EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): According to Reuters, EMC, the expert on solutions for data storage, beat estimates by two pennies as adjusted earnings came in at 23 cents per share. Unfortunately, guidance for next quarter's top line was not what Wall Street wanted to hear; I guess the analysts wanted a little more pep in terms of sales. However, as Zacks.com points out, guidance for the fiscal year's bottom line was raised and cash flow is doing all right. Fundamentally, EMC may be okay. The stock has been very strong, and I think it should be looked at on a pullback.

Merck (NYSE: MRK): This major pharmaceutical entity increased its non-GAAP earnings by over 12% to 90 cents per share. Very cool, Merck. The merger with Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) should close in the fourth quarter, management says. Merck and Schering-Plough hope they will form a strong unit capable of growing over time while maximizing shareholder value. That remains to be seen. According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Merck was only supposed to make 82 cents per share as far as the analysts were concerned. While I give credit for the beat, I'm not inclined to put money in Merck this year. I'll wait to see how things fare after the fourth quarter and the formation of the new entity.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD): You eat the company's hamburgers, but do you invest in the stock? Maybe you should. Overall, Mickey D's delighted shareholders with income that went beyond the spreadsheet projections on Wall Street. The giant of fast food made $1.15 per share, good for a tasty 10% increase over results recorded in the year-ago period. According to DailyFinance, experts would have been happy with $1.10 per share. Gotta love that extra nickel. But here's something even better: the press release stated that the dividend was increased 10% in Q3. Seriously awesome! McDonald's is definitely one of those businesses you buy for the dividend and hold for the long term. As of Friday's closing price, the company is yielding 3.7%. Such a yield is as delicious as a quarter pounder with cheese, and the best part is it won't clog your arteries.

The New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT): Earnings on an adjusted basis went up significantly for the venerable paper in the third quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income from continuing operations was 16 cents per share versus 5 cents per share in the comparable period. Am I impressed? Not really. Sure: good performance and all that. But this is newsprint. And newsprint is having a difficult time adjusting to the disruptive force of the World Wide Web. The New York Times Company is not for me.

Raytheon (NYSE: RTN): I was wrong about Raytheon back in July. I thought shares might go higher after the second-quarter numbers were digested by investors. They did go slightly higher, but they eventually came back down and are now lower than when I covered the defense contractor. Can't win 'em all, I suppose. Reuters said that Raytheon earned $1.25 per share in Q3, nine cents higher than expectations. Management also lifted its outlook for fiscal 2010. To me, that indicates the company is holding its own. I continue to believe that Raytheon should be considered on drops by patient investors.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP): Recently, I discussed railway CSX (NYSE: CSX). Even though data points from the company weren't so uplifting, management went beyond per-share profit estimates. I spoke of the possibility of trading the stock on the theory that, since everyone is saying the worst is behind us, investing in businesses such as CSX might be worthwhile ahead of a full-on return to macro expansion. This still may be the case, although any trader with a sense of safety will definitely want to hedge any bet. I feel similarly toward Union Pacific (although Friday's sell-off was a bit scary, truth be told). The company did beat projections, as indicated by Earnings.com, by two pennies by delivering $1.02 per share. Again, this is probably a speculative buy to some degree; you should tread with caution with this story, because the economy is still having its problems. Perform extra due diligence when it comes to Union Pacific.

Earnings season continues on next week. Let's hope the major financial institutions find more reasons to buy than to sell as the press releases are posted on the news feeds.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.