"Even when the market is up a lot, you can always find some good stocks that have been left behind but could be on the verge of a rebound," says George Putnam.

The editor of The Turnaround Letter explains, "That's where we suggest you focus your efforts right now. These eight stocks all have strong business franchises and have all significantly lagged the market over the last two years.

"In fact, several of them are still trading near or even below where they were in early 2009. Here, we look at Bank of America (BAC), Best Buy (BBY), Campbell Soup (CPB), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Microsoft (MSFT) and Sprint Nextel (S).

H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ), a food concern famous for its ketchup product and whose colleagues include ConAgra (CAG) and Campbell Soup (CPB), closed today's session higher by 1.4%. The final quote of $49.66 isn't far at all from the 52-week high of $50.77. Is the stock a buy?

You know, there's a very interesting element to this story, and it has to do with the dividend yield. Right now, Heinz's yield is 3.6%. That's pretty awesome. You've got take notice of a stock that is both near a 52-week high and possessive of a lofty yield.

We're well into the quarter now and the earnings reports continue to roll out.

This week, Dell (DELL) highlights a handful of results from tech companies. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share from the one of the world's top PC purveyors. That's up from 28 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Dell also is expected to report its revenue grew 5.5% year over year to $15.7 billion, for the three months that ended in January.

Analyst Upgrades

• Dynegy (DYN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Pritchard.
• Itron (ITRI) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Goldman upgraded Ameren (AEE) to sell from conviction sell.
• Signet Jewelers (SIG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• JPMorgan upgraded Synopsys (SNPS) to overweight from neutral.

Campbell Soup (CPB) reported its fiscal first quarter results Tuesday morning, and the stock was trading lower after the company's quarterly earnings came in under expectations.

Headed into this earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the company report $0.83 per share, but the Campbell's came up a little short, reporting actual earnings of $0.82.

Among the quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for the earnings results from Tyson Foods (TSN). The Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer reported on its sustainability efforts and also was named McDonalds' (MCD) supplier of the year during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to have doubled from a year ago to 56 cents per share.

Tyson is also expected to post revenue of $7.8 billion for the three months that ended in September, which is 7.4% more than in the same period of fiscal 2009. And the consensus estimate for the full year calls for earnings of $2.08 per share (+87.0%) and revenue of $28.7 billion (+7.3%). Tyson's earnings have been better than expected in recent quarters, beating consensus estimates by as much as 24 cents per share.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Dr Pepper Snapple (DPS) to buy from hold based on valuation. The firm keeps a $39 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Kenexa (KNXA) to overweight from neutral, citing a strengthening of trends for the company. The firm has a $29 price target on the stock.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Gaylord Entertainment (GET) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from strong trends in 2011. The firm raised its target for shares to $35 from $32.50.
• MeadWestvaco (MWV) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• EADS (EADSY) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

Campbell Soup Co (CPB - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company reported Q4 2010 earnings this morning, posting a profit of $113 million, or 33 cents per share, on revenue of $1.52 billion. While this beat the estimated EPS of 30 cents per share, the stock is down a chunk this morningbecause the expected revenue was $1.60 billion. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on CPB.

This morning, CPB opened at $36.03. So far today the stock has hit a high of $36.66 and a low of $35.82. As of 11:55, CPB is trading at $36.02, down $1.30 (-3.5%). The chart for CPB looks bearish and S&P gives CPB a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

Investors nervous about the possibly stalled economic recovery -- or worse, the beginning of the latter phase of a double-dip recession -- were not pleased with last week's housing numbers. Things were perhaps ameliorated somewhat by durable goods order numbers and a revised GDP that weren't as bad as expected, but that didn't stop the Dow from dipping below 10,000 later in the week, before fighting its way back above the benchmark to end the week, thanks largely to Fed chair Bernanke's comments on Friday.

Though the end of August is usually quiet, this week lots more economic data are due out, including more housing numbers: The Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June on Tuesday, construction spending numbers for July on Wednesday, and NAR's pending home sales for July on Thursday. There's not expected to be much to get excited about in these numbers.

ConAgra Foods (CAG), a company that produces packaged edibles for supermarkets and whose colleagues include Campbell Soup (CPB) and Kraft (KFT), didn't have the kind of quarter you look at and say, "Way to go, management!" It was a boring, steady kind of reporting period.

For the fiscal third quarter, total sales were kind of flat, down a minuscule 0.9%. Earnings from continuing operations on an adjusted basis rose 10% to 44 cents per diluted share. Compared to estimates, that 44-cent stat came in as expected, nothing more, nothing less.

General Mills (GIS), whose colleagues at the food markets include Kellogg (K), Kraft Foods (KFT), and Campbell Soup (CPB), performed well in the fiscal third quarter. On an adjusted basis, net income increased 23% to 97 cents per diluted share. This beat estimates by four pennies.

General Mills was able to expand the gross margin by keeping an eye on efficiency opportunities and optimizing the overall quality of the inventory mix. Of course, there was a little luck involved, too, as commodity costs weren't as expensive as they previously had been. It's always good when that happens.

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

• American Public Education Inc. (APEI) received an analyst upgrade following the Q4 report and guidance.
• Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) traded higher after it reported swinging to a profit in Q4, but revenue declined year over year.
• Blackstone Group (BX) reported adjusted Q4 earnings, compared to a year-ago loss, and postive renvenue too.
• Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) higher Q2 earnings beat estimates, but shares fell on so-so revenue results.
• DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (DWA) lower Q4 earnings beat expectations but net income for the full year rose.
• Garmin Ltd. (GRMN) topped analysts' Q4 earnings expectations but shares fell after it warned of lower margins.

Campbell Soup's (CPB) second-quarter earnings weren't met with enthusiasm. At the time of this writing, shares of the food concern, which operates in the same industry as General Mills (GIS) and Kraft (KFT), were down 1.6% in afternoon trading. Although growth was achieved during the reporting period, it apparently wasn't enough to satisfy investors.

According to the press release, Campbell made 74 cents per share. This number is a penny ahead of estimates. It is also representative of a growth rate of 16%. The top line, however, was exciting not in the least. It increased 1%. Worse, the all-important U.S. soup sales category contracted by 8%.

Campbell Soup (CPB) will be telling investors how well it did in the fiscal second quarter on Monday, Feb. 22. According to estimates at Earnings.com, the soup expert should serve up somewhere around 73 cents per share on the bottom line. This would be 8 cents higher than the comparable period, for a growth rate of 12%.

Campbell is a brand-name food distributor with a top priority to operate as efficiently as possible while utilizing its valuable trademarks to extract the highest monetary value from the consumer. It's not always easy, as consumers are always searching for the best deals at the supermarket. Investors will be watching for clues in the upcoming report pertaining to management's ability to execute optimal pricing strategies.