Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Apple Inc. (AAPL) posted its highest quarterly revenue ever, easily beating estimates, as iPhone sales doubled.
• Boeing Co. (BA) swung to a larger-than-expected Q4 profit but guidance fell short of analysts' estimates.
• Chevron Corp. (CVX) fell short of analysts' earnings estimates for Q4, sending shares lower.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) shares rose after optimistic statements by the CEO ahead of Q2 results.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) shares surged after it beat Q4 expectations by a wide margin and cash flow improved.
• Ford Motor Co. (F) reported its first annual profit in four years due to cost-cutting and improved market share.
• Halliburton Co. (HAL) reported lower Q4 earnings but beat estimates by a penny, and revenue also fell.

Monday morning, Halliburton (HAL) posted lower fourth-quarter earnings that narrowly topped the consensus estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, due in part to increased activity in North America.

Halliburton, one of the world's largest oilfield service providers, said earnings fell more than 46% from a year ago to $0.28 per share, but that beat the First Call consensus by a penny. Revenues fell about 25% from a year ago to $3.69 billion. The consensus estimate was for $3.63 billion.

U.S. stock futures moved firmly higher Monday morning, pointing to a rebound after a sharp three-day selloff last week. This morning, it seems, bargain hunters moved. Meanwhile, as earnings season kicks into high gear, investors also await housing data due out after the market open.

U.S. stocks skidded on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pulling back 2.1%. For the week, the Dow lost 4.1% -- the worst week on a percentage basis since March. Fears that the White House plan to curb bank risk-taking would cut profits helped sour sentiment, as did several earnings report that didn't live up to expectations. The situation in China, with its bank tightening policy, didn't help either.

Halliburton (HAL - option chain) stock is trading lower after the company said Tuesday that reduced activity by major Mexican customer Petroleos Mexicanos will reduce HAL's Q4 EPS by 2 cents. Analysts previously had expected 0.28 EPS from HAL in the fourth quarter. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on HAL.

Wednesday, HAL opened at $29.95. In early trading, the stock hit a high of $30.05 and a low of $29.30. As of 11:10, HAL was trading at $29.76, down $0.70 (-2.3%). The chart for HAL looks neutral and S&P gives HAL a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Analyst upgrades:

• Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) was upgraded at Jefferies to Hold from Underperform following Q3 results. The firm believes the Wavecom acquisition integration is progressing better than expected and finds the valuation attractive at current levels. The firm raised its price target to $10 from $5.
• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank to reflect the company's recapitalization and better-than-expected occupancy. The firm raised its target to $69 from $46.
• Wyndham (NYSE: WYN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital after the shares sold off following the company's Q3 results. The firm raised its target to $23 from $15.
• Human Genome (NASDAQ: HGSI) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Target was raised to $25 from $14.
• Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) was upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel as they expect a "meaningful sales and earnings improvement in Q4." Target was raised to $39 from $32.
• Methanex (NASDAQ: MEOH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, citing improved methanol demand following the Q3 report. Target was raised to $19.50 from $17.
• Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) was upgraded at Raymond to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades:

• American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital, as the firm sees limited near-term downside in the stock. The firm raised its target price on the shares to $37 from $25.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) to Outperform from Sector Perform. Target to $44 from $34. UBS upgraded Nestle on expectations the company will begin returning cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised Dicks Sporting (NYSE:DKS) to Neutral from Underweight following positive channel checks and raised its target on the shares to $28 from $18.
  
• Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Pali Capital.
  
• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was raised to Buy from Hold by Natixis.
  
• Sunpower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.
• China Automotive (NASDAQ:CAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merriman.

You can tell the oil market's in rough shape when companies are drilling more to pull in smaller profits. This is the situation in which Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) finds itself, with lower energy prices pushing down the cash that comes through the door.

So, its revenue was up for the most recent quarter, but earnings were down. The $262 million that came to the bottom line is 61% lower than the profit for the same quarter the year before.

We had a lot of big names trading up to new 52 week highs again today. The overall markets were pretty flat, with the DOW closing the day down 0.14%, the NASDAQ closing the day's trading up 0.04%, and the S&P ending the day a bit lower to finish today's trading down 0.28%.

Here are a few of the names that moved higher during the day to set new 52 week highs.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss as steel prices rise.
• Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) posted a better-than-expected Q2 profit on strong overseas sales.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares jumped after it beat earnings, missed revenues, and offered guidance.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) shares declined after it posted a higher-than-expected profit but lower revenue.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) disappointing results were a sign that the bulls are in charge, said Jim Cramer.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q2 earnings and sales declined, dragged down by finance and NBC units.

This morning, oil firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) posted second-quarter earnings and a warning about North American natural gas markets. First things first, HAL reported second-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share (excluding a $12-million charge stemming from job cuts). While these results were far worse than the 55 cents per share the company earned a year ago, they still managed to top the consensus estimate by four cents per share. The situation was the same for quarterly revenue, which fell to $3.49 billion (from $4.49 billion a year ago) but still managed to outpace the Street's expectations - which called for $3.41 billion.

"Many experts believe that oil prices are at unsustainably low prices now, and they expect a sharp rise in the commodity price as supply and demand come back into line again," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he suggests, "If oil does begin to rise again, the oilfield service stocks could rebound sharply." Here, he takes a look at large cap plays on a rebound within the oilfield services sector.

"We all know that oil prices have fallen dramatically from their highs in the summer of 2008. But different types of oil-related stocks have reacted quite differently to the price change in the underlying commodity.

"For example, while oil itself has dropped nearly 70% from its 12-month high, the stock of the largest integrated oil company, Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM), is down only 26%, less than the stock market as a whole.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Q4 profit rose on higher prices, and its forecast matched expectations.
• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Q4 earnings grew on cost cutting but revenue remained flat.
• Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE: BDK) shares tanked after the dismal Q4 report, and it announced job cuts.
• Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE: CRS) Q2 numbers resulted in a downgrade from one analyst.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reported a Q4 loss due to writedowns from recent acquisitions.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) swung to a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss and its revenue fell as well.
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) swung to a Q4 loss on acquisition costs but reaffirmed its guidance.

Here's a quick look at some of Monday's earnings results:

Netflix Inc.'s (NASDAQ: NFLX) fourth-quarter earnings jumped 45% percent to nearly $23 million, or 38 cents per share, which surpassed analysts' estimates. Revenue in the period rose 19% to $360 million. The company ended 2008 with 9.4 million subscribers, a gain of 718,000 customers from the end of September. Shares fell $0.29, less than 1% Monday.

Amgen Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMGN) fourth-quarter profit grew 15% percent to $961 million, or 91 cents per share, mostly due to lower expenses. Revenue was $3.75 billion about the same as last year. Results included $60 million in restructuring costs a year ago. Shares rose $1.22, or 2.3%, but fell in after-hours trading.

Just as we were getting used to write about how bad trading has been, today came around and was positive throughout. The housing data from existing home sales sent the markets up, despite mostly dismal news from the industrials. Bank stocks had yet another up day.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced a deal to acquire rival Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for $68 billion, or $50.19 a share, a 15% premium to Friday's close of $43.74. This cash-and-stock deal is the largest in the drug sector since 2000 and many see it as a precursor to a flourishing M&A season as the credit markets are slowly starting to improve. Pfizer also reported a 90% profit drop for the fourth quarter due to charges. PFE shares declined 3.4% in premarket trading, while WYE shares gained nearly 5%.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) shares surged in London Monday after the firm reassured investors in a letter to shareholders it didn't need more capital. But France's BNP Paribas said it would take more cash from the government following a 1.4 billion euro ($1.8 billion) loss in the latest quarter. Finally, ING (NYSE: ING), the Dutch financial services firm, also received government aid as it is expected to announce it had a net loss of 3.3 billion euros in the fourth quarter, that it would cut 7,000 jobs, and that its CEO would step down. BCS shares gained over 44% in premarket trading and ING's gained over 19%.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) are two Dow components set to report earnings this morning. CAT said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $661 million, or $1.08 a share, from $975 million, or $1.50 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 6% to $12.9 billion. For 2009, Caterpillar gave a a much lower guidance than analysts had expected, $2.50 vs. $4.35 EPS. CAT also said it would slash 20,000 jobs. CAT shares fell over 11% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, MCD delivered what at first glance seems to be better-than-expected earnings of 87 cents vs. 84 cents. It even plans to invest $2.1 billion of capital to open about 1,000 new McDonald's restaurants.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is the third Dow component tor report quarterly results after the close of trading today and is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share.