John Thain -- whom you may recall as the man who presided over the spectacular implosion of Merrill Lynch -- is looking to have some new business cards printed up. Over the weekend, CIT Group (CIT) officially announced that its board of directors has elected Thain as chairman and CEO.

Due to his controversial past, the decision to elect Thain wasn't an easy one. After shelling out a small fortune to tart up his office digs at Merrill Lynch -- and doling out lofty bonuses amid the bank's hasty takeover by Bank of America (BAC) -- Thain became something of a poster boy for Wall Street excesses.

A rose is a rose is a rose. Thank you Gertrude Stein for that observation. But a bank is not a bank is not a bank. That's because not all banks are serving the same market, nor are they all offering the same loans. If you're going to invest in banks, be sure you understand who they're lending to and what kind of loans they have on the books.

The first group of banks is community banks. As you might guess, they serve specific communities, usually within a fairly narrow geographic region. They rely on that region for their deposits with which they'll make loans, and loan demand. In other words, they serve a well-defined community. They know all the neighbors, participate in the local activities, have a high profile, hopefully do good things for a community.

While we wait for details on the president's plan to break up the banks, I wonder why the banks can't decide to break themselves up?

Wouldn't it be so much better to break up themselves than wait for President Obama to do it for them? Investment banks specialize in mergers and acquisitions and the converse spin-offs. Mergers and acquisitions are big business for Wall Street and they happen all the time. In fact, that's how many of the banks got so big.

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

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares declined despite an earnings beat and a positive outlook
• Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reported that its Q4 loss widened more than expected by Wall Street.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) reported better-than-expected earnings but shares declined.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) is seen as on-track to record double-digit earnings growth in 2010.
• Cree Inc. (CREE) strong earnings and revenue growth sent shares to a new 52-week high.

• JPMorgan Chase (JPM): earnings of 74 cents per share; expectations for 60 cents per share
• Citigroup (C): a loss of six cents per share; expectations for a loss of 33 cents per share
• Goldman Sachs (GS): earnings of $8.20 per share; expectations for earnings of $5.20

San Francisco-based financial services provider Wells Fargo & Company (WFC), which claims $1.2 trillion in assets, is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 10:30 AM (ET). A live webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Wells Fargo reported its third consecutive quarter of record earnings, completed its TARP repayment and declared a quarterly dividend. But analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for Wells Fargo to have shrunk its loss to $0.01 per share from a year-ago loss of $0.79 per share. Fourth-quarter revenue is expected to have grown 123.6% from a year ago to $21.9 billion.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) led off the coming parade of earnings from the big banks when it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, though its revenue fell short of estimates.

Plenty more earnings from the financial sector are due out this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate fourth-quarter earnings growth from American Express Co. (AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK), SLM Corp. (SLM) and US Bancorp (USB).

The past two years have certainly been tough -- even for the wealthy. We've seen turbulent markets, the crashing of major institutions, loss of confidence on Wall Street and a grueling recession. So what is the sentiment now?

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) has released its latest quarterly survey, called Affluent Insights. This is based on phone calls between December 1st to 16th last year and involved a sample of 1,000 affluent Americans (defined as those with investable assets over $250,000).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), whose CEO testified before Congress this week, is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Friday, Jan. 15, at 9:00 AM (ET). You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, JPMorgan completed the integration of Chase and Washing Mutual banks and declared a quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for this New York-based financial giant to report that earnings rose 88.7% from a year ago to $0.62 per share, though that is 24.4% lower than in the third quarter. Fourth-quarter revenue is expected to total $27.0 billion, up 56.9% from a year ago, but down from $28.8 billion in the previous quarter.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded PPG Industries (PPG) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from increased auto production in 2010. The firm raised its price target on shares to $71 from $62.
• Stephens upgraded H&R Block (HRB) to overweight from equal weight as it believes the company is well positioned to gain market share with the problems at Jackson Hewitt (JTX). The firm raised its target price on H&R Block shares to $28 from $22.
• Credit Suisse raised Tyson Foods (TSN) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $16 from $13. The firm believes Tyson is a cyclical stock in the early stages of a rebound in protein processing.
• Lennar (LEN) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Spartech (SEH) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

The Federal Reserve's first Beige Book report of the year is due out this week. The report is a compilation of anecdotal information on current economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts. The data comes from interviews with business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The previous report, released in December, showed modest improvement in eight of the districts, while the October report confirmed that the economy was stabilizing after earlier declines.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse views Bank of America (BAC) as the "cheapest" large-cap bank and said the recent TARP repayment removes a significant overhang. The firm upgraded shares to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $21 from $17.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) to neutral from underweight following the company's better-than-expected Q3 results. The firm has a $43 price target on the stock.
• Caris upgraded Zumiez (ZUMZ) to above average from average following the company's better-than-expected December sales report. The firm raised its target on shares to $17 from $14.
• Humana (HUM) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Zimmer (ZMH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Applied Industrial (AIT) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) at 21.68; 10-day moving average is 20.49.

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) overall implied volatility at 24; 26-week average is 24.

NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ) overall implied volatility at 22; 26-week average is 26.

Semiconductor Holders Trust (SMH) overall volatility at 27; 26-week average is 30.