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

• Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) better-than-expected Q4 numbers due to strong holiday sales of media products.
• BlackRock Inc. (BLK) reported strong Q4 results and doubled assets under management due to an acquisition.
• Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) shares fell despite better-than-expected Q4 earnings as guidance fell short of the Street view.
• DeVry Inc. (DV) reported better-than-expected Q2 numbers due to increasing enrollments, which lifted shares.
• EMC Corp. (EMC) reported strong Q4 results that beat the Street view and offered full-year guidance.
• General Dynamics Corp. (GD) Q4 results fell short of expectations and its guidance was less than estimates.

TiVo (TIVO) closed at $9.28. Microsoft (MSFT) filed a suit against TIVO on January 20 claiming TIVO illegally uses technology related to purchasing and delivering video. February option implied volatility is at 121, March is at 118, May is at 95; above its 26-week average of 74, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Netflix (NFLX) surged 12% on January 28 after reporting better than expected EPS and subscriber growth. February and March put option implied volatility is at 44, June is at 46, versus its six-month average of 44, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Today was weak from the start, part on earnings but mostly on the trend and partly in reaction to last night's State of the Union. Bernanke's confirmation looking to be reconfirmed helped markets late in the day, as did some bargain buyers. The end of day results were much less-bad than intra-day trading lows. This may have been one more day that the bears and profit takers looked more right than wrong. Today's close on the S&P and intra-day lows on the S&P are bringing up some serious support levels that had been prior resistance levels at that 1,085 level.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 10,120.46 -115.70 (-1.13%)
S&P 500 1,084.52 -12.98 (-1.18%)
Nasdaq 2,179.00 -42.41 (-1.91%)

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U.S. stock futures were higher on Thursday following the Federal Reserve's outlook for the economy and President Barack Obama's State of the Union address and his pledge to create more jobs. Meanwhile, a stream of earnings is coming in this morning, with Ford posting its first annual profit since 2005. Also on the agenda today are some economic indicators, including data on jobs. All the while, investors will watch as Fed chairman Bernanke's faith is decided.

President Barack Obama late Wednesday put job creation at the top of the agenda in his first State of the Union speech. He promised not to abandon health-care reform and promised tough, new rules on Wall Street.

Following Wednesday's market close, Netflix (NFLX) reported its fourth quarter numbers, and the stock soared 13% higher in after-hours trading when the company posted better-than-expected numbers for the quarter.

The company had a great quarter, with profit rising by an impressive 36%. While the fourth quarter earnings were dramatic, what really had the stock moving after hours was the upbeat forecast for 2010.

Netflix Inc. (NFLX), the world's largest online movie rental service, is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter financial results and 2010 outlook in a conference call Wednesday, Jan. 27, at 6:00 PM (ET), hosted by CEO Reed Hastings and CFO Barry McCarthy. A live webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Netflix announced a partnership with Best Buy (BBY) and a note offering to institutional investors. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings of 45 cents per share on revenue of $445.6 million, up from 38 cents per share and $359.6 million in the same period of last year.

What do you do when it's too cold to venture outside? You stay in and watch movies, and these days, most people get their movies from Netflix (NFLX).

The DVD rental pioneers were darlings of Wall Street last year, with the stock nearly doubling in 2009. But fears of an inability to meet growth expectations going forward, along with several downgrades of the stock in recent weeks, have knocked NFLX shares well off their highs.

If you live practically anywhere east of the San Andreas Fault, you know about the deep freeze biting the nation. Temperatures in many areas of the country have been way below normal this winter, especially in the Midwest and East Coast, and unfortunately, many meteorologists think the 2010 cold front will bring plenty of chilly nights before it makes its welcome departure.

According to the 2010 Farmers' Almanac, this winter will likely see many more days with below-normal average temperatures. Not just in the Midwest and East Coast, but for about three-quarters of the nation. The fallout from these cold temps is a constriction of outdoor activity, more time indoors, increased use of heaters, and when you have to go outside, the need to bundle up.

On Tuesday evening, I took a different route home than usual, and drove past my local Blockbuster (BBI) store. It was hard not to notice the brand new "Store Closing" sign, and my carpool buddies and I briefly discussed the stiff competition the chain is facing from Netflix (NFLX) and smaller rival Redbox.

Well, in light of last night's updated fiscal-year outlook, I'm beginning to think I may have witnessed a real-life bad omen (feel free to email me for your own psychic reading). After Wednesday's closing bell, Blockbuster confessed that its preliminary fourth-quarter and full-year results were unexpectedly weak -- and as a result, shares of the penny stock are slipping ever closer to theoretical support at zero.

Nintendo fans and movie buffs, unite and rejoice! At long last, Netflix (NFLX) has said its streaming video service will be available for the Nintendo Wii this spring. Wii is bringing up the rear a bit here, as consumers with an Xbox 360 from Microsoft (MSFT) or a Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3 already enjoy access to Netflix films.

Here's the fine print: Wii users have to have a broadband connection and a Netflix subsription that costs $9 per month or more. Upon receiving a special "instant-streaming" disc for the Wii, they will have access to their instant queue, essentially using the Wii as a portal through which to play the films (of course, a TV is still necesssary). Currently, there are about 17,000 titles (movies and TV shows) available for streaming, a far cry from the 100,000 names a Netflix subscriber can get in good old-fashioned disc format.

About all the FOMC Minutes did today was agitate those hoping for a dollar rally on currencies because the FOMC members were still concerned about the economic risks. Stronger supplies of oil were also ignored as weather related trading took oil higher from the post-report lows. The ISM non-Manufacturing data also came in just above the break-even point and the ADP data did not signal any major changes for Friday's jobs data. The DJIA and S&P 500 went from negative to positive so many times today that this was mixed regardless of how the averages ended up.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,574.06 +2.04 (0.02%)
S&P 500 1,137.14 +0.62 (0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,301.09 -7.62 (-0.33%)

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Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) is trading down today. Looks like investors aren't in the mood for the stock just before the new year begins. At the time of this writing, shares of the online DVD-rental concern were off by nearly 3%.

Kind of sad, when you think about it. Netflix is up big on the year. It was a great story of capital appreciation: buy the dips, and you made out. Whenever you thought the company was about to head into a downturn, it ended up proving you wrong. When things seemed just absolutely awful, like they did back in the first quarter, Netflix was resilient in the face of financial adversity.

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

• Aeropostale Inc. (ARO) strong Q3 results topped analysts expectations, and it offered Q4 earnings guidance.
• Cascade Corp. (CASC) reported a surprise Q3 profit but lower revenue fell short of expectations.
• Collective Brands Inc. (PSS) reported strong Q3 earnings as well as same-store sales growth.
• Cost Plus Inc. (CPWM) narrowed its net loss in Q3 but revenue and same-stores sales declined.
• Del Monte Foods Co. (DLM) posted strong Q2 results and raised its earnings outlook for the full year.
• Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, but said that revenue declined.

Analyst upgrades:

• Stephens upgraded Quidel (QDEL) to equal weight from underweight on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm keeps a $16 price target on the stock.
• UBS upgraded Clearwire (CLWR) to neutral from sell, citing the company's funding, which increases opportunities. The firm raised its price target to $6 from $3.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Mattson Technology (MTSN) to outperform from perform on expectations the company will benefit from a cyclical recovery in memory capex spending in 2010. The firm raised its target on shares to $4 from $3.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Kinross Gold (KGC) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Limited Brands (LTD) was upgraded to hold from sell at Soleil.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Exxon (XOM) to overweight from equal weight based on a higher production growth outlook. The firm, which raised its target to $92 from $90, expects Exxon to have organic growth of more than 3% in 2010 and an average growth rate of 2.6% between 2009 and 2013.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Palm (PALM) to buy from hold citing the recent pullback in shares and indications that Verizon (VZ) will carry webOS phones as early as 1H10. The firm has a $16 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray raised Medicis (MRX) to neutral from underweight and raised its target to $20 from $16. Following a management meeting, Piper said they have increased confidence in Soldyn risk and LipoSonix's safety profile.
• Illinois Tool Works (ITW) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merriman.