Today was helped in part by housing data for December showing gains on the existing home sales front, but was mostly a sentiment reversal. The S&P closing back above 1,085 yesterday created the hope that a floor was being put in and the stocks followed some strength in Europe to post larger gains.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,297.00 +111.47 (1.09%)
S&P 500 1,103.11 +13.93 (1.28%)
Nasdaq 2,189.68 +18.48 (0.85%)

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

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares declined despite an earnings beat and a positive outlook
• Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reported that its Q4 loss widened more than expected by Wall Street.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) reported better-than-expected earnings but shares declined.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) is seen as on-track to record double-digit earnings growth in 2010.
• Cree Inc. (CREE) strong earnings and revenue growth sent shares to a new 52-week high.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (AMTD) didn't experience a spectacular start to its new fiscal year. The broker, which competes with Charles Schwab (SCHW) and E*Trade Financial Corporation (ETFC), was hampered by a decline in trading activities.

According to the press release, revenues increased a modest 2% from the year-ago period. On a sequential basis, the top line actually contracted. Net income decreased 26% to 23 cents per share. Earnings.com indicates an expectation of 26 cents per share. Margins and profitability metrics unfortunately were down across the board.

Look before you leap! All year long rumors have been swirling around that E*TRADE (ETFC) was on the auction block being prepared for an acquisition by a bigger fish interested in its customers and superior trading platform. I have not used E-TRADE so I do not have first hand experience. However, this has been acknowledged broadly and I have received very positive comments from regular users when I have written about it.

The leading suitor seems to be TD AmeriTrade Holding (AMTD), with Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW) mentioned as perhaps having similar but less conspicuous interest. For Schwab it may be as much about keeping E-TRADE out of a competitors hands as chasing the business.

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

• Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue, sending shares higher.
• Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) reported better-than-expected Q3 numbers, sending shares higher.
• Bare Escentuals Inc. (NASDAQ: BARE) Q3 profit easily topped analysts' estimates, and shares surged.
• Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG) received an upgrade following the release of its Q3 numbers.
• Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) reported strong Q1 results, sending shares higher.
• E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) reported a smaller-than-expected net loss for Q3.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) Q3 earnings topped estimates and revenue was up sequentially.

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) is a well-known brand in the broker space. It competes vigorously with the other giants, TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) and Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW). To be honest, if I were looking for investment ideas in this sector, I would probably begin my search with the latter two. It's difficult to put E*Trade on the list. The company got in trouble during the financial crisis because it was exposed to the mortgage industry. It has now become, in my opinion, a speculative play on a return to glory.

The latest earnings report shows what I'm talking about. For the third quarter, E*Trade lost, on a GAAP basis, 66 cents per share from continuing operations, wider than the year-ago loss of 60 cents per share from continuing operations. After adjusting for an item related to debt extinguishment, the current red ink is equal to 5 cents per share.

Earnings are rolling in on this fine Tuesday morning, with many companies reporting. One of those is TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD), which stepped into the earnings spotlight and reported fourth-quarter earnings of 26 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by four cents per share.

Quarterly revenue came in at $657.9 million, which is 1.3% better than a year ago. Looking ahead, the online brokerage forecast full-year 2010 earnings to come in between $1.10 and $1.40 per share. The consensus estimate for fiscal 2010 is $1.05, so the shares could see a bit of a boost on the forecast. AMTD's quarterly earnings fell 8.8% compared to a year earlier, but the company did post new highs in average client trades per day and new net assets.

I know, I know. You look at the recent performace of E*Trade's (NASDAQ: ETFC) shares and you say to yourself, man, I've got to play this stock and make some return! Sure, E*Trade shares have doubled since the first of the year. But then the earnings hit the fan, my trading friends, and that double suddenly disappeared.

The brokerage reported a Q1 loss that was wider than the year-ago number. E*Trade lost 41 cents per share versus a loss of 20 cents per share in 2008. According to this source, that was a penny worse than what Wall Street was bracing itself for.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says a few calls Tuesday show the positives in this market.

So many conference calls, so little time to really assess what the heck was happening when it was happening. Nevertheless, a few calls pretty much defined the positive action, and they have to be highlighted.

First, the TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) (Cramer's Take) call showed you what I have been looking for: renewed interest in the stock market by retail people trying to make money off the wild swings and the exchange-traded funds. I am no fan of the ETFs, but I am a fan of new people in the game, and Ameritrade confirmed what I was thinking could be happening: actual interest in stocks at the new lower levels. It's a positive -- not a huge positive, but a positive nonetheless.

Despite the notion that lawmakers are considering executive compensation pay caps for those companies which may invest in the $1 trillion PPIP, the markets did not turn against Pennsylvania Ave. There were not really any major economic data and shares bounced off lows after traders determined that the bar was being set very low.

Here are today's closing bell levels (unofficial close):

Dow 7,969.56 +127.83 (1.63%)
S&P 500 850.08 +17.69 (2.13%)
Nasdaq 1,643.85 +35.64 (2.22%)

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Discount broker E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) will run its famous "talking baby" TV ad during the Superbowl. It won't help the failing company. The stock is still a "sell."

E*Trade shares change hands at $1.18. That is down from a 52-week high of $5.79. For the fourth quarter of last year, the company reported a net loss of $276 million, or $0.50 per share. And, E*Trade's operating interest income, a key measurement of its health, keeps dropping. The firm said it had applied for money from the TARP but admitted there was no guarantee it would be successful in securing that funding.

E Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), which competes with TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) and Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW), is doing splendidly today. As I write this, the stock is up well over 15%. But I would not touch this one with a ten-foot pole, as they say.

According to this article, E*Trade reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday of $0.50 per share. While that was a lot better than the $3.98 per-share loss reported in last year's Q4, it wasn't enough to beat expectations. Wall Street was hoping for a loss of $0.24 per share. E*Trade said in its press release that daily average revenue trades increased 18% and that 97,000 new accounts were captured. While both of those stats are impressive to a certain degree, an investor must keep in mind that E*Trade is a complicated story. The company really screwed itself by exposing its shareholders to so much financial risk; sure, that might be hindsight now, but it nevertheless is true. And with all the loan provisions and all the issues with the company's involvement with applying for the government's TARP initiative, etc., I can tell you that I absolutely would not want to play around with this stock.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) on Tuesday named Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder, president of the Japanese automaker. Toyota, once believed to be better immune than U.S. carmakers to the recession has been struggling as well with its sales declining 4% in 2008 for the first time in a decade. This is the first time in 14 years that a Toyoda family member has taken the helm. While this appointment is not surprising, it comes earlier than expected. TM shares gained over 2% in premarket trading.

State Street (NYSE: STT) reported its earnings fell 71% to $65 million, or 15 cents a share on costs of more than $800 million to prop up funds and cut its work force. Excluding certain items, profit was $1.18, beating the $1.13-a-share estimate. STT gave notice late Friday that it's setting on $5.5 billion of unrealized after-tax losses on its investment portfolio and $3.6 billion in unrealized losses in conduits. The stock was down over 25% 35% in premarket trading.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced that fourth-quarter sales decreased 4.9% to $15.2 billion, below estimates of $15.3 billion. EPS was $0.97, but excluding special items, fourth-quarter EPS increased 6.8% to $0.94, 2 cents better than estimates. The stock was down 1.2% in premarket trading.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) faces fresh accusations that it's abusing its market dominance in mainframe computers to shut out rival products in violation of European Union antitrust rules. IBM is set to report quarterly results after the close with analysts estimating it will post earnings of $3.03 a share. The stocks was down 1.2% in premarket trading.

Thinkorswim (NASDAQ: SWIM) will be acquired by TD AmeriTrade (NASDAQ: AMTD). At closing, each shares of SWIM will be exchanged for $3.34 in cash and 0.3980 of an AMTD share. SWIM January 5 straddle closed at $1.00, February 5 straddle closed at $1.50. SWIM overall option implied volatility of 78 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

AMTD says it "expects the transaction to be accretive by approximately three to seven percent of fiscal 2010 GAAP earnings and 10 to 15 percent 12 months following the completed integration." AMTD January option implied volatility is at 68, February is at 73; above its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) closed at $13.32. OXPS January option implied volatility is at 64, February is at 59; near its 26-week average of according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

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

After the stock market meltdown of 2008, Wall Street brokerages aren't anyone's favorites in 2009.

But some customers said they're still happy with their online broker.

A December ChangeWave survey of 3,051 consumers found that despite the extremely difficult financial market, two online brokerages still capture high customer satisfaction ratings -- Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) and archrival, Scottrade.