Next week's barrage of economic reports offers a first peek at activity in the second half of the year, marked with expectations of baby steps forward and a housing market in recovery mode.

They may get lost in the barrage of earnings reports, however. The next two weeks comprise the bulk of earnings season. Next week will be dominated by banks like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Fifth Third, but will also feature a heavy dose of tech companies. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Intel, and AMD all report...