SAN FRANCISCO—Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Wednesday’s session are Genentech Inc., Compuware Corp. and Ryland Group.

AAR Corp. () is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of 41 cents a share, according to a poll of analysts by Thomson Financial.

Chaparral Steel Co. () is seen posting a per-share profit of $1.38 for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Genentech Inc.’s () second-quarter per-share profit is expected to come in at 72 cents.

Resources Global Professionals () is seen posting earnings of 31 cents a share for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Ruby Tuesday’s () fiscal fourth-quarter results are expected to show per-share earnings of 47 cents.

Wolverine World Wide Inc. () is seen posting second-quarter earnings of 28 cents a share.

Yum! Brands Inc. () is expected to post a per-share profit of 26 cents for its second quarter.

Watch List

Audiovox Corp. () said fiscal first-quarter net income rose to $2.23 million, or 10 cents a share, from $1.52 million, or 7 cents a share, a year earlier, on particularly strong accessories sales. Income from continuing operations fell to a penny a share from 8 cents a share. Sales increased 15.2 percent to $128.3 million from $111.3 million.

Buca Inc. () said second-quarter comparable-restaurant sales grew 3.7 percent from the year-ago period as revenue grew 1.7 percent. The Minneapolis parent company of the Buca di Beppo restaurant chain reported preliminary sales of $62.1 million, compared with $61 million a year earlier. On average, analysts expected revenue of $62.8 million, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.

California Pizza Kitchen Inc. () put its second-quarter revenue at $158.6 million, up 16 percent from a year ago. The Los Angeles-based chain said same-restaurant sales increased 5.4 percent, compared with 4.8 percent a year earlier. The company had predicted an increase of 5 percent to 6 percent. California Pizza Kitchen forecast second-quarter earnings of 21 cents a share, or 23 cents a share excluding certain items. On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial predict second-quarter earnings and revenue of 24 cents a share and $160.1 million, respectively.

Chevron Corp. () expects second-quarter results to benefit from higher commodity prices in its upstream segment and stronger refining margins in its downstream segment. The San Ramon, Calif., energy company also expects to benefit from a gain on the sale of its interest in Dynegy Inc. ().

Compuware Corp. () said it expects first-quarter revenue of about $278 million, below the mean analyst estimate of $303 million. The Farmington Hills, Mich.-based developer of testing, management and development sees break-even earnings per share for the first-quarter. The company said restructuring costs cut net income for the quarter by 4 cents a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, are looking for earnings of 10 cents a share.

Innovo Group Inc. () swung to a fiscal second-quarter profit of $422,000, or 1 cent a share, from a loss of $5 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier, which the company attributed to particularly strong sales in its Joe’s Jeans unit. Excluding a settlement charge, Innovo said it would have swung to a profit of $2.14 million from a loss of $2.33 million for the year-ago period.

Sealy Corp. () reported fiscal second-quarter net earnings of $16.1 million, or 17 cents a share, up from $126,000, or breakeven a share, in the year-ago period. The Trinity, N.C.-based mattress maker said revenue in the three months ended May 27 rose 6.7 percent to $401.8 million from $376.7 million in the comparable period last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting, on average, a per-share profit of 22 cents on revenue of $399 million.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. () and Sangamo BioSciences Inc. () announced an alliance to develop laboratory research reagents based upon Sangamo’s ZFP technology.

STMicroelectronics NV () said it will slow down and close operations at its six-inch wafer fab facility in Varrollton, Texas, its eight-inch fab facility in Phoenix and its back-end packaging and test facility in Ain Sebaa, Morocco, over the next two to three years. The Geneva-based semiconductor said the closures will affect about 4,000 employees, and it expects to offer transfers or other incentives to most of them.

Tercica Inc. () said it signed an agreement with Genentech Inc. () worth up to $53 million for the development, manufacture and commercialization of two products. Genentech will also buy 708,591 shares of Tercica stock for $4 million in connection with the transaction. The two products contain Genentech’s recombinant human growth hormone Nutropin AQ and Tercica’s recombinant insulin-like growth factor-1 Increlex.

Vital Images Inc. () said it expects a second-quarter loss of 2 cents to 5 cents a share. The Minneapolis provider of visualization services put its revenue at $15.1 million to $15.4 million. Vital also cut its 2007 revenue estimate to $75 million to $80 million from $90 million to $95 million. The company’s shares were recently halted and last listed a price of $26.47.

Ryland Group Inc. () said it expects to report a second-quarter loss of $1.25 to $1.35 a share. The Calabasas, Calif.-based homebuilder said that due to “continued deterioration in the housing market,” it expects to incur $145 million to $155 million in pre-tax charges related to inventory impairments and write-offs in the quarter. Excluding inventory impairments and write-offs, Ryland said it expects to a post second-quarter profit of 75 cents to 80 cents a share. In addition, the company said preliminary sales for the second quarter were 2,521 units, down 16.6 percent from last year.

(12-29) 06:31 PST Des Moines, Iowa (AP) —

Iowa could make or break a Democratic candidate on Thursday. The question is, who?

While the state has long played a key role in choosing the Democratic presidential nominee, it has unparalleled influence this year, even after several larger states moved up their contests to try and muscle in. Those efforts have done little more than compress the calendar into a five-week sprint that ends with the multistate primary Feb. 5 Д strengthening Iowa’s position as the leadoff caucus state rather than diminishing it.

Even New Hampshire, which holds the first primary of the season, has seen its once-mighty position diminished somewhat by Iowa’s outsized role this time.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards are locked in a tight three-way contest in Iowa just days before voters attend their precinct caucuses on Thursday. And while all three have strong organizations in other early states, the best laid plans in those places could come apart depending on what happens in Iowa.

Only Obama and Clinton have raised enough campaign cash to be sure of being competitive through Feb. 5 and beyond. Edwards has agreed to accept federal matching funds, which will constrain the amount of money he is allowed to spend in each state.

Trailing in the polls, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd have also concentrated nearly all their resources in Iowa in hopes of scoring an upset.

The impact of unexpected news events, such as the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, may further complicate a fluid situation.

Here’s a look at what to expect in the next several weeks:

___

IOWA Д Jan 3 (45 pledged delegates)

All six major Democratic candidates will blitz the state before next Thursday’s caucuses. Hundreds of staff and volunteers from each campaign will flood likely caucus goers with mail, visits and phone calls. The television airwaves have been saturated for weeks with advertising.

Clinton, who has struggled in Iowa despite leading the field in national and most other state polls, has the most riding on the outcome here. A win could fuel a wave of momentum for the former first lady, while a loss, particularly to Obama, would shatter the notion of inevitability she has tried to project.

The New York senator is barnstorming the state and has deployed dozens of surrogates including her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Her closing argument Д “It’s time to pick a president” Д underscores her central message: A candidate like Obama may inspire and move voters, but Clinton is the best prepared to actually do the job.

Obama and Edwards are competing to be the strongest “anti-Clinton” candidate in the field. Both are promising to bring fundamental change to Washington.

Edwards’ base of support lies with caucus goers who were with him when he ran for president in 2004. Obama and Clinton are competing for newcomers Д hers are mostly older and female, his are younger and male.

Spending by outside groups has added a new dimension to the contest. EMILY’S List, AFSCME and the American Federation of Teachers are coordinating to boost Clinton through mail, TV and phone banks, while Edwards is receiving assistance from labor-backed groups headed by his 2004 campaign manager.

Obama has called on Edwards to ask the groups to cease their work in Iowa, and privately Obama’s advisers fret that he is being hurt by the influx of spending on the other candidates’ behalf.

___

NEW HAMPSHIRE Д Jan. 8 (22 pledged delegates)

The candidates are reinforcing their organizations in New Hampshire to prepare for whatever verdict Iowa delivers.

The Clinton campaign, which had long counted on the state to be its firewall in the event of a less-than-stellar Iowa showing, has scrambled as her lead here has all but evaporated. The situation was further roiled when a prominent New Hampshire supporter, Bill Shaheen, stepped down as a campaign co-chairman after raising concerns about Obama’s teenage drug use.

But Clinton has strong ties to the state thanks to her husband’s 1992 and 1996 campaigns. Her organization numbers several hundred staff and volunteers in New Hampshire, methodically working phones and canvassing.

Obama strategists say the key to victory in the state lies with independents who can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary and who polls show strongly oppose the Iraq war. The campaign is counting on a strong showing among these voters but is targeting traditional Democrats as well, making about 20,000 calls a night.

The Edwards campaign says it has four times the staff in New Hampshire that he had in 2004, when he finished a disappointing fourth. The campaign says its volunteers have knocked on 235,000 doors in the state, where 220,000 people voted in the primary four years ago.

___

MICHIGAN Д Jan. 15 (128 pledged delegates; national party says the state will lose them all)

The Democratic candidates have agreed not to compete in Michigan because the state moved the date of its primary in violation of party rules. The Democratic National Committee has penalized the state by stripping all its delegates, but the eventual nominee may choose to restore the delegates prior to the convention next August.

___

NEVADA Д Jan. 19 (25 pledged delegates)

Nevada will be the first state with delegates at stake after the New Hampshire primary and could play an important role if the race is still competitive coming out of Northeast.

While party leaders estimate only about 40,000 voters will take part in Nevada’s caucuses, all the major candidates have spent considerable resources here in hopes of securing a win among a Western, heavily Hispanic electorate.

The campaigns are all counting on momentum and strong organization to fuel their efforts here. The candidates are basing their organization on an Iowa caucus model, building relationships precinct by precinct.

Richardson has spent more time here than any other candidate, hoping to parlay his Hispanic heritage and proximity as governor of neighboring New Mexico into a strong showing.

All the campaigns are vigorously competing for the backing of the Culinary Union, which represents some 60,000 service workers along the Las Vegas strip. The union will announce an endorsement in early January.

___

SOUTH CAROLINA Д Jan. 26 (45 pledged delegates)

The three top-tier candidates have grounds to lay claim to South Carolina Д Obama and Clinton because of their popularity among black voters, Edwards because he was born in the state and won its primary four years ago.

Clinton and Obama have strong organizations in the state and have begun sustained television advertising recently. Both have made a concerted effort to woo black voters, who were 50 percent of primary voters in the state last time; they’ve run ads on black radio and sought endorsements from community leaders and black legislators.

Edwards has run television ads here since November and has made more campaign visits than Obama or Clinton. Polls show him running a distant third but slowly gaining ground.

___

FLORIDA Д Jan. 29 (185 pledged delegates, may be lost)

Like Michigan, Florida has been penalized for moving its primary in violation of party rules. The national party has stripped the state of its delegates, and the candidates have pledged not to campaign in the state, although they have made several fundraising visits.

___

MEGA TUESDAY Д Feb. 5 (At least 20 states and 2,075 pledged delegates)

Contests from Connecticut to California on this day could end up determining the Democratic nominee.

Clinton has seen her lead diminish somewhat in California, whose 441 delegates represent the day’s largest prize. But the campaign is running generally strong there and is targeting absentee voters who can begin casting ballots Jan. 8.

The campaign is also building organizations in states holding caucuses on Feb. 5, including Minnesota, Colorado and Kansas.

Obama has bolstered efforts in California, and polls show him running strong in Georgia and Missouri. He’s strongest in his home state of Illinois, while Clinton is dominant in her home state of New York and in nearby New Jersey.

(12-29) 03:28 PST (AP) —

Terry Armour

CHICAGO (AP) Д Longtime Chicago Tribune columnist Terry Armour has died, the newspaper reported on its Web site. He was 46.

Armour was taken to a hospital in Chicago where he died after becoming ill on Friday afternoon, the newspaper said.

Armour joined the Chicago Tribune in 1980 as a copy clerk. He covered the Chicago Bulls for the paper from 1995 to 1999 before becoming an entertainment columnist, according to a biography on the Tribune’s Web site.

Armour also was a sportswriter at the Tribune Co.-owned Daily Press in Newport News, Va., from 1988 to 1991.

“Terry made it look easy because he loved his work, but all of us who knew him realized that he worked hard for that success,” Randall Weissman, a Tribune deputy managing editor, said in an e-mail to staff members. “In addition to his professionalism, Terry brought laughter and an infectious enthusiasm to the newsroom. His loss will be felt deeply by all of us.”

Armour also had been a host of a midday radio show on the former WCKG-FM.

___

Edward Brennan

CHICAGO (AP) Д Edward Brennan, who started as a sales associate at a Sears store in Wisconsin and rose to become chairman and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in the mid-1980s, has died at age 73.

“We were saddened today to learn of the passing of Sears’ former Chairman and CEO Edward Brennan,” Sears spokeswoman Kim Freely said in a statement Friday given to The Associated Press. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Brennan family during this difficult time.”

Brennan, who later took over as board chairman at American Airlines parent AMR Corp. when previous chairman Donald Carty was forced out amid financial and labor tumult, died Thursday night at his home in suburban Burr Ridge after a brief illness, the Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site.

The Chicago native served on a variety of boards, including McDonald’s Corp., 3M Corp. and Exelon Corp. He also previously served as chairman of the board of trustees at DePaul University and Marquette University, his alma mater.

“Ed was a true leader and a man of great integrity. He made a tremendous contribution to McDonald’s,” McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner said in a statement. “His strong leadership and experience were absolutely invaluable to us. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ed’s family. We will miss him greatly.”

In January 1981 he was elected chairman and chief executive officer of the company’s retail group and helped handle the acquisition of Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. and Coldwell, Banker & Company. From 1984 to 1986 Brennan was corporate president and chief operating officer.

In 1986 he became chairman of the board and chief executive officer. The company that year launched its Discover Card, claiming 12 million holders by year’s end.

Brennan retired from Sears and its board of directors on Aug. 9, 1995.

___

Steven T. Florio

NEW YORK (AP) Д Steven T. Florio, a hard-driving executive who worked his way up the publishing ladder to lead the Conde Nast magazine empire, has died. He was 58.

Florio died Thursday at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia of complications from an earlier heart attack, said Maurie Perl, a spokeswoman for Conde Nast Publications.

Florio was president and chief executive of Conde Nast through 2004, expanding it to the second-biggest magazine publisher in the country while many others were cutting staff and costs.

He managed 16 magazines aimed at well-to-do readers, selling advertising that appealed to their luxury tastes reaching more than 70 million readers a month.

Under Florio, Conde Nast included Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, as well as Glamour, Architectural Digest, Self, GQ, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, Allure, Wired, Lucky and Teen Vogue.

Born in the New York borough of Queens, Florio graduated from New York University with a business degree in 1971.

“I was not short on nerve or ego, and I carried a heavy chip on my shoulder,” he wrote in the book proposal. “They’ll bury me with it, too. I was there to get the job done.”

He started his career at Esquire, then became publisher of GQ. Florio was named president of The New Yorker in 1985, when the magazine was purchased by Advance Publications, the Conde Nast parent company owned by the Newhouse family.

___