U.S. stock futures drifted higher Tuesday morning, pointing to a somewhat flat beginning on Wall Street this morning after yet another sell-off day Monday despite a series of strong earnings releases. Investors await several economic releases due out this morning, including housing and consumer confidence, looking for direction.

Economic releases this morning include September durable goods orders at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, which is expected to have risen. At 9 a.m., the August Case-Shiller Home Price Index is due out. Prices are expected to have continued their slide. At the same time, October's Conference Board reading on consumer confidence will be released. Economists expect confidence has improved slightly.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company will benefit from the broadband Stimulus funds.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) to Overweight from Equal Weight based on relative valuation and views the company as a "survivor." Additionally, the analyst lowered 2009 industry estimates but believes it is the last cut for the year and is incrementally more positive on the sector.
• Morgan Stanley also upgraded EXFO Electro-Optical (NASDAQ: EXFO) to Overweight from Market Weight based on valuation.
• Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Ascent Solar (NASDAQ: ASTI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
• Mechel Steel (NYSE: MTL) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer is seeing signs of a coming boom, but he's still being cautious here.

If you had to define the early cycle, if you had to outline what stocks should be soaring coming out of a recession into a boom and which ones should be faltering, you would have to say the action in this market in the last month is the quintessential behavioral pattern.

What are the components of the early cycle? First, it's the homebuilders. As is typical coming out of a recession, the stocks precede the bottom of housing. That's exactly what's happening with the lowest permits and highest affordability and best mortgage rates and massive inventory. Everywhere, except on Wall Street reporting, the bottom is bursting out. When you read the lead story in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, and it is all about the thousands of prospective homebuyers heading south to pick up condos and homes for half of what they were worth two years ago -- or even less -- and you know that virtually no one has broken ground in the Sunshine State in a year, you can bet that the bottom's actually behind us. This housing market has wiped out all but the most stable private builders and even the public ones are merging as we know from Pulte (NYSE: PHM) (Cramer's Take) and Centex (NYSE: CTX) (Cramer's Take). So, in the next cycle, you can see some profitability developing year over year even though the new homes don't have much margin because the foreclosed homes next door are going for a song. And don't believe this won't change the dynamic of future foreclosures. In most areas, rent is higher than the interest on mortgages, so you will find that second or third job needed to stay in your home. The incentive structure's radically different than a year ago.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says companies saddled with high debt loads can be found in every sector in every business.

Overleveraged. Too much debt. Need to pay down debt. How many times have you read that story?

You read it so much because it plays out every day and plays havoc with stock picking almost every time you see a savory stock down on its luck.

This weekend, as I went through the charts, I was amazed at how low some stocks have gone, stocks that I would normally say to just take a flyer on, but turn out to have so much debt, short- and long-term, that they are just too dangerous.

Consider these perhaps poisonous morsels:

The new earnings season ramps up this week as Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) reports fourth-quarter results. Last week, the Pittsburgh-based producer of aluminum and alumina announced layoffs and production cuts as a reaction to the economic downturn. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect that Alcoa will have swung to its first quarterly loss in years: $0.10 per share. That compares to a profit of $0.36 per share in the same period of the previous year. Revenues for the quarter are expected to have fallen 28.8% from a year ago to $5.3 billion. For 2008, analysts are looking for earnings of $1.40 per share on revenue of $27.6 billion, down from $2.60 per share and $30.8 billion in the previous year. Alcoa missed earnings estimates in three of the past five quarters, by 25.4% in the third quarter. The consensus recommendation of analysts shifted from buy to hold AA during the past quarter. The share price has been climbing in recent weeks, but it is 65.6% lower than a year ago.

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is also scheduled to report fourth-quarter results this week, one of a handful of tech stocks to do so. The number one semiconductor maker is expected to post earnings down 86.8% to $0.05 per share, and sales of $8.2 billion, down 23.3% from a year ago. Last week, Intel forecast sales for the quarter of $8.2 billion. The full-year numbers are expected to be marginally lower than a year ago, or $0.94 per share on $37.7 billion. Intel only missed earnings estimates in one of the past five quarters. Shares are about $2.00 higher than the 52-week low, but 37.2% lower than a year ago.

The Summer Olympics are only days away and what the Chinese had hoped would be their coming out party to celebrate all that is good, may instead become quite the opposite.

The air pollution in Beijing is so bad that even reducing automobile traffic by 50% has not helped much. China is now considering a 90% reduction according to news reports. Athletes are staying in other countries until the games begin so that they may train somewhere they can breathe. There are also reports that many athletes involved in stamina events will be forced to wear masks to protect themselves from the particulates in the air.

Now Reuters is reporting that "Some International Olympic Committee officials cut a deal to let China block sensitive websites despite promises of unrestricted access, a senior IOC official admitted on Wednesday."

So the world media will not be able to do their jobs in a manner they are accustomed to. But who are we actually referring to? Western media, of course, because half the world still limits access to information to some degree.

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) makes high-density programmable logic devices and associated development tools. PLDs are integrated circuits that clients can program themselves, using software that Altera also provides. This allows clients to provide their customers with special-purpose chips that cost less than equivalent custom-designed devices. Altera's circuits are used by thousands of customers in computing, telecommunications, industrial, and automotive applications. Clients include Honeywell (NYSE: HON), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT).

Investors were pleased earlier in the week, when Altera reported Q2 EPS of 32 cents, revenues of $359.9 million and a gross margin rate of 67.1%. Analysts had been expecting 27 cents, $346.7 million and 65.01%. The company also guided Q3 revenues to about $349.1-$359.9 million ($350.51M consensus). Management noted a current book-to-bill ratio significantly above one and remarked that the firm had repurchased 526,000 shares so far in Q3. The board declared a five cent quarterly dividend.

EMCOR Group (NYSE: EME) plans, installs, operates and maintains the systems that create facility environments. These include installations for power generation, power distribution, lighting, security, communications, plumbing, waste treatment, heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air-conditioning. The firm also provides facilities management and maintenance support. It serves commercial, industrial and institutional clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB). Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) is a major competitor.

The Street was surprised last week, when EMCOR guided FY08 EPS from $2.08-$2.28 to $2.22-$2.42 and FY08 revenues from $6.3-$6.5 billion to $6.8-$7.0 billion. Analysts had been looking for $2.31 and $6.76 billion. The CEO cited "solid order activity" and a "strong contract backlog" for the favorable view.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says recent downgrades are killing whole industries, and they're coming at a terrible time.

You can't lose autos and aerospace. Yet that's what's happening. The devastating aerospace downgrade by Goldman yesterday had pin action galore, wrecking everything from United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) and Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) to BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) (Cramer's Take). It took the whole frame down with it and made everything toxic. And it happens at a terrible time. It isn't like Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take), which with a few days left in the quarter can come out defending itself. Goldman rolled a perfect strike.

And now the bowlers are back for more with an equally devastating "sell everything" call based on GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take). Once again it is seamless: Lear (NYSE: LEA) (Cramer's Take) and Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) (Cramer's Take) get jettisoned too, but you know that Visteon (NYSE: VC) (Cramer's Take) and American Axle (NYSE: AXL) (Cramer's Take) and Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) (Cramer's Take) and BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) (Cramer's Take) -- the good ones! -- go down with the car.

Former Vice President Al Gore is doing quite nicely staying out of the current political fray.

Generation Investment Management Ltd., which he co-founded with ex-Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) banker David Blood in 2004, attracted nearly $5 billion to its main Global Equity Fund and is probably restricting inflows into the fund next month, according to Bloomberg News.

The fund has some pretty high ideals according to its Web site: "We focus on the economic, environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities that can materially affect a company's ability to sustain profitability and deliver returns. Our research plays an important role in forming our views on the quality of the business, the quality of management, and valuation."

So how does that translate in the real world? Al Gore isn't providing performance details, according to the Bloomberg story. It's kind of weird for Gore to be so mum considering that its biggest holding Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) is up more than 60% over the past year in U.S. trading.

It is alarming to me that the same people who screw up the economy (or stand by watching) are the ones that are now promoting the remedies. They have proven without a shadow of a doubt that this is not their strong suit. The proposed economic stimulus package has bi-partisan support and calls for an estimated $156 billion of tax rebates ranging from $500 to $1,000 (+ $300 for each child) that might show up in May.

If we are going to add on to our already humungous joke of national debt, than I want to invest this capital in something that will bring a higher return on invested capital (ROIC) than the paltry one time mad money. That expenditure should be for national infrastructure projects like roadways, bridges, tunnels, and waterways.

We have all heard about the poor condition of our national infrastructure and the hundreds of billions of dollars of repair work and replacement that is desperately needed.

This alternative would bring visible results that every single person in the country would benefit from and improved linkages always stimulate economic growth. Road improvements even reduce fuel consumption by shortening routes and reducing friction both strategically and physically.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: China Petroleum & Chemical, Syniverse and Allegheny Tech were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (NYSE: SNP) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent sell-off.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Syniverse Holdings Inc (NYSE: SVR) to Buy from Accumulate citing growth from further price reductions and adoption of new technologies that will drive transaction volumes.
• Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.The firm upgraded Allegheny based on valuation, low stainless steel inventories, and nickel price stabilization.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Napster Inc (NASDAQ: NAPS) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns.
• Goldman raised Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) to Neutral from Sell.
• Johnson Controls Inc (NYSE: JCI) was upgrade to Buy from Add at Calyon.

Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) had a lackluster quarter due in part to the acquistion of ATI.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) posted a larger than expected loss due to rising fuel costs.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares are hunkered down post-MacWorld but ahead of the Q1 report.
• Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) beat earnings estimates, though its growth is slowing.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) forecasts earnings growth on cost-cutting and overseas sales.
• IBM (NYSE: IBM) had an impressive fourth quarter and expects a good 2008 (see transcript).
• Intel Corp.'s (NASDAQ: INTC) solid results failed to impress investors (see transcript).
• Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) posted a solid first quarter, with growth in all divisions.
• New Oriental Educational & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: EDU) posted disappointing results.
• Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) profits fell on restructuring costs and increased competition for generics.
• Sony Ericsson beat estimates and is gaining market share in the global cell phone market.
• TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) revised its fourth quarter outlook after strong December sales.
• Vignette Corp. (NASDAQ: VIGN) raised its fourth quarter revenue guidance, which buoyed shares.
• Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) lowered its guidance on weak holiday sales.

See additional earnings highlights. Also, Jim Cramer ponders the ennui of the new earnings season. Georges Yared is bullish on tech stocks, and big tech executives are bullish as well. Jonathan Berr looks ahead to upcoming big tech reports.

Other upcoming results to watch for include Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), E*Trade Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFN), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) announced after the market closed Thursday that it swung to a loss of $1.87 billion, or $2.19 per share, due to the disarray in the mortgage and credit markets. WaMu had been preparing Wall Street for the hit since December. Still, revenues fell 5% to $3.41 billion in the quarter, missing Wall Street's estimate of $3.51 billion. For 2007, WaMu posted a loss of $67 million, or 12 cents per share, on $11.11 billion in revenue, compared to a profit of $3.56 billion, or $3.64 per share, on $13.68 billion in revenue in 2006. CEO Kerry Killinger said in a conference call that 2008 won't be much better. However, by midday Friday shares were up more than 6%.

Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) reported Friday that its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 45% with growth across all divisions. Earnings grew to $235 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter ended December 31, from $162 million, or 27 cents per share, in the same period a year ago. Quarterly revenue climbed 16% to $9.48 billion from $8.21 billion a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected profit of 37 cents per share on revenue of $9.1 billion. The company maintained its full-year 2008 forecast for earnings of $2.45 to $2.50 per share and revenue of $38 billion. After opening at $34.35 on Friday, shares fell to near $30 in morning trading.

For more Friday results, see also:
General Electric (GE) earnings match expectations and lift markets
IBM earnings call: Lightning in a bottle
Schlumberger (SLB) fourth-quarter profit rises but misses estimates
AMD: Will the last one to leave please turn out the lights

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Another earnings season crunch has begun, though with a level of uncertainty and ennui, as Jim Cramer and others have pointed out here on BloggingStocks. Several of the big banks are reporting soon, but among other companies reporting this week are Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) and Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI). Here is a quick peek at these two companies.

Schlumberger hasn't missed quarterly earnings expectations since 2004. When it reported third-quarter results back in October, its $1.09 earnings per share beat the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial by two cents, as well as the actual 81 cents per share in the same period of 2006. For the current quarter, analysts expect earnings of $1.13 per share, or $4.20 for the full year, up from $3.04 in 2006.

Schlumberger's 56.9 percent earnings per share growth forecast for the next three to five years is better than the industry average and the S&P 500. The analysts' consensus recommendation has been to buy Schlumberger for at least six months. The share price rose to a 10-year high of $114.84 in October, but has traded mostly in the $90s since then.

For news that could influence the earnings results, check out BloggingStocks' Schlumberger coverage.