Shares of software giant Oracle Corp. (ORCL) traded higher after the market closed Thursday as the company reported fiscal third-quarter earnings above analyst estimates.

Going into this afternoon's earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see Oracle report earnings of 50 cents per share. Excluding one time items, Oracle stated that its quarterly earnings were 54 cents.

Shares of retail giant Best Buy (BBY) traded higher Thursday morning after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for its fourth quarter.

Going into the earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see Best Buy report earnings of $1.84 per share for the quarter. Best Buy topped estimates by posting earnings of $1.98 per share.

Shares of retailer American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) traded sharply higher Wednesday morning after the company posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter results before the market open.

Going into the earnings report, analysts had been expecting to see the Pittsburgh-based company report earnings of $0.43 per share, but the company beat by a penny with earnings of $0.44. During the same period last year the company had earnings of $0.38 per share.

In the mining industry, iron ore is the biggest money maker. Profit reports from the world's largest miners indicate that iron ore brings in the most money, the Financial Times reported.

• BHP Billiton (BHP), the world's number one miner, had earnings before interest and taxes of $14.82 billion. Of that amount, iron ore accounted for $5.8 billion, up 177%
• Number three miner, Rio Tinto (RTPPF), had earnings of $26.6 billion. Iron ore unit accounted for 60%, or $16.6 billion, up 133% for the year.

Retail giant Target Corp. (TGT) reported its fourth quarter results this morning, and a strong holiday shopping season helped boost profit by 11%.

The company reported earnings of $1.38 per share, slightly lower than the $1.40 that analysts had been expecting. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 per share.

Shares of communication equipment company JDS Uniphase Corp. (JDSU) are trading sharply higher in after hours trading today after posting strong fiscal second quarter results after the market closed.

Analysts were expecting to see earnings of $0.19 per share, but actual adjusted earnings were much higher at $0.29.

It was a tough day for bank stocks today, and tomorrow Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its fourth quarter results.

The market was disappointed today by weak earnings report from Goldman Sachs and by news of job cuts coming from American Express.

In the beginning, the auto industry had a wide array of manufacturers. As the industry grew, new companies formed but most went by the wayside. The same phenomenon is taking place in the Internet. As new companies are formed, older ones fade away.

Such is the story of MySpace, as the Wall Street Journal reports. Founded in 2003, it had a large following of musicians and was the leader in the new concept of social networking. In 2005, News Corp. (NWS) purchased the site for $580 million. The investment was intended to bring News Corp. into the digital age.

Tuesday morning, SuperValu (SVU) was one of the biggest losers on the Street, with a drop in excess of 12% thanks to its third-quarter earnings report.

The supermarket operator reported a third-quarter loss of 95 cents per share ($202 million) compared to a profit of 51 cents per share ($109 million) a year ago. The recent third quarter includes write-downs of $1.19 per share ($252 million) and was impacted by weaker sales and margins. The firm's quarterly revenue dropped 5.9% to $8.67 billion, which is a sour follow up to the 9.5% drop from a year ago.

Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) are trading up nicely in after hours trading this afternoon after the company reported strong fiscal Q4 earnings following the market close.

Going into this afternoon's report, analysts had been expecting to see the company report earnings of $0.52 per share, with actual earnings coming in above expectations at $0.56 excluding special items.

Scanning over the news for FedEx (FDX) it seems that a decent amount of pundits would like to pin the potentially weak open on the delivery firm's weak second quarter earnings and revenue results. Let's dig into the report a bit and see if this blame is well placed.

The shipping company announced that its second-quarter profit dropped to 89 cents per share ($283 million) from last year's same-quarter earnings of $1.10 per share ($345 million). Taking charges out of the equation, FedEx earned $1.16 per share, short of the consensus estimate of $1.31 per share. Revenue came in at $9.63 billion, which is 12% better than the results from a year ago.

Automotive retailer Pep Boys (PBY) has released its third-quarter earnings report. The company earned 11 cents per share ($5.7 million) in the latest quarter compared to 4 cents per share ($2.1 million) a year ago.

PBY's quarterly revenue checked in at $496.4 million, 5% better than a year ago. Analysts expected earnings of 8 cents per share with revenue of $488.7 million.

Auto parts retailer Autozone Inc. (AZO) reported its fiscal first quarter results this morning, beating analyst estimates for the quarter.

Going into this morning's earnings report, analysts were expecting to see Autozone report earnings of $3.40 per share, but the company easily beat out estimates with a reported $3.77.

Short and sweet -- General Electric (GE) reported higher profits on slower sales with a positive outlook.

The company reported earnings of $3.2 billion, with EPS of 29 cents, up 32% from the third quarter of 2009. This is the second quarter (oh boy, a streak!) GE increased orders, displaying continuing-earnings growth. Revenue was $35.9 billion for the quarter, down 5% on lower equipment sales and reduced GE Capital assets. GE expects fourth-quarter 2010 Industrial revenues to grow sequentially from third quarter and to be about flat with the year-ago period.

Financial firm JPMorgan Chase (JPM) released its much-anticipated third-quarter earnings Wednesday morning, revealing that its profit increased 23%. JPM earned $4.42 billion, or $1.01 per share, during the quarter -- far better than the $3.59 billion, or 82 cents per share, earned a year ago. Not only did JPM destroy last year's earnings, but the company also handily topped the consensus estimate of 90 cents per share.

One reason for the stronger-than-expected results is the fact that JPM set aside $1.55 billion for retail credit losses in the quarter compared to $3.99 billion a year ago. That said, CEO Jamie Dimon warned that loan losses are still high in the mortgage and credit card portfolios, but these losses aren't continuing to rise as they did during the recession. Dimon added that JPM is expecting losses in the credit-card division during the next quarter.