closing-cost deals to one of the lowest mortgage rates in the industry - for the life of the loan.

 
   GM Seeks OK On $33B Government Loan

General Motors Corp. (GMGMQ) will go to court Thursday to seek final approval to borrow on its $33 billion bankruptcy loan from the U.S. and Canadian governments while it works to finalize its Chapter 11 sale. The New York bankruptcy court earlier this month said GM could tap $15 billion of the $33 billion loan pending a final hearing on the financing arrangement. The bankruptcy financing was in addition to the nearly $20 billion that U.S. taxpayers had lent the automaker to keep it afloat before it filed for bankruptcy protection.

 
   Lehman Wants Sale To Barclays Probed

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ) will seek approval from the New York bankruptcy court Wednesday to investigate whether U.K. bank Barclays Plc (BCS) pocketed a "windfall" worth billions of dollars when it bought Lehman's broker-dealer business last year. Lehman says it believes the business was undervalued when it was sold in the days after it collapsed into bankruptcy in September. Barclays paid $1.54 billion for the business and associated real estate.

 
   May Home Sales Expected To Grow

Reports are expected to show sales of existing and new homes increased in May. The National Association of Realtors details existing home sales Tuesday, and the government reports on new home sales Wednesday.

Also due Wednesday is a government report on May durable goods orders. The final number on the nation's first-quarter gross domestic product is expected a day later. The revised estimate was a drop of 5.7% from a year earlier. Reports on regional manufacturing activity are out Tuesday from the Richmond Fed and Thursday from the Kansas City Fed.

On Friday, the government reports on personal income and spending in May and the Reuters/University Of Michigan Consumer Confidence Index issues its final number for June.

 
   Bernanke To Testify About Merrill Deal

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify Thursday at a House hearing called to examine events surrounding Bank of America Corp.'s (BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch and its receipt of government funds. Last week, Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis testified about the company's acquisition of Merrill, his decision not to disclose losses at Merrill to investors in December and the decision to accept additional government aid to close the deal.

 
   U.N. Plans Summit On Financial Crisis

The United Nations will hold a summit meeting on the global financial crisis from Wednesday through Friday in New York. The summit was delayed from earlier this month to allow more time to draft a declaration on how to cope with the crisis.

 
   German Leader To Visit White House

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington next week for talks with President Barack Obama. It will be their third meeting this year after talks in the German city of Baden-Baden during a NATO summit in April and earlier this month in Dresden. In addition to the G8 summit in Italy July 8-10, Obama and Merkel are to discuss pressing international issues, including climate change and the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan and North Korea.

 
   Retail Bar Code Scanning Turns 35

Next Friday will be the 35th anniversary of the launch of retail bar code scanning. NCR Corp. (NCR) first demonstrated its scanning system at the Super Market Institute convention in 1974. On June 26 that year, a 10-pack of Wrigley's chewing gum became the first retail product to be scanned in a retail store setting - at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Today, there is virtually no consumer product that cannot be scanned at the checkout in a retail store.

 
   Conferences

Among the significant conferences next week are the Dow Jones Limited Partners Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in New York, Wachovia Annual Mid-Year Equity Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in Boston, and National Association of Investors BetterInvesting National Convention from Thursday through June 28 in Atlanta.

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

(Dow Jones Newswires staff contributed to this report.)