Santa hasn't even been tugged down Central Park West yet, and Wal-Mart (WMT) is already slashing its prices. The market among major retailers is intensifying, with many offering products as loss leaders in order to entice customers into the store (physical or otherwise) and boost their basket sizes. Along with Target (TGT) and Amazon (AMZN), Walmart is slashing DVD prices, the same tactic it's using with books.

Retailers are rushing to undercut each other this year, which is causing prices to spiral down quickly. When Walmart announced reduced prices on several titles to $10, Amazon followed at $9.99, with Walmart stepping back in at $9.98.

Two of the newsletter industry's leading growth stock advisors remain bullish on the prospects of online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), based on growth in not only online retailing but new market areas ranging from the Kindle e-reader to cloud computing.

Mike Cintolo, editor of The Cabot Top Ten Report, explains, "Amazon.com recently blew away earnings expectations." Meanwhile, Alexander Green, investment director at The Oxford Club, says, "In our view, the best lies ahead for the company." Here are their reviews.

Mike Cintolo continues, "Amazon announced that its Kindle e-book reader is now its most popular selling item, both in units and in dollars. That led to a big acceleration in revenue growth (28%, the fastest in five quarters), while earnings leaped 67%.

Small book retailers were buying in bulk from major online booksellers because they could really save some money. One was buying up to 70 copies of a particular title -- it was $5 less a pop from the big guys than it would have been from the publisher. Finally, however, the big retailers have become wise to the trend and taken action, according to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Target (NYSE: TGT) have decided to cap the number of books customers can buy online, a measure intended to prevent smaller competitors from treating them as partners. Walmart is limiting customers to two copies of a particular book, with Amazon placing the border at three and Target at five.

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) recently announced an electronic e-reader to compete with the likes of the Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle and Sony Corp.'s (NYSE: SNE) Reader.

In perfect holiday fashion, the e-reader is set to become the "must have" gadget for the gift-giving season almost upon us. The newer Nook device has a small color screen that allows easier content locating (but no keyboard), the ability to "lend" digital books to a friend and built-in wireless internet.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) reported its third consecutive quarterly profit and will increase capacity.
• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares soared after it reported very strong Q3 numbers.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported stellar Q4 results, driven by the popularity of Macs and iPhones.
• BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Q3 earnings soared, due in part to a tax benefit, and assets managed grew.
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) revenue surged sequentially but note the would be flat going forward.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) beat Q3 earnings expectations and shares rose though revenue slumped.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) was a crown jewel in the retail world in 2008. It was seen as a more upscale and clean alternative to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) but with the same discount strategy. It was winning customers for most of last year.

Then the economy went south (almost to the South Pole). Customers immediately flocked to save as much money as possible and obtain everyday staples as cheaply as they could. Target got whacked by reality. It's been playing catch-up to Wal-Mart ever since.

After the closing bell on Thursday, internet retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) will step into the earnings spotlight. Experts believe that Amazon will report third-quarter earnings of 33 cents per share with revenue of $5.03 billion. Amazon forecast third-quarter revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.25 billion. In last year's third quarter, Amazon earned 27 cents per share with revenue of $4.26 billion.

With the economy struggling, what should we expect from Amazon? Reportedly, ThinkEquity saw traffic data that implies Amazon's unique visitors rose 23% in the latest quarter. If this is the case, the retailer's sales should have received a bit of a push in the quarter, which could lead to higher earnings. In fact, the ThinkEquity analyst (Ed Weller) told the Associated Press that he expects Amazon to report earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $5.13 billion.

As expected, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) has announced its entry into the e-reader market. The top bookseller, with green stores all over the country (and, for that matter, my neighborhood) is eager to get a taste of of the success Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has realized with the Kindle.

The Barnes & Noble e-reader, which will be called the Nook, will be available at the company's more than 750 locations in the United States at a price of $259. Essentially, it's coming in at the same spot as the Kindle, which currently owns 60% of the U.S. market.

Analyst upgrades:

• RBC Capital upgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Outperform from Sector Perform and said the company has attractive franchise value and earnings power, and is nearing the start of a credit driven earnings recovery. The firm raised its target to $22 from $19.
• Oppenheimer assumed coverage of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and upgraded shares to Outperform from Perform. The firm expects Amazon's revenue growth to re-accelerate over the next several quarters, making consensus estimates too conservative. Opco set a $130 price target on the stock.
• Barclays upgraded Ford (NYSE: F) to Equal Weight from Underweight and believes the company will report Q3 results above the Street. The firm raised its Q3 EPS estimate to 7 cents from 16 cents, vs. consensus of 21 cents, and its price target to $8 from $7.
• Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
• Briggs & Stratton (NYSE: BGG) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.

For retailers, the crucial season is on its way. Blow the Christmas rush, and next year starts off on a miserable foot. Success, of course, also delivers a healthy dose of momentum -- and a little bit of wiggle room, important in what will continue to be a tough economy through at least the first half of next year. For booksellers, now contending with a new variable in the form of digital readers, e-readers will play a major role in defining the winners and losers. So far, it looks like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is off to a great start, and it will take some genuine innovation for the competition to chip away at its market share.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), once the leading names in literary retail, is expected to release its own e-reader this week. It will look a bit like Amazon's Kindle, according to Reuters, but with a touch screen intended to make the reader's experience easier. The price hasn't been disclosed yet, but rumor has it that it'll be higher than the Kindle's $259. BKS is staying mum on its plans in this space. There are others in the space, as well, including IREX Technologies, which is a spinoff of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG), Asutek (tk: tk) and a project called FirstPaper that has Hearst behind it.

Digital technologies have wreaked havoc on media like newspapers and music. Might books be next?

Well, Amazon.com's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle has shown that people are willing to curl up with a device when reading a book. But how big is this market really?

It's too early to tell. But this isn't stopping the competition. On Thursday, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) said it will launch its own digital book selling service. It's called Google Editions and is expected to hit the market in the first half of next year (in the U.S. and Europe).

When Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) unveiled the first Kindle e-reading device just under two years ago, many balked at the steep price the device was selling for. After all, who would pay so much for basically a replacement for books and newspapers?

The second iteration, the Kindle DX, was released earlier this year to rave reviews and a slimmer body -- but was still priced at nearly $360. Still think that's too high?

Printers of the world unite! Feeling the squeeze from the likes of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), a group of magazine publishers is forming an industrywide joint venture ... for protection.

Led by Time Inc., a division of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), participating companies would create a digital storefront for their content. In this way, they could peddle their goods without the hefty carve-outs that come with Amazon and Apple deals.

With the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Tablet, newspapers doing what they should have done: thinking about the possible impact to their business and trying to find ways to mitigate it. This comes 15 years after the industry ignored the internet and a decade after it disregarded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). Of course, unwilling to admit its salient and severe fallibility, the newspaper folks are saying that they don't want the Tablet to destroy print the way the iPod destroyed the music industry.

The newspapers are apparently worried that circulation could plunge, driving profits through the floor and jeopardizing their abilities to operate. They are concerned that properties like the New York Times Co.'s (NYSE: NYT) Boston Globe could wind up selling for a single-digit percentage of the original purchase price.

By 2013, more than $4 billion will be spent on smartphone applications, according to a new study by the Yankee Group ... and the estimate is said to be conservative. With the average owner of one of these devices downloading around 20 applications a year, it's obvious that this market is getting ready to pop. Currently, only $343 million is spent in this space.

An increase in the number of smartphone applications available -- for Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, Reasearch in Motion's (NASDAQ: RIMM) Blackberry, and Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android -- and rising prices for these applications will push the total size of this market higher.