This morning one of my colleagues, Joseph Lazzaro, who heavily uses technical analysis, posted an article titled General Cable Corp.: Stopped-Out.

I have never used technical analysis to make investment decisions, but I have used charts for general long term trends examining a stock from a historical perspective. I think in the case of General Cable Corp. (BGC) it may prove untimely to bail out now based on just technical analysis.

We all knew News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar would cede the top spot to some film someday. To be honest, I didn't think Sony's (SNE) Dear John would be the one to do it.

According to Box Office Mojo, John grossed roughly $32 million at domestic theaters. That was more than enough to put the sci-fi flick in second place. However, no one should feel sad for News Corp.; Avatar's worldwide haul now stands at over $2.2 billion.

On the other hand, not all the stocks paying out big bucks for Super Bowl ad spots are going to see a lift as a result.

Here are five stocks having too much trouble right now for a few glitzy ads to fix.

Disney (DIS): A Toy Story sequel may get a decent draw, but this entertainment giant needs a new brand to rejuvenate its bottom line and build lasting success in 2010.

Comcast (CMCSA) published fourth-quarter numbers earlier today. On a reported basis, net income more than doubled to 33 cents per share. According to Reuters, the cable company earned 29 cents per share on an adjusted basis, beating estimates by two pennies.

Management loves to promote its ability to generate free cash flow. There was an increase in this metric of just under 21% for the twelve-month period. I love free-cash generation, and I appreciate this example of growth, but one thing should be pointed out: operational cash flow was flat. As the earnings release stated, a reduction in capital expenditures was mostly responsible for the expansion. Free cash flow was down 11% for the fourth quarter itself, sorry to say.

News Corp. (NWS), the media conglomerate that competes with Disney (DIS), Time Warner (TWX), and General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal, posted Q2 data after the bell on Tuesday. Shareholders should have few complaints on this one.

Revenues went up 10%, and earnings on an adjusted basis jumped well over 60% to 25 cents per share. According to Reuters, the estimate was 20 cents per share. Besides the beat, cash from operations was a lot better in the current six-month period. In the comparable frame, cash was used to fund operating activities.

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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Ahhh, Hulu. That wonderful destination where I can re-acquaint myself with my favorite Justin-Timberlake-on-SNL moments, catch up on episodes of Greek, and search for those old Silver Spoons clips I remember so fondly. The two-year-old website is a joint venture between Walt Disney's (DIS) ABC Network, General Electric's (GE) NBC Universal division, and News Corp.'s (NWS) FOX Entertainment Group, and is partially funded by Providence Equity Partners.

But just as online news readers may soon be charged to access The New York Times online, we may have to open our wallets for certain corners of the Hulu universe (they will likely still let me watch Silver Spoons for free).

Today might have started out as a buying binge by bargain hunters, but the existing home sales drop was large enough and the NABE call of a slow return to employment growth offered no significant promise of a significant economic improvement over what we have already witnessed. The Bernanke confirmation outcome is less uncertain than it seemed on Friday, although this too was a continued thought in the back of the minds of even those who bought up shares higher today. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,201.85 +28.87 (0.28%)
S&P 500 1,096.75 +4.99 (0.46%)
Nasdaq 2,210.80 +5.51 (0.25%)

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

• American Express Co. (AXP) doubled its bottom line in Q4 while its provisions for losses fell.
• Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) warned of weakness in Q4 and lowered its guidance, sending shares lower.
• Coach Inc. (COH) better-than-expected Q2 earnings were accompanied by sales growth, but shares fell.
• Comerica Inc. (CMA) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss, sending shares to a 52-week high.
• CSX Corp. (CSX) posted Q4 earnings that topped estimates but its revenue fell short of expectations.

General Electric Company (GE) is not a stock beloved by its shareholders. I'm one of them, and I can tell you that I sometimes find myself still unable to process the fall the once mighty icon of Wall Street has taken because of too much financial exposure. I look to every earnings report for signs of a true recovery in the conglomerate, a restoration to its former glory. The latest Q4 report doesn't necessarily do anything to point me in such direction, but I keep trying to tell myself it's going to be a while, and to hang in there.

According to the company press release, GE, whose colleagues include Citigroup, Inc. (C) and United Technologies (UTX), experienced a 10% drop in total sales and a 22% decline in per-share profit, the latter coming in at 28 cents from continuing operations. Thankfully, 28 cents was a couple pennies above the estimate given at Earnings.com.

There was actually very little economic news. The news that Ben Bernanke is not a shoe-in for reconfirmation as head of the Federal Reserve caused some pause, while the bank-bashing from yesterday carried over in many names. Five IPOs did not even get the deserved attention despite the notion that this has not been seen in a long time. Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 10,163.38 -226.50 (-2.18%)
S&P 500 1,091.07 -25.41 (-2.28%)
Nasdaq 2,204.32 -61.38 (-2.71%)

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U.S. stock futures were mixed Friday morning as investors mulled results from General Electric and others, and focused on the effects President Obama's plan to overhaul Wall Street would have on banks.

On Thursday, Wall Street suffered one of the worst day in month after the Obama administration announced a proposal to increase regulation on the financial industry. Despite several strong earnings, concerns over China's efforts to curb lending, a surprise increase in jobless claims and a drop in manufacturing amounted to the Dow industrials sinking 213 points, or 2%. The broader S&P 500 lost 1.9% and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 1.1%.

Rough few days for NBC, right? First, you have the whole Jay Leno prime-time disaster (which many experts and nonexperts saw coming); now you have yesterday's revelation from Dick Ebersol (chairman of NBC's sports division) that the Winter Olympics from Vancouver will actually lose money for NBC.

Ebersol noted that the cost of the broadcast rights for the games will exceed the company's advertising sales. Advertising sales slumped in the middle of 2009 and, although sales have picked up in the past four months, NBC is going to lose money thanks to the economic slowdown.

NBC Universal, which recently was the subject of a proposed transaction between General Electric (GE) and Comcast (CMCSA), is having a serious problem with The Jay Leno Show. It's not performing well in the ratings. But wait, there's more, as a typical infomercial narrator might intone: The Tonight Show isn't faring any better under the aegis of Conan O'Brien.

Worse, the issues with the 10 PM Leno programming asset go beyond just his ratings. The show is exerting a negative halo effect over the local newscasts. If you don't have a strong lead-in, then the content that follows will suffer.

Today's stock market was up more than it was not throughout the trading session, yet the feeling was more of an up-day after better than expected retail data and after more and more data points to a decent jobs figure for Friday's unemployment and non-farms payrolls data. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,607.69 +34.01 (0.32%)
S&P 500 1,141.65 +4.51 (0.40%)
Nasdaq 2,299.00 -2.09 (-0.09%)

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