Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bear Stearns have all been enduring the same punishing credit environment, but their fourth-quarter results are expected to be very different.

Goldman reports on Tuesday. While most banks are chalking up huge write-downs and earnings disappointments, Goldman is expected to please the Street with earnings of $6.61 per share.  

Morgan Stanley will have less cheerful news to report on Wednesday. After the bank announced $3.7 billion in losses for September and October, analysts are expecting a loss of 39 cents per share, which would be Morgan Stanley's first quarterly loss in more than a decade.  

Bear Stearns follows on Thursday, and is expected to show even more damage from the subprime mess. Analysts forecast the bank to post a loss of $1.79 per share.

In an unusual move aimed at easing the credit crunch, this week the Federal Reserve will conduct auctions on Monday and Thursday where banks can bid for a total of $40 billion in 28-day loans.

The Fed is hoping that the auctions, which allow banks to set the interest rate for the loans, will both encourage banks to lend more generously and restore investor confidence in the state of the credit market overall.

But if banks show lackluster interest in the auctions, the plan may end up backfiring, some skeptics say.

Two further auctions will be held on January 14 and 28, the sizes of which have yet to be determined.

These days, one of the few industries that make subprime-battered financial institutions look good is homebuilding. But Hovnanian, one of the nation's largest builders, is expected to continue its slump with an additional $1.49 in losses per share for the quarter.

Housing data out on Tuesday will reinforce that downbeat message. Starts on new-housing construction are expected to decline to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.19 million in November from 1.23 million in October, while building permits, a measure of future housing activity, are also expected to inch down slightly.

On Thursday, the final estimate of gross domestic product for the third quarter is forecast to confirm an annual rate of growth of 4.9 percent.

On Friday, the Commerce Department's report on personal income and consumption is expected to show a jump of 0.5 percent in both income and spending in November.

The same report is forecast as showing that core inflation as measured by the personal consumption expenditure price index (the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge) remained steady at 0.2 percent through the month of November.

Also this week, the Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on a controversial plan to ease ownership restrictions on media companies. Many lawmakers believe the plan will pass, despite some strong objections about the severity of the changes proposed.  

And Sam Zell is optimistic that his takeover of the Tribune Company will close on Thursday.

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