When you write about Apple (AAPL), you inevitably hear from some naive person informing you that, "You just don't get it; Apple is different."

There are certainly many things about Apple that are very different, but in the context of the "you just don't get it" crowd, it is absolutely not. The same was said about Google (GOOG) only a short while ago, Xerox (XRX) three decades ago and Winchester -- now part of Olin Corp. (OLN) -- rifles 125 years ago.

Humble copier company Xerox (XRX) is suddenly the toast of Wall Street. In addition to a bullish Barron's feature earlier this week, the stock garnered a rush of attention from optimistic options players Thursday. Although the security has yet to establish a firm foothold in double-digit territory, it seems that hopes are running pretty high for Xerox.

On Thursday, call volume on XRX surged to 28 times the norm, with roughly 103,000 contracts crossing the tape. Most of the volume was focused on the January 2011 series of options, as one trader closed out a block of 35,000 January 7.50 calls and exchanged them for 35,000 contracts of the January 9 call. By rolling these calls up to a higher strike, the speculator is indicating that he expects additional upside from XRX during the intermediate term.

Over the weekend, Barron's published a very favorable cover story on Xerox (XRX), noting that the company is branching out to "recast" itself as a service company. The article points out that Xerox has seen steady increases in earnings, which have repeatedly topped the Street's expectations. In fact, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns went as far as to say that "Shareholders clearly love us because we can deliver predictable earnings growth."

The article also notes that the Street is a bit behind as far as coming to terms with how Xerox's new businesses will perform. This leads some to believe that the shares could trade at a "reasonable 8.6x estimated earnings for the year ahead." Yes, 8.6 times the estimated earnings in the coming year. The article also states that although Xerox stock is trading "well below" its five-year price-earnings ratio of 13x, a move to 12x would result in a "jump of at least 50%." So, just a move toward the five-year P/E ratio could result in a 50% jump -- good numbers, but let's take a look at XRX's technical performance to see what technical hurdles lie in the road.

Do Hewlett Packard (HPQ) printers tell the truth or lie? Do they print out what is actually there or what we actually want to be there?

In fact, HP printers do not print out what they are given; they make the image deeper, darker and richer than it really is. I was a little surprised when I read that. When asked, HP admitted they improve the photos and they are giving the customers what they want.

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

• Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) lower Q1 earnings were better than expected but it lowered its full-year outlook.
• McDonald's Corp. (MCD) solid Q1 numbers were driven by its value menu, McCafe, and strength overseas.
• Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) topped Q1 earnings expectations and cash from operations rose, but shares declined.
• Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares were lifted after its strong Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates.
• PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) fell short of Q1 revenue estimates but beat earnings per share expectations by a penny.

Today was a firm day despite Greece's woes, but more importantly the DJIA was up for the 8th straight week. Today's action came from obvious continued buying and the risk trade being put back on.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 11,204.28 +69.99 (0.63%)
S&P 500 1,217.28 +8.61 (0.71%)
Nasdaq 2,530.15 +11.08 (0.44%)

Top Analyst Calls
Next Week's Top Earnings

Copier-and-printer firm Xerox (XRX) released first-quarter results Friday morning, topping the consensus estimate despite posting a loss of four cents per share.

The results were pulled lower by one-time charges related to layoffs and the company's acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services. Excluding one-time costs, Xerox earned 18 cents per share, a nickel better than the Street expected. Revenue increased 33% compared to a year ago, coming in at $4.7 billion. The revenue increase is credited to the addition of Affiliated's business outsourcing segment.

U.S. stocks advanced Friday morning after Greece finally requested formally for financial. Wall Street seems set to follow European market higher. Meanwhile, earnings are still rolling in with some disappointments from Microsoft and Amazon late Thursday. Friday morning will also feature some economic data on housing and durable orders.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou asked his finance minister to make a formal request for help as he called for the activation of a joint eurozone-International Monetary Fund financial rescue to pull his country out of a major debt crisis. Following the news, European markets rallied.

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.

It's been a busy week in the equities market. Earnings reports are coming fast and furious. I thought I would catch up on a few companies with a brief look at their numbers.

First up is an entity from the consumer products sector. Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a colleague of Procter & Gamble (PG), issued fourth-quarter data on Friday. Sales increased over 8%, with a better currency environment helping things out. Organic sales powered up almost 3%, driven in part by higher prices. Per-share profit went up over 15% to $1.17.

U.S. stock market futures changed earlier direction and edged higher following several better-than-expected earning reports. Still, the market awaits a slew of economic reports, as well as results from Goldman Sachs. With concerns about China, futures move upward was muted.

Update 8:45 a.m.: After a disappointing jobs report that showed the number of newly-laid off workers seeking jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week, stock futures fell, even as Goldman Sachs (GS) reported strong results.

On Wednesday, Wall Street markets sold off due to mounting concerns about China's efforts to tighten bank lending. As a global market driver and a major consumer of commodities, these moves could have international effects. Major indexes skidded over 1%.

All three of the major indexes finished Tuesday in the red, but there were several big names that moved up to new 52-week highs in Tuesday's trading.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG): The drugstore giant had a really good day on Wall Street after posting better than expected earnings in the morning before the market opened. The company posted earnings of 44 cents per share versus analyst estimates of 39 cents. The stock set a new 52-week high of $38.44 and closed the day up 9.2% at $37.35.

Out of the chute this morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller index rose 1.2% in July and gave the market a nice uptick for a while. Then came the report from the Conference Board that its consumer confidence index for September fell to 53.1 from 54.5 in August. What was worse is that economists had estimated a rise to 57 for the month. The soft confidence number is almost certainly due to people worried about losing their jobs. Right now, it could be that traders are waiting for Friday's unemployment report before jumping one way or the other. The negative news won out and the indexes traded down most of the day.

The numbers:

Dow

S&P 500

Nasdaq

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says managers are being judged on their exposure to this rally.

Did Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) (Cramer's Take) scare the shorts? Or was it so easy to get people to buy winners and sell losers at the end of the quarter that the market had to go higher? What makes a thin market levitate rather than decline?

I got to thinking about this and the incredibly bullish comments by one of my favorite strategists, Byron Wien -- comments that are even more bullish than usual for him -- and concluded that the single best thing that the bulls have going for them is that the market is up big and you look like a real knucklehead if you aren't invested or haven't made any money on the long side going into the fourth quarter.

Traders had on their rally caps today, and the DJIA moved as high as 9,823 as it renewed its ascent toward 10,000. The index moved back down a bit at the end of the day as traders got lazy during a session in which most of the news came before the bell.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) both announced deals today that pumped some air into the M&A business. Financial shares are mostly moving higher because increased M&A activity generally means more fees for financial services companies. Trading volume was light, mostly due to the Yom Kippur holiday today.

Today's numbers:

Dow 9,789.44 +124.25 (1.29%)
S&P 500 1,062.88 +18.50 (1.77%)
Nasdaq 2,130.74 +39.82 (1.90%)