Could we see a bit of a drop from American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO) today? The retailer announced that its October same-store sales fell 5%, when the Street expected an increase of 1.7%. This disparity certainly seems to suggest that we could see the stock fall in today's trading action. The equity may find a measure of support from its 10-week moving average, which has filled this role throughout the stock's calendar-year rally. There seems to be some long-term support from AEO's 10-, 20-, and 50-month moving averages; all of which are in the $15 -$17 region. If the stock is going to fall, this support could be crucial. A drop through this resistance could spell a stock slide.

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Q2 profit fell short of estimates as same-store sales declined.
• Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) Q2 earnings beat very low expectations and same-store sales fell.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) reported better-than-expected numbers for Q2, sending shares upward.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) posted a better-than-expected Q4 profit though revenue declined.
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. posted a record Q2 profit after restrictions on fuel prices were lifted.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) said its Q2 earnings declined, but they still topped analysts' expectations.

American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), a fashion retailer that competes with Gap (NYSE: GPS) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), didn't do too well in Q2. Total sales went down 5%, and earnings per share on a GAAP basis fell a most awful 50% to 14 cents. According to Bloomberg, the adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share came up short of analyst expectations by three pennies.

Same-store sales hit the double-digit mark to the downside: they decreased 10%. Not a good number for this kind of business. Promotional markdowns helped to drive the gross margin down. The operating margin also took a hit.

Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), a retailer that competes with Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), and Gap (NYSE: GPS), posted what I thought was a superb second-quarter earnings summary on Thursday after the bell. The figures were very appealing, and I would've expected a better after-hours reaction by the stock to the news. Then again, the market can never be predicted. It will do whatever the heck it wants.

Net sales increased 20%. Not bad, am I right? Wait, check this out. Earnings per share came in at 57 cents, compared to the 31 cents reported in the year-ago quarter. According to Reuters, that was a penny ahead of expectations. But that penny beat on the bottom line isn't what impresses me the most. It's the strong per-share profit expansion that I find compelling.

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) is such a funny stock story. The company reports what I thought was a quarter full of dire results, and the market still sends shares higher. They closed almost 4% higher, in fact, on Friday. I don't get it.

For the second quarter, sales decreased 23%, and the overall same-store sales statistic, which is a really important metric for retailers, sank 30%. A net loss of 30 cents per share was booked, mostly on the back of the discontinuation of the Ruehl business. Excluding the effect of the closure, Abercrombie made 8 cents per share, and that, according to Reuters, beat by a mile the expected loss of 7 cents per share.

Last summer we lamented the price of gas. This year, however, there's at least one upside. Retail sales for June were up 0.6% - substantially better than the 0.4% anticipated – with the gas prices leading the charge. A slight tip in the brutalized auto manufacturer sector helped, as well. This was the largest retail sales increase in five months.

Gas stations benefited from the cost of fuel, adding a bit of pep to a beleaguered retail industry: sales were up 5% year over year, after doing the same in May. And, car dealers had their best month since January: the sales of cars and parts climbed 2.3%. Nonetheless, this corner of the retail world is still off 14.5% from last year. It may have helped last month, but we're still pretty far from a cure.

The second quarter is now behind us and for the most part it was a positive one in terms of the market pushing higher almost 40%. This is the second review of my 2009 stock picks through June 30 (see: Chasing Value: 9 picks for 2009 -- APC, GE, ISRG, WFC and more). There was a lot of talk about green shoots this past quarter as Wall Street was looking for any small bit of optimistic data to support the market.

The federal printing presses continued to run at full speed pushing the dollar lower and oil prices higher. While the feds were printing money to cover their deficits, the States do not have that same luxury and many of them are having trouble balancing their budgets to the tune of billions of dollars.

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Outperform from Market Perform due to valuation and the company's better balance sheet following capital raises. The firm raised its target on shares to $16.50.
  
• Merriman upgraded Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ:BCSI) to Buy from Neutral to reflect stabilizing demand and merger synergies from the Packeteer acquisition.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) to Overweight from Market Weight based on valuation, a new colon cancer assay expected in 2010, and upside from new sales hires.
• Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
  
• Great Plains Energy (NYSE:GXP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Ericsson (nASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded at Societe Generale to Buy from Hold.

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, lifting shares.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit said it will continue to buy back shares.
• Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) reported lower Q2 earnings and also announced 1,100 layoffs.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) higher Q1 earnings topped estimates even though same-store sales fell.
• BioMed Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: BMR) earnings prospects after the recent capital raise led to a downgrade.

J. Crew Group (NYSE: JCG), a retailer that shares space at the mall with Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF), Gap (NYSE: GPS), and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), has, as a stock, been doing extremely well.

As of this writing, shares of J. Crew have doubled over the last six months. It certainly hasn't hurt the company to see that the Obama family wears its clothes.