The Week Ahead

Today

* The Conference Board reports its monthly index of leading economic indicators.

* Ford Motor Co. is scheduled to release fourth-quarter earnings data and make a restructuring announcement.

Tuesday

* Quarterly earnings reports expected from Northrop Grumman Corp., Sun Microsystems Inc., Netflix Inc. and Cingular Wireless.

Wednesday

* The National Assn. of Realtors reports existing-home sales for December.

* Quarterly earnings reports expected from ConocoPhillips, McClatchy Co. and WellPoint Inc.

Thursday

* The Commerce Department reports on durable goods orders for December.

* Quarterly earnings reports expected from Amgen Inc., AT&T; Inc., Microsoft Corp., General Motors Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp.

Friday

* The Commerce Department reports fourth-quarter gross domestic product and new-home sales for December.

* Quarterly earnings report expected from Chevron Corp.