Do Hewlett Packard (HPQ) printers tell the truth or lie? Do they print out what is actually there or what we actually want to be there?

In fact, HP printers do not print out what they are given; they make the image deeper, darker and richer than it really is. I was a little surprised when I read that. When asked, HP admitted they improve the photos and they are giving the customers what they want.

Call it Christmas come early: Last week we learned that stocks posted an average gain of about 9% for March retail sales. We also learned consumer spending in the U.S. rose in March by the most in five months, and many economists are predicting continued spending acceleration as the economy adds more jobs and gets back into the groove.

Already we've seen some red hot runs in the retail sector in anticipation of the consumer's return. Several consumer-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been tearing things up on Wall Street lately -- lapping the broader market at least four times over!

There are lots of great individual retail stocks out there -- and no shortage of reasons to buy Walmart (WMT). But the fact is that blue chip retailers can often lag the broader sector, and small-cap retailers can sometimes be too volatile for many investors.

Kodak's announcement today is evidence that sentimentality is dead in 21st century business.

The film world has, after all, been moping since Polaroid stopped producing its iconic instant camera film in early 2008 (take heart, Polaroid fans, "The Impossible Project" is working to reinvent instant film in an old Polaroid factory in the Netherlands). But today Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) said it was halting production of the complex-yet-storied Kodachrome film, immediately. Not only does the product make up less than 1% of its worldwide still-picture film sales; it's extraordinarily expensive to produce.

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

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares surged after earnings easily topped Q4 expectations.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) reported that its Q4 earnings fell while its revenue rose marginally.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a big loss and lower revenue due to strikes and design changes.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported that Q4 profit fell despite higher revenue and lowered its guidance.
• Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) lower Q4 profit topped analysts' estimates, sending shares