Facebook and the Fed — 5 things to watch for this week

Hello friends and Fortune readers.

Earnings season continues with yet another busy week of reports. We'll see how major consumer food companies, like Kraft Foods and Kellogg's , are faring, as well as beverage brands of interest, including Starbucks and Anheuser-Busch InBev .

There's also a host of economic data set to be released this week, and people will also be watching carefully to see what happens in New York City after a doctor was diagnosed with Ebola there.

Here's what to watch out for in the week ahead.

1. The state of social media. 2. Burger King unveils earnings ahead of Tim Horton inversion merger.

Analysts expect Burger King to perform slightly better with earnings-per-share of 27 cents as sales quarterly increase to $280.3 million. Also look for any word on how the company is faring as it moves its headquarters to Canada following its agreement to buy Ontario-based Tim Hortons.

3. How was the U.S. economy doing last quarter?

Economists slashed their forecasts for third-quarter US economic growth after an extremely volatile first half of the year. They expect gross domestic product to expand 3.1%, slower than the stellar 4.6% showing during the second quarter. The Commerce Department revised its quarterly estimate up further than the initially reported 4% growth. The latest GDP numbers will come out on Thursday, following a host of other economic reports including consumer confidence which is expected to be up ahead of the holiday shopping season.

4. The Federal Open Markets Committee meets behind closed doors.

The FOMC meets Tuesday and Wednesday for one of its eight regularly scheduled meetings during the year. Following its close, the committee will hold a press conference at 2pm Wednesday to share an overview of their conversations. The official minutes, however, will not be released until about three weeks later.

During the Fed's last meeting, the group pledged to keep interest rates low for a 'considerable time,' due to fears of slowing global growth and the risk that a stronger U.S. dollar could hinder national economic growth. Economists and business people alike will be listening for any update to when the Fed plans to raise interest rates, which many anticipate will happen in mid-2015.

5. Does Electronic Arts have anything to say about #GamerGate?

Video game maker Electronic Arts has stayed mum on the turmoil sweeping through the gamer community. GamerGate, as it's called, started as an outcry against what some saw as shoddy reporting on the industry and has grown into a full-on gender war. Actress Felicia Day had her personal information revealed after she spoke out against misogynistic threats, while NFL player Chris Kluwe was untouched after his scathing comments of the festering sexism. That's only one example of the high tensions and targeted attacks that have plagued the community recently. (Here's a good overview of GamerGate, if you're just getting caught up.)

Electronic Arts reports its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, and analysts expect it to report earnings-per-share of 53 cents on sales of $1.2 billion. More importantly, though, many will be listening carefully on any response to the battle raging in the gamer industry.