There are many new characters in this week’s installment of “The Unusual Suspects for the Week Ahead.”  We have tracked news and added color on each where applicable.  The cast of characters in “The Unusual Suspects” includes Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), BP Plc (NYSE: BP), E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN), Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ), J. Crew Group Inc. (NYSE: JCG), Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD), Smith & Nephew plc (NYSE: SNN), Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT).  In ETFs were have some calls to watch in the iShares FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI), iShares S&P National AMT-Free Muni Bond (NYSE: MUB) and the PowerShares Insured National Muni Bond (NYSE: PZA).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is back in the health focus as Steve Jobs sent a memo to employees saying that he is taking a second medical leave of absence in two years so that he can focus on his health.  Be advised, Frankfurt trading in Apple is generally quite thin but Frankfurt trading on Monday had Apple shares down about 6.7%.  If that were to hold in the U.S. on Tuesday then we’d be sitting just above $325 all over again.

BP Plc (NYSE: BP) rose 2% in London trading on Monday after it signed a ROSNEFT share exchange pact that allows it to get access into Russian oil.  BP made our own “Best Big Oil Stock for 2011” but we would caution that if the Monday gain holds that BP’s ADR shares will be back above $50.00 for the first time since May after the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NASDAQ: DANG) is one where the plot is thickening over hot Chinese IPOs for US ADRs.  The quiet period is about to end and a blogging post from China Dangdang’s CEO criticized Morgan Stanley for under-pricing its IPO.  AT $33.86 on Friday, the post-IPO range has been $22.57 to $36.40 after its 17 million shares sold at $16..00 per share after an initial price target range of $11 to $13 per share.