BJ's Wholesale club (BJ - option chain) shares rose Tuesday on news that private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners has signed a confidentiality agreement with BJ's to discuss a possible buyout. 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 BJ.

The stock opened Tuesday morning at $48.20. In morning trading, the stock hit a low of $47.14 and a high of $48.73. As of 12:15, BJ was trading at $48.55 up 2.03 (4.4%). The chart for BJ looks bullish and S&P gives BJ a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Analyst Upgrades

• General Electric (GE) and Barclays (BCS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Warnaco (WRC) to outperform from market perform and Melco Crown (MPEL) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Parker-Hannifin (PH) and Emerson Electric (EMR) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• AMD (AMD) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• Novellus (NVLS) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• OpenTable (OPEN) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Lear (LEA) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Adobe (ADBE) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

It appears that U.S.-based drug makers and cigarette companies caught the attention of traders Tuesday -- at least, that's what they're searching for.

If you want to know what stocks traders are interested in right now at this very second, you need look no further than what's hot in Google.

Here's what's hot Friday:

Oil Services Holders Trust (OIH) is recently up $1.72 to $96.38. Crude oil futures are recently down 3.94% to $72.65 according to Bloomberg. OIH holdings include BHI, BJS, DO, ESV, GRP, GSF, HAL, SLB, HC, NBR, NE, NOV, RDC, RIG, SII, SLB, TDW and WFT. OIH July put option implied volatility is at 45, October is at 48; above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Almost every important economic indicator announced today was below expectations, The included June sales for GM and Ford Motor Company (F), less than robust jobless claims, the Challenger Gray planned layoff numbers, and pending home sales. The only good news was that mortgage rates for most loan durations hit all-time lows. That does not matter much if no one is buying a house.

Todays closing bell numbers:

Dow 9,732.53 -41.49 (-0.42%)
S&P 500 1,027.37 -3.34 (-0.32%)
Nasdaq 2,101.36 -7.88 (-0.37%)

Early Wednesday morning, BJ's Wholesale (BJ) announced that its February same-store sales increased 7.5%. Taking gasoline sales out of the equation, the retailer's sales increased 3.9%. Analysts expected the company to report a sales increase of 6.3% including gasoline and 2.6% excluding bubbling crude.

The company attributed the stronger-than-expected results to s shift of the Super Bowl to February this year, compared to January a year ago. The firm's total sales increased 13% to $755.2 million.

The earnings season, like the calendar year, is winding down. The sprinkling of quarterly results scheduled for this coming week include S&P 500 components AutoZone (AZO), Ciena (CIEN), H&R Block (HRB) and National Semiconductor (NSM), as well as Dollar General (DG), Imperial Sugar (IPSU), Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD), Men's Wearhouse (MW), Talbots (TLB) and others.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to see strong year-over-year and sequential EPS growth from luxury watchmaker Movado Group Inc. (MOV). During its third quarter of fiscal 2010, this Paramus, N.J.-based company was recognized for its innovative use of technology and it reported a big profit decline for the second quarter.

While the release of economic data doesn't stop next week (see economic schedule highlights below), the earnings season does wind down dramatically. Most of the S&P 500 companies already have reported on the past quarter, which means dismal earnings news is largely behind us, at least for a while. About the only companies of note expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report falling earnings this week are Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB).

While PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) quarterly profits are expected to be about the same as a year ago, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) are expected to have swung to losses in the most recent quarter.

Kroger (NYSE: KR) closed at $21.32. KR will release Q4 results on March 10. KR March option implied volatility is at 49, July is at 44; above its 26-week average of 42, according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price movement.

BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) Wholesale closed at $28.26. BJ is expected to report Q4 EPS on March 4. BJ March option implied volatility is at 59; April is at 50; near its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement into EPS.

