When it comes to credit-card businesses, I'm partial to Visa, Inc. (V). Even so, I have to give my respect today to Discover Financial Services (DFS). At the time of this writing, the stock was up 4.5% to $23.26. Volume was strong. Furthermore, a new 52-week high of $23.46 was recorded earlier in the day (by the time this is published, it's possible the high quote will be different).

The stock has been a good holding over the last twelve months. The 52-week low is $12.11, and the one-year chart shows strength. This name is heading for a double. Is it too late to buy?

FedEx Corp. (FDX), the world's leading package delivery service and an ostensible bellwether of the U.S. economy, will dance its way onto the earnings stage this week. Also, with the holiday shopping season well underway, Best Buy Co. (BBY) and Discover Financial Services (DFS) are scheduled to offer up their most recent quarterly results.

Here's a closer look at what the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting from these three, plus a peek at the week's economic calendar.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) is trading higher this afternoon after the credit-card entity reported numbers for the fiscal third quarter. At the time of this writing, the stock was up 2.4% to $15.95. Volume was very strong.

The shares have traded in a narrow range over the last twelve months. The 52-week low is $12.11 while the 52-week high is $17.36. The chart shows a nice trading vehicle for those who like to buy and sell on a short-term basis.

Visa (V), which competes with American Express (AXP), Discover Financial Services (DFS), and MasterCard (MA), is probably one of the best long-term ideas out there, in my opinion. Credit and debit cards will always play a vital role in the financial culture, and Visa is a top brand in the space.

The equity's 52-week high stands at $97.19. It closed yesterday at $93.61, up a paltry 66 cents, or 0.7%. The stock wasn't rocking into the earnings report, which was released after the bell. And it's pulled back a little from the 52-week high. So what? The one-year chart looks attractive to my eye, and even if it didn't, this is one story I'm fully behind.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) issued its fiscal first quarter report Tuesday after the bell. According to an article at BusinessWeek.com, a net loss of 22 cents per share was recorded. Last year at this time, the card entity, which counts American Express (AXP) as a colleague, brought in 25 cents per share of positive income.

The quarter's red ink was driven by an addition to loan loss reserves. Without that aspect, Reuters says that Discover brought in a profit of 11 cents per share. Unfortunately, that won't help the company win the expectations game. The estimate at Earnings.com indicates a desired figure of 12 cents for the bottom line.

Visa (V), a credit card company that competes with American Express (AXP), Discover Financial Services (DFS), and MasterCard (MA), is looking good after the Q1 report, which was released to the market after the bell on Wednesday. GAAP net operating revenue went up 13%. Net income was $1.02 per Class A share, representing a 38% year-over-year increase. According to TheStreet.com, the expectation was for 91 cents.

I simply love this business model. We're a society that is addicted to using credit and debit cards, and Visa takes a little percentage of each transaction. So far, the model is working like a charm. Visa expects prosperous growth in the future, plus a whole lot of free cash flow.

I've said on many occasions that I prefer MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to Visa (NYSE: V). No, I don't mean the card products themselves. I mean the stocks. I believe Visa has better brand equity associated with it, and I think it possesses a little more depth and fundamental prowess. However, both of these companies operate on the same basic economic model: collect fees on transactions, and don't take on loan risk. So, both MasterCard and Visa do offer compelling long-term investment theses.

And, even though there were some negative outlooks on MasterCard's latest earnings report, which was released Tuesday, I have to say that I didn't find the situation too disturbing. Revenues increased only 2%. The top line was inhibited by currency effects, but it's not like we haven't heard that story before. More importantly, MasterCard posted adjusted income of $3.48 per share, representative of a 40% increase over the adjusted income recorded a year ago.

Visa (NYSE: V) is one of my favorite businesses on Wall Street. It should be an excellent long-term investment. People will always use branded credit cards, and Visa doesn't take a lot of risk. It simply collects a little of the spoils on each transaction. What a model!

According to TheStreet.com, Visa increased top-line sales by 10% in the fourth quarter, and expanded per-share profit by 28% to 74 cents, excluding certain items. Forecasts were for 72 cents per share.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), a credit card company that competes with Visa (NYSE: V), MasterCard (NYSE: MA), and American Express (NYSE: AXP), released earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. The company put analysts to shame by posting a profit instead of a loss according to an article from Reuters.

The projection was for a loss of 12 cents per share. Discover actually made 52 cents per share of profit, once you exclude monies received from an antitrust settlement. Wow, that's what you call being way off the mark! The disparity surprised me, so I went to our very own earnings preview to see what we were reporting for an estimate. Sure enough, it stated the exact same expectation for a loss of 12 cents.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is preparing for its upcoming turn in the earnings spotlight. The firm is scheduled to unveil its fiscal third-quarter results before the market opens Thursday, Sept. 17.

Ahead of the event, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting Discover to swallow a loss of about 12 cents per share, down sharply from its year-ago profit of 37 cents per share. Sales for the period are expected to arrive at $743 million.

American Express Company (NYSE: AXP), a company that competes with Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), issued Q2 results earlier in the week. Earnings from continuing operations dropped very steeply to 9 cents per share. How steeply? Well, the per-share profit lost 84% of its value this time around. However, it might make you feel a little better to know that 18 cents can be added back, since that was the net worth of repurchase activity relating to preferred shares from the U.S. Treasury department. Therefore, American Express took in 27 cents per share from continuing activities. According to this Reuters piece, that number met expectations.

The Reuters article also points out that revenues fell by 18% and that net charge-offs increased. Not a great picture. Reading through the press release, an investor might come away with a feeling of dread. Management mentions the not-so-strong spending by its cardmembers and the fact that loan losses are at historic levels.

If you read the actual press release, you'll see that Discover, on a reported basis, made $0.43 per share. However, we must remember that this profit included an antitrust settlement sourced to Visa and MasterCard. So, once you get rid of that money, you come up with a loss for the quarter.

Visa (NYSE: V), whose colleagues include American Express (NYSE: AXP), MasterCard (NYSE: MA), and Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), reported a Q2 profit on Wednesday that was surprisingly strong. On an adjusted basis, earnings came in at 73 cents per share. Analysts were banking on only 64 cents per share, according to Reuters.

Quite frankly, I can see the disparity between Wall Street's thinking and the ultimate reality. I mean, the economy has been bad (to state the obvious), and people aren't spending as much. This means that they aren't using their credit cards like they used to. Ergo, you might expect Visa to post a lower number.