How are readers finding the news? Well, increasingly, the answer is Facebook. The social networking site, which boasts well over 350 million registered users, is now the fourth largest referral source of traffic to online news destinations. Almost a year ago, only 0.5% of traffic to news and media sites came from Facebook. Today, that level is 3.5%, according to data from Web analytics firm Experian Hitwise.

Only Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO) and MSN (MSFT) send more traffic to news sites. Google News, a subset of the search engine giant, failed to keep pace with Facebook, despite the fact that it exists specifically to send Internet users to media outlets. Only 1.39% of referrals came from this source.

As more and more newspapers trim costs and find alternative information sources with lower costs, the Associated Press has seen revenues dwindle. The internet has swooped in and replaced the newspaper in many ways, and although the AP is big into online content as well, it hasn't landed huge deals with any huge internet properties. That is, until now.

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

• Apple Inc. (AAPL) posted its highest quarterly revenue ever, easily beating estimates, as iPhone sales doubled.
• Boeing Co. (BA) swung to a larger-than-expected Q4 profit but guidance fell short of analysts' estimates.
• Chevron Corp. (CVX) fell short of analysts' earnings estimates for Q4, sending shares lower.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) shares rose after optimistic statements by the CEO ahead of Q2 results.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (EK) shares surged after it beat Q4 expectations by a wide margin and cash flow improved.
• Ford Motor Co. (F) reported its first annual profit in four years due to cost-cutting and improved market share.
• Halliburton Co. (HAL) reported lower Q4 earnings but beat estimates by a penny, and revenue also fell.

Microsoft (MSFT), the tech giant behind the Windows operating system, whose colleagues include Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM), and Yahoo! (YHOO), issued Q2 numbers after the bell on Thursday. Revenues increased 14%, and diluted earnings per share went up well over 50% to 74 cents.

In terms of expectations, Earnings.com says 59 cents was the number to beat. Obviously, the company had no problem doing that. As the news outlets have been reporting, Windows 7 was the big driver of the quarter's success.

U.S. stock market futures were higher Wednesday morning as upbeat earnings report from late Tuesday and early Wednesday boosted sentiment. Meanwhile, investors also awaited the Federal Open Market Committee policy statement later in the day as well as President Barack Obama state of the union address.

As Fed chairman Bernanke fights for another term at the helm of the federal bank, the Federal Reserve may take a chance the housing market can stage a comeback without its support and announce today it will stick to the plan to end a $1.25 trillion program of mortgage-debt purchases in March. The Fed will release its policy statement at 2:15 p.m. Eastern.

Yahoo, Inc. (YHOO) is trading higher in after hours trading today after posting earnings in line with analyst estimates.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, Wall Street had been expecting to see the company show earnings of 11 cents per share, which Yahoo was able to match.

The earnings crunch is on. Intel (INTC) and IBM (IBM) have already reported strong earnings results, and some of this week's biggest anticipated earnings gainers are also tech stocks: Apple (AAPL), AT&T (T) and Microsoft (MSFT).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) to report that its earnings rose 57.1% from a year ago to $0.49 per share for the three months that ended in December. Revenue is expected to total $3.0 billion, up 19.5% from a year ago, during a fourth quarter in which it raised its guidance and declared a quarterly dividend. But the full-year forecast is for earnings of $1.13 per share (-28.0%) on $10.4 billion in revenue (-16.8%). This Dallas-based semiconductor maker's earnings results have been better than expected in the past four quarters, beating estimates by as much as nine cents per share.

Google (GOOG) proudly posted its fourth-quarter numbers on Thursday after the bell, probably assuming it would see a bid once the market digested its performance. But it didn't happen. Instead, the market sold the company on what I would call a very good report. Are you getting the feeling that the bullish sentiment on Wall Street is fading away?

The search giant, feared by both Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO), among others, said it made $6.79 per share on a non-GAAP basis. Which means management grew the bottom line by a more than respectable 33%. According to our earnings preview, the market was looking for $6.43.

A big player in the tech sector is ready to report today. Google (GOOG) will publish Q4 results later this afternoon. Traders and investors alike get super excited when the search behemoth tells the world how it's doing.

I think the company will show that it's doing quite well. According to Earnings.com, expectations peg the per-share profit at $6.43. If that number is hit, then the growth rate will be a solid 26% (last year at this time, Google made $5.10 per share). Of course, most people aren't interested in hitting the projected stat, they want management to rise above it and demonstrate true earnings power.

According to a published report in The Wall Street Journal , the Associated Press (AP) and Yahoo! (YHOO) are close to a deal that could drive up the price on AP stories distributed through Yahoo!'s news site.

The ever-popular "people familiar with the matter" told The Journal that the deal would include tighter restrictions, which would drive the price of the content higher. This deal could bring about a resolution in the "increasingly urgent issue in the media industry" of determining how news organizations and Internet outlets can co-exist. Some publishers feel that the Internet portals "unfairly profit from their work and cost them tens of millions of dollars in revenue."

iShares Trust FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Fund (FXI) closed at $42.48. FXI is an index fund that seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index. FXI February put option implied volatility is at 34, May puts are at 33; near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Yahoo (YHOO) closed at $16.90. YHOO is expected to report Q4 EPS on January 26. YHOO February option implied volatility is at 32; April is at 29, below its 26-week average of 40, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

Since Carol Bartz was announced as the incoming CEO of Yahoo! (YHOO) on Jan. 13, 2009, shares of the Internet giant have risen from $12.10 per share to their current price of $16.70 -- a gain of 38% in a little less than a year, and a nice rebound from what had been a multiyear tailspin for shareholders, but still lagging significantly behind peers.

So how does Bartz rate her performance? In an interview with Bloomberg, she gave herself a B-, saying that "It was a little tougher internally than I think I had anticipated. I did move fast, but this is a big job."

Look, 2009 was a "flush" year. Market rallies were constrained by the low baseline set at the end of 2008, unemployment was high and caution defined nearly every corporate decision. The travel market sucked. The art market sucked. The financial industry labored on with the support of taxpayer money while 140 banks were forced to call it quits. So, we turn to the new year, as yet undefined, for excitement of the type we want ... and it seems likely to deliver. As Nero played from the rooftops, the social media industry inched forward to the climax we hope to see this year -- the initial public offering.

The action hasn't really begun, and the signals emitted are open to various interpretations. Nonetheless, Facebook's new dual-class stock structure is hard to miss, as it would protect the influence of early entrants to the company -- either as investors or options-compensated employees in the event that the 350 million-strong social networking site brings ownership opportunities to the public.

In Silicon Valley, it's a stark contrast between Yahoo! (YHOO) and Google (GOOG). Yahoo! has announced that much of its workforce will take next week off. It's a way to save some bucks.

As for Google? I guess they'll spend next week trying to figure out what to do with their growing wealth.

AOL (AOL) has been independent from Time Warner (TWX) for two weeks and I have gotten used to the multiple logos. Probably of greater significance is that the the stock is trading at $24, just above where it ended in after hours trading its first day -- Yippee! (my loyalty prevents me from Yahoo!-ing).

Interestingly, the stock has not only been very stable in the last two weeks (to my surprise), but in examining the opportunities to trade various stock options there is very little anticipated volatility through July.