Companies such as PepsiCo (PEP), Verizon (VZ), Google (GOOG), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Microsoft (MSFT), and McDonald’s (MCD) reported earnings for the first quarter last week amid an atmosphere of heightened anticipation.

The first earnings season of 2013 is a particularly tense one as the numbers are expected to provide some sort of vindication, or rejection, of the bull run that kicked off the year, and whether or not it can or will continue.

Matters were only complicated by last week’s abrupt pull-back, coupled with the bombing attacks at the Boston Marathon on Monday and ensuing manhunt for the perpetrators. This was the frantic context in which stocks recorded their worst weekly-performance of the year.

This week, investors can expect another barrage of earnings reports from companies in the following sectors:

Airlines:

U.S. Airways (LCC) and Delta (DAL) report on Tuesday; Alaska Air (ALK), Southwest (LUV), JetBlue (JBLU), United Continental (UAL) report on Thursday.

Industrial Goods:

Caterpillar (CAT) and NVR Inc. (NVR) report on Monday.

Caterpillar’s earnings are of particular significance due to the company’s global exposure to construction and agriculture. The company’s performance is seen as a measure of the economic health of those industries. However, recession in Europe and weaker than expected growth out of China are some of the factors that have seen the company’s shares tumble since February.

Tech:

Texas Instruments (TXN) reports on Monday; United Technologies (UTX), Juniper Networks (JNPR), Apple (AAPL), Unisys (UIS), VMware Inc (VMW), and Xerox (XRX) report on Tuesday; Zynga (ZNGA) and Akamai Tech (AKAM) report on Wednesday; Cirrus Logic (CRUS) reports on Thursday.

Tech as a whole will be a prominent part of the week’s news, as the above companies represent a wide array of the industry’s sectors.

Apple, of course, will be the subject of much discussion, as the company’s stock has become cheaper by the day, dropping last week to under $400 dollars, an event that was aggravated by speculation that the company will be reporting weaker than expected sales of its once dominant mobile products.

Healthcare:

Aflac (AFL) and WellPoint (WLP) report on Wednesday.

Services:

Six Flags Entertainment (SIX) reports on Monday; Yum! Brands (YUM) and Netflix (NFLX) report on Tuesday; Virgin Media (VMED) reports on Wednesday; Amazon (AMZN), Safeway (SWY), Time Warner Cable (TWC), United Parcel Services (UPS), and Starbucks (SBUX) report on Thursday; Burger King Worldwide (BKW) will report on Friday.

Yum! Brands’ earnings will to some extent reflect the food scare that took place in China during the first quarter, during which many consumers avoided chicken products in droves after the country’s food regulators discovered excess amounts of antibiotics in poultry that was making its way to market.

Netflix will be of particular interest because the company’s earnings will in part be an indication of how well their original series strategy, after the critical success of the “House of Cards” show, has paid off so far.

Oil & Gas:

Noble Energy (NBL), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Conoco Phillips (COP) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) report on Thursday.

Oil companies have perhaps had a tough time with commodities having undergone a particularly harsh week, but many of those who will be reporting are expanding their operations in natural gas and shale exploration and drilling, domestically and abroad.

Defense/Aerospace:

BE Aerospace (BEAV) reports on Monday; Lockheed Martin (LMT) reports on Tuesday; Boeing (BA), Northrup Grumman (NOC), and Teledyne Tech (TDY) report on Wednesday; Raytheon (RTN) reports on Thursday.

Defense company earnings will be variously interpreted as a measure of the impacts of the sequester cuts on military spending.

News Papers:

McClatchy (MNI) and the New York Times (NYT) report on Thursday.

Financial/Banks:

Citigroup (C) reports on Monday, and whole slew of smaller and/or regional banks report throughout the week, after the nation’s largest financial institutions having released their earnings reports last week.

Consumer Goods:
Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), Proctor & Gamble (PG), Tupperware Brands (TUP) report on Wednesday; Colgate Palmolive (CL), Hershey (HSY), and Coca-Cola (COKE) report on Thursday.

Consumer goods, especially the large brand-names with a global presence are seen as a barometer of consumer sentiment and trends.

Auto Manufacturers:

Ford (F), and Lithia Motors (LAD) on Wednesday.

Telecommunications& Wireless:

MetroPCS Communications (PCS) reports on Monday; AT&T (T) reports on Tuesday; Sprint Nextel (S) and Motorola (MSI) report on Wednesday.