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

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

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) earnings potential due to its denosumab is expected to rise substantially.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) beat low Q2 expectations but forecast a loss in Q3.
• BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) beat Q2 profit estimates and announced share buybacks.
• BWAY Holding Co. (NYSE: BWY) topped Q3 expectations on cost containment and increased productivity.
• Fuqi International Inc. (NASDAQ: FUQI) beat Q2 expectations and offered Q3 and full-year guidance.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) reported higher Q2 earnings but lower sales, dragged down by Old Navy.
• Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported strong Q3 earnings results due to its global reach.
• Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Q2 results fell more than expected, but it reaffirmed its earnings forecast.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) may post preliminary results (another loss) before Sept.
• Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) posted better-than-expected Q2 profits but offered a cautious sales forecast.
• Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) weak guidance lead to analyst downgrades.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) posted strong Q2 results and announced an aquisition.
• VeriFone Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PAY) offered a positive outlook, which sent shares soaring.

For more highlights from this week, see: Hershey, Heinz, Burger King, Foot Locker, Saks and others

Upcoming quarterly reports include Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Borders (NYSE: BGP), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP), Tivo (NASDAQ: TIVO), Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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

• Activision Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) beat Q4 expectations and raised its fiscal 2009 guidance.
• Air France-KLM swung to a loss in the fourth quarter and warned of tough times ahead.
• BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) Q1 earnings soared, beating expectations, and it raised its forecast.
• Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) beat Q1 estimates on robust demand and favorable exchange rates.
• Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) Q1 profit declined, hurt by an impairment charge and nearly flat sales.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) beat Q1 earnings estimates by managing costs and inventory.
• Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Q1 earnings tumbled on a one-time charge and the housing slump.
• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) beat Q3 expectations and announced a share buyback program.
• Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTC: LNVGY) Q4 earnings more than doubled on strong global distribution.
• Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) reported a so-so first quater in line with Wall Street expectations.
• NetEase.com Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) Q1 earnings declined due to increased tax burden.
• Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) missed Q1 earnings estimates but beat revenue expectations.
• Solarfun Power Holdings Co. (NASDAQ: SOLF) Q1 revenue surged 529% from the previous quarter.
• Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) Q1 revenues soared and earnings more than doubled.

Additional earnings highlights:
Hewlett-Packard, Target, Barnes & Noble, Campbell, Staples and others
Ford, Hormel, Limited Brands, Intuitive Surgical, PetSmart and others

Upcoming results to watch for include Borders (NYSE: BGP), Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), HJ Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) issued its Q1 earnings numbers on Wednesday, and the market didn't take too kindly to them. At the time of this writing, the shares were down in after-hours trading by over 3%. I can kind of see why.

Revenues did okay, rising 9% to $1.2 billion. Earnings per share, however, dropped like a rock. Last year, the company booked $0.78 per diluted share; this year, the company did $0.32 per diluted share. However, investors need to realize that there was a gain on an investment in the previous year's quarter that skewed results; backing out the $0.47 per-share benefit gives an earnings number of $0.31 per diluted share in Q1 2007. So, the real earnings growth was rather tepid, and this might explain to some degree why there was a bit of a sell-off after the news, even though, according to Briefing.com, PetSmart beat bottom-line expectations by a penny and did exceed on the top-line as well.

Guidance for Q2 was also an issue, as Briefing.com seemed to indicate that management's growth expectations are not precisely what Wall Street was looking for. For the full year, however, PetSmart is looking to do about what Wall Street wants. If management hits the full-year earnings range of somewhere between $1.51 and $1.59 per share, then the P/E ratio on the stock is around 14. Sure, that isn't expensive, but I don't know if I want to enter a company such as this in the kind of environment we find ourselves in. Yes, pets are important and will be taken care of, but people might cut down on pampering them to excess. Plus, there's a lot of competition out there for your pet dollars. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Costco (NASDAQ: COST), BJ's (NYSE: BJ), and every supermarket in the country all vie for a slice of the pet market.