The week ahead...

It's very much an action-packed five days for the corporate calendar once again next week, as droves of companies continue to liven up the start of the fourth quarter.

Hot on the heels of Hays (HAS), two more recruitment companies step into the lion's den with their own trading updates.

Indeed, for more on Hays, read the recent focus on the firm from our stockpicker, Edmond Jackson.

First up on Monday is Michael Page (MPI). The FTSE 250-listed company is forecast to unveil net fees of £144 million and like-for-like net fee growth of around 29% year-on-year.

While the UK is likely to have witnessed modest growth, demand from Asia and the US is expected to have fared particularly well.

Robert Walters () follows 24 hours later and Numis forecasts net fees of £51 million, up 19% year-on year.

"We forecast a continuation of strong growth trends in Asia and also in Europe, while we forecast the UK to be flat. With macro pressures increasing, we recently lowered out FY2011 and FY2012 forecasts. The growth opportunities as the business continues to expand continue to offer long-term value in the shares, but near-term the shares are likely to be driven by the macro sentiment," said analyst Steve Woolf.

From midweek onwards, it's shaping up to be a retail bonanza, with the likes of Burberry (BRBY), WH Smith (SMWH) and ASOS (ASC) all set to report.

First up on Wednesday is British designer Burberry and it's been a fair from pretty run for the group over the past couple of weeks.

Fears for a slowdown in Chinese economic growth have had a knock-on effect on the luxury goods sector and Burberry's shares suffered a sharp sell off as a result.

But despite this, Seymour Pierce has maintained its 1,650p target price and 'buy' recommendation, noting that the premium valuation to its peers was justified.

"Despite the recent sell-off, we expect Burberry to report strong second-quarter trading after a faultless first quarter performance," said analyst Kate Calvert.

Ladbrokes (LAD) and WH Smith follow on Thursday.

Sporting results have been going the bookmakers' way recently, thanks to a number of matches going against form. However, due to the very nature of the economy and British high street, analysts are nervous on the stock. For the shares to perform, management need to be convincing that 2012 is really going to be the year in which its investments pay off.

WH Smith is another company that has felt the wrath of the UK high street downturn. As its recent quarterly update, the FTSE 250-listed company said it remains highly cash generative after focusing on gross margin gains and tight cost control. As such, it expects the outcome for the year to be in line with market expectations.

And on Friday, online fashion retailer ASOS takes to the stage, although investors should not be expecting this to be one of their best statements to date. There are concerns over growth within the UK and sales have slowed, Nick Raynor, investment at The Share Centre notes.

However, overseas operations should help to offset some of this weakness as it still remains the AIM-listed company's driving force.

Retail aside, next week also sees the likes of Fresnillo (FRES) report on Wednesday and Booker Group (BOK) follow suit 24 hours later.

Silver mining giant Fresnillo will provide investors with a third quarter trading statement in the wake of plummeting gold and silver prices. Despite this recent sell-off, prices still remain high in comparison to the same time last year and as a result, a positive update is expected from the FTSE 100-listed group.

Booker Group is also likely to please investors, after issuing a very positive trading update just four weeks ago.

The statement noted sales in the UK were up, while operations in India were faring well. Expansion plans are forging ahead at a steady pace for the company; an update on which will be sure to please investors.

Meanwhile, the economic calendar is looking equally full to the brim next week, with housing, employment and retail sales data all up for the taking.

The start of the week sees the British Retail Consortium publishes its sales monitor for September which unsurprisingly enough, is forecast to be week with consumers particularly reluctant to splash out on the big-ticket items.

Economists believe that consumers will remain very cautious in their spending over the coming months, as severe headwinds continue to hit the economy.

The RICS housing market survey is also due out early on in the week and should provide key information on the supply-demand metrics of the housing market.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, suspects that the survey will show "ongoing muted housing market activity and buyer interest compared to past norms, given largely unfavourable economic fundamentals and very low consumer confidence."

Of key interest will be the number of properties coming on to the market, particularly in light on muted buyer interest. If this shows signs of falling, it would increase the likelihood that a shortage of properties could provide some support to house prices.

Midweek welcomes manufacturing output data into the fold but it's not set for easy reading, with numbers thought to have edged up just 0.1% month-on-month in August as they did in July. Overall, industrial production is also seen rising by just 0.1% month-on-month after suffering a 0.2% drop in July.

Labour data is due out the same day and markets should be bracing themselves for an ugly picture, with economists forecasting a further deterioration.

Claimant count unemployment is forecast to have risen by 30,000 in September, marking the seventh consecutive increase and take the number of claimant count unemployed up to a 22-month high.

Archer notes: "The worry is that, having showed impressive resilience earlier this year, the labour market is now increasingly buckling under serious pressure from weak economic activity and accelerating job losses in the public sector. We expect unemployment to continue to rise over the latter months of 2011 and the first half of 2012."

And wrapping up events on Thursday will be trade deficit for August which is believed to have narrowed marginally to £4.3 billion in August after spiking up to £4.5 million in July.

Monday 10 October

Trading updates

X5 Retail Group, Michael Page International

AGMs/EGMs

Jupiter European Opportunities Trust, Mid Wynd International Investment Trust

Tuesday 11 October

Results

(Finals) Edinburgh Dragon Trust, Epistem Holdings

(Interim) Brown Group

Trading updates

BAA, Marks & Spencer Group, Robert Walters

Wednesday 12 October

Results

(Finals) Ceres Power Holdings

(Interim) Datatec

Trading updates

Burberry Group, Fresnillo, Travis Perkins

AGMs/EGMs

Goodwin, Cambium Global

Ex-dividend payment date

Abbott Laboratories, All Leisure Group, Ashley (Laura) Holdings, Animalcare Group, British & American Investment Trust, Balfour Beatty, Close Brothers Group, Cenkos Securities, Cobham, CPL Resources, Capital Shopping Centres Group, Daejan Holdings, Hays, Hotel Corporation, Henderson Eurotrust, Hargreaves Services, Johnson Service Group, Kerry Group, Mears Group, Maven Income and Growth, Murgitroyd Group, Murray International, Northbridge Industrial Services, Old Mutual, Rightmove, Smith & Nephew, S&U, Travis Perkins, Unite Group, WPP Group, Yule Catto

Thursday 13 October

Results

(Finals) Air Partner, Clinton Cards, dotDigital Group, WH Smith

(Interim) Booker Group

Trading updates

Ashmore Group, e2v technologies, Hamworthy, Ladbrokes, Mothercare, Rio Tinto, Renishaw

AGMs/EGMs

Argos Resources, Eaga, Mattioli Woods, Renishaw, Zhejiang Expressway

Friday 14 October

Trading updates

ASOS, Computacenter, Record

AGMs/EGMs

Celtic, Invista European Real Estate Trust, Surface Transforms