After Alcoa, the next Dow component to report will be Intel. What should you expect and how should you trade?

The Expectations

Intel is expected to post earnings of 38 cents a share on revenue of $9.8 billion versus 11 cents a share and revenue of $7.1 billion last year, according to Thomson Reuters.

Investors will be particularly keen to hear what Intel has to say about demand for its chips used in personal computers -- in an attempt to gauge the health of the consumer.  

"We are anticipating another strong quarterly performance as various industry sources are pointing to increased demand," writes the website iStockAnalyst.

However if Intel show some inventory builds, investors may interpret the results as a bearish signal that the consumer is weak and that the recovery will be sluggish.