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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) reported better-than-expected Q3 results but shares fell anyway.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) posted strong Q3 results but shares sold off on a disappointing guidance.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) said lower Q1 earnings fell short of analysts expectations.
• Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) topped Q3 profit and revenue estimates, lifting shares.
• Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) posted a narrower-than-expected Q3 loss, sending shares sharply higher.
• Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) reported lower Q2 earnings and sales on weak demand for cars.

Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) surged right out of the gate Friday morning, as traders cheered the stem cell stock's narrower-than-expected quarterly loss. After Thursday's close, Geron reported a third-quarter loss of $15.2 million, or 17 cents per share, while revenue arrived at $494,000.

Operating expenses for the quarter fell on a year-over-year basis from $18.3 million to $16.9 million, while research and development costs dwindled from $14.2 million to $13.4 million.

First, who are the Nobel Prize winners? Why is their research so important in the areas of aging and cancer detection?

Three Americans won the Nobel Prize for medicine. They are Elizabeth Balckburn, Jack Szostak and Carol Greider. Balckburn is with the University of California, San Francisco, Greider is with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore and Szostak is at the Harvard Medical School.

This morning's trading was looking solid enough and had enough overseas support with gains in Europe that it seemed as though we were going to have a rock solid end to one of the best performing quarters in years.

The Russell trade and the quarter-end failed to help. A quiet ISM-prelude from Chicago Purchasing Managers was one thing, but a weak consumer confidence took the wind out of the sails of the bulls. The good news is that shares managed to close off their lows, but it still wasn't an up day. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,448.06 -81.32 (-0.95%)
S&P 500 919.47 -7.76 (-0.84%)
Nasdaq 1,835.04 -9.02 (-0.49%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

We had the possibility of three or four big mergers today and no major macroeconomic news to rock us down other than added overseas selling. But a general lack of enthusiasm and additional selling from the public kept today from chasing the late Friday stock market gains. Even a slighty less pessimistic Nouriel Roubini, a.k.a. "Dr. Doom," failed to inspire any contrarian thoughts. Despite this, there were many winning stocks and sectors.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 6,523.48 -103.46 (-1.56%)
S&P 500 676.53 -6.85 (-1.00%)
Nasdaq 1,268.64 -25.21 (-1.95%)
Top Analyst Calls

Intermune (NASDAQ: ITMN) closed at $11.72. ITMN's Pirfenidone Capacity data is expected soon. ITMN February 12.5 straddle is priced at $7.40, April 12.5 straddle is at $9.80 and July 12.5 straddle is priced at $14.10 according to Track Data, suggesting large price movement.

Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM) closed at $23.09. SQNM will present Down's syndrome data after the market close today. SQNM February option implied volatility is at140; March is at 120; above its 26-week average of 103, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Do not underestimate the power of a new administration in Washington. With the ability to spend a huge amount of dollars, team Obama can wield tremendous influence in the market.

Case in point is the stem cell space. It is widely expected that Obama will issue an executive order eliminating restrictions on stem cell research.

Stocks like StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) have been moving higher since the inaugural.

Coincidentally, on Friday, GERN announced approval for human trials for its treatment of spinal chord injuries using stem cells. Both GERN and STEM were up big as a result.

Another space expected to do well under the Obama administration is construction. A massive stimulus plan is said to be coming in February. A key point of the plan will be to boost infrastructure spending.

The dollars will benefit companies like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC). Unlike stem cells, the market has yet to move these stocks higher. FLR is down more than 10% and JEC is down nearly 18% so far this year.

Today was like watching a yo-yo tournament, except there weren't as many people falling asleep watching it. Stocks followed oil higher higher for much of the day, although for all practical purposes this was a down day. Here are today's unofficial closing levels:

Dow 8,077.64 -45.16 (-0.56%)
S&P 500 831.97 +4.47 (0.54%)
Nasdaq 1,477.29 +11.80 (0.81%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) was the star stock of the day. This stem cell and biotech received FDA approval to conduct initial trials using embryonic stem cells in spinal cord treatments to see if helps in paralysis and for safety evaluation. Shares were up nearly 40% at $7.24 right before the close.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was one of the starts of the day after the company beat earnings. What is perhaps more important than anything is that they did not say everything was falling off a cliff. Shares were up over 6% at $325.30 right before the close.

General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE) saw profits fall almost 50% to show just how tough the magnitude is, but this was in-line with lowered expectations. There was a disappointment that Immelt is holding on to that high dividend, and not everyone is convinced that its "AAA" rating is as solid as the company says. Shares were down a disappointing 11% at $11.98 right before the close.

Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) traded up on word that it was in talks to be acquired by Pfizer in a monster $60 billion merger pact. Shares were up 13% at $43.92 before the close.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) gave a disappointing earnings report this morning, but traders just followed it with oil prices. Shares were up over 8% at $40.41 right before the close.

Geron (NASDAQ: GERN - option chain) shares have shot more than 50% higher today after the FDA granted the company clearance to begin trials of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy for people with spinal chord injuries. This monumental step officially is in no part President Obama's doing, but he has made his stance clear on the use of stem cells, and included a line in his inauguration speech that mentioned that "We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost." 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 GERN.

GERN opened this morning at $6.48. So far today the stock has hit a low of $6.19 and a high of $8.38. As of 12:20, GERN is trading at $7.93, up $2.72 (52.2%). The chart for GERN looks bullish.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a March bull-put credit spread below the $5 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in just two months as long as GERN is above $5 at March expiration. Geron would have to fall by more than 43% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in GERN. He does own STEM.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

"If Barack Obama wins the presidency, one under-the-radar play would be embryonic stem cell research; Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) is the current leader in embryonic stem cell research among publicly traded companies," explains trading and investing expert Bill Martin in his BullMarket.com.

"Embryonic stem cell research in the U.S. is not restricted in any way, as is often popularly believed in this hotly contested debate. The real issue at hand is federal funding, and whether federal taxpayer dollars should be used to help fund the research.

"Currently, federal funding is only available to firms that won't create embryos for use in scientific research or clone them for any reason, and that are working with stem cell lines derived from embryos destroyed before August 9th, 2001.

"In addition, the stem cell lines must have been obtained from 'left over' embryos created solely for in-vitro fertilization purposes from consenting donors without any financial incentive.

"According to a September 2003 NIH report, the only publicly traded company of the more than a dozen institutions listed with stem cell lines that qualified for federal funding was Geron, which has been a pioneer in the field since 1999.

"Embryonic stem cell research is among three areas of concentration for the biotech firm, and it has a large number of related stem cell patents. Some of its major areas of focus include spinal cord injuries, heart disease, and diabetes.

"If Obama takes office, there is a pretty good chance that he and the Democrat controlled Congress will offer government funding for embryonic stem cell research. If this happens, expect Geron to head higher."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

Which stocks would benefit from a victory by either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama? To help investors sort through the sectors and stocks best positioned to benefit in a post-election environment, we posed this question to some of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Importantly, this is not a partisan report; each participating advisor has provided a favorite stock for both candidates, focused not on political preferences but unbiased stock analysis. Below we feature those stocks and ETFs that the advisors believe will be the winners depending on which candidate prevails.

McCain Stocks:

Roger Conrad - Comcast (NYSE: CCW)
Gregg Early - Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT)
Elliott Gue - Paladin Resources (Toronto: PDN)
Doug Fabian - Market Vectors Nuclear Energy (NYSE: NLR)
Vivian Lewis - Barclays (NYSE: BCS)
Bill Martin - CGG Veritas (NYSE: CGV)'
Yiannis Mostrous - Lonking Holdings (OTC: CIMHF)
Carla Pasternak - Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: EVT)
Nate Pile - SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)
John Reese - General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)
Nathan Slaughter - USEC (NYSE: USU)
Paul Tracy - Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR)
Kelley Wright - CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL)
Tom Vass - Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX)
Martin Hutchinson - Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG)

Obama Stocks:

Roger Conrad - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Gregg Early - AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV)
Elliott Gue - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Doug Fabian - Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI)
Vivian Lewis - Cosan (NYSE: CZZ)
Bill Martin - Geron (NASDAQ: GERN)
Yiannis Mostrous - Dr. Reddy's (NYSE: RDY)
Carla Pasternak - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP)
Nate Pile - Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
John Reese - American Eagle (NYSE: AEO)
Nathan Slaughter - Fluor (NYSE: FLR)
Paul Tracy - Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy (NYSE: GEX)
Kelley Wright - Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH)
Tom Vass - Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR)
Martin Hutchinson - Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)

"A new study on stem cell research is mind-boggling," notes emerging growth expert Toby Smith in support of his recommendation for Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN).

The growth stock expert and editor of ChangeWave Investing explains, "Geron reported its scientists and collaborators have demonstrated that human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived cardiomyocytes improve heart function when transplanted after myocardial infarction.

"Published online on Aug. 26, in Nature Biotechnology, the landmark study is the first to document the potential clinical utility of regenerating damaged heart muscle by injecting hESC-derived cardiomyocytes directly into the site of the infarct.

"In addition, the research confirms the effectiveness of a scalable production system that enables Geron to manufacture the cardiomyocytes for use in ongoing large animal studies and, ultimately, testing in humans."