United Parcel Service's (UPS) stock, which I first discussed here on April 7, 2009, at a price of $51.28, appears to be forming a short-term double top near $77. But the view from here argues that it won't keep UPS down, and I obviously still like the business model at this stage.

UPS's 2011 revenue should increase 8% to 10%, after a nice 9% rise in 2010. The company is benefiting from increased demand stemming from the U.S. and global economic recoveries and better quarters are ahead. Look for increased pricing power, in some delivery segments and higher volumes.

I first discussed United Parcel Service (UPS) here on April 7, 2009, at a price of $51.28, and shares continue to head north. I obviously still like the business model at this stage.

UPS's 2011 revenue should increase 8% to 10%, after a probable 10% to 13% increase in 2010. UPS is benefiting from increased demand stemming from the strengthening U.S. and global recoveries and there will be better quarters are ahead. Look for increased pricing power, in some delivery segments, and higher volumes.

I'd also raise the sell/stop loss to $54 from $48 at this stage.

Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, the market powered to a 30-month high, closing above 12,000 Tuesday. The key driver was a slew of strong earnings reports. The last time we saw Dow 12,000 was on June 19, 2008. Across the board, the major averages were strong. The Dow climbed 148.23 to 12,040.16, S & P 500 rose 21.47 to 1307.59, and the NASDAQ surged 51.11 to 2751.19, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Here are just a few stocks that moved the Dow higher:

• Pfizer (PFE) rose $1.00 to $19.22. Fourth-quarter profit tripled from a year ago.

More inflationary data in the economics and earnings reports matter not at the current time. Less unrest in Egypt, or a lack of escalating unrest, helped out as well. Better than expected auto sales also managed to come through despite awful weather for much of the month in many key markets. All in all, Tuesday was just another strong day for the market and it marked a positive start for the month of February. We got a close above S&P 1300 today!

Here were Tuesday's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,040.16 +148.23 (1.25%)
S&P 500 1,307.59 +21.47 (1.67%)
Nasdaq 2,751.19 +51.11 (1.89%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

UPS (UPS - option chain) shares are rising today after the company reported Q4 2010 earnings this morning, posting a profit of $1.12 billion, or $1.11 per share. Excluding one-time items, UPS earned $1.08 per share on revenue of $13.42 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of $1.05 per share on revenue of $13.40 billion. UPS also forecast 2011 earnings of $4.12 to $4.35 per share, compared to analysts' forecasts of $4.18 per share. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on UPS.

UPS opened this morning at $74.00. So far today the stock has hit a low of $73.78 and a high of $74.97. As of 12:15, UPS is trading at $74.69. up $3.07 (4.3%). The chart for UPS looks bullish and S&P gives UPS a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

U.S. stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Pfizer (PFE) and other major companies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 43 points to 11,883.00 and S&P 500 futures gained 6.60 points to 1,289.00. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 14.50 points to 2,294.50.

U.S. stocks closed higher, with the blue-chip Dow industrials gaining 68.23 points or 0.58%.

The Institute for Supply Management's report on manufacturing activity for January and data on construction spending for December will be released at 10 a.m. ET.

Friday's fourth-quarter GDP numbers offered more evidence that the economy is picking up steam, but one of the biggest obstacles to the recovery remains the stubbornly high unemployment rate. We'll find out whether there's been any movement on that front when employment data for January comes out this week. The Challenger Job-Cut report and ADP employment data are due Wednesday, and the government's unemployment rate on Friday. Another mild increase in jobs is expected, in line with the three-month average, but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

Also look for the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes this week, as well as the Chicago PMI and the New York NAPM index. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak to the National Press Club on Thursday.

Analyst Upgrades

• Dominion (D) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Corinthian Colleges (COCO) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Canadian National (CNI) to sector outperformer from sector performer at CIBC.
• DragonWave (DRWI) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Infosys (INFY) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• SL Green Realty (SLG), Lexington Realty (LXP) and Taubman Centers (TCO) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Sunstone Hotel (SHO) to buy from neutral and Extra Space Storage (EXR) to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

Can you hear me now? Well listen closely, Verizon Communications (VZ) is going to get a bounce from the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone in 2011. Nothing you don't already know. Is there a more sure thing in the coming year? Long term it will fade some, but in 2011 the pent up demand has to have a positive impact.

Communications: The telephone companies everywhere are going to have a good year. Verizon is a great stock for Roth IRA's, paying a 5.41% yield. The dilution of the iPhone market may hurt AT&T, Inc. (T) some, as VZ is helped, but it too is a good long term hold and pays an even higher yield at 5.76%.

If you want to diversify internationally there are multiple good choices and they pay even higher yields.

CPI and some overseas stability hopes on the ECB heading to Ireland helped stocks hold up most of the trading day. Unfortunately, the Federal Reserve noted that banks will have to undergo new stress tests before they can repay investors and reinstate higher dividends. Donald Trump even said he might consider running for President. Shares rolled over in the last 90 minutes after it looked like a positive close was in the bag. That put the verdict of up or down as being a coin toss right up to the close.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,007.88 -15.62 (-0.14%)
S&P 500 1,178.59 +0.25 (0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,476.01 +6.17 (0.25%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

If you took advantage of United Parcel Service's (UPS) summer correction to add to your position, you made the right move. UPS, which I first wrote about here on April 7, 2009, at a price of $51.28, accelerated out of a trough anear $55 to retest $70 this fall. And I obviously still like the shares.

UPS's 2011 revenue should increase 8% to 10%, after a 10% to 13% increase in 2010. Without question, the worst is over for the delivery business and better quarters are ahead: increased pricing power, in some delivery segments, and higher volumes are likely as the U.S. and global economic expansions continue.

Delivery firm UPS (UPS) has announced third-quarter earnings and upped its full-year 2010 earnings. For the quarter, the dean of delivery earned 93 cents per share on an adjusted basis, topping the consensus estimate by a nickel. These results also easily trumped last year's third-quarter earnings of 55 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased 9% to $12.19 billion.

UPS's earnings received a boost from higher prices, but also benefited by a 3.6% rise in the average number of packages shipped per day. The main benefit of this increase stemmed from an increase of 4% in revenue per package. International average daily shipping volume increased 13%, led by Asia, which saw an increase of 30% in volume. A majority of this international increase came from shipments of electronics from Asia.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Baxter (BAX) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from supply disruptions at privately-held plasma manufacturer Octapharma. The firm raised its price target for shares to $56 from $45.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Dolby (DLB) to buy from hold, citing valuation following the recent underperformance of shares. The firm upped its price target to $75 from $70.
• Bernstein upgraded Alexion (ALXN) to outperform from market perform based on increased Soliris forecasts for PNH and potential in aHUS. The firm also raised its price target to $75 from $60.
• Agrium (AGU) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Roche (RHHBY) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• BMO Capital upgraded Energizer (ENR) to outperform from market perform.

Earnings season is fully underway. Despite top-down headlines calling for a Third Depression and dubbing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke as "Davey Crockett at the Alamo," the fundamentals still reveal a developing recovery story line.

Just today, 3M, (MMM) AT&T (T), Caterpillar (CAT), Eli Lilly (LLY), Jet Blue (JBLU) and UPS (UPS ) beat their earnings estimates to the upside and provide upbeat forecasts.

U.S. stocks surged Thursday morning following yet another strong batch of earnings, and despite several weak economic indicators. The Dow Jones industrial average rose about 200 points, or 2%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.3% and the S&P 500 soared 2.1% by noon trading. And stocks were even higher earlier.

Earnings results continued to impress Wall Street. This morning, such heavy weights as Caterpillar (CAT), 3M (MMM), UPS (UPS) and AT&T (T) all topped earnings estimates and raised their outlooks. Shares of all four were generally higher in morning trade. Meanwhile, General Motors said it is acquiring auto financier AmeriCredit (ACF) for $3.5 billion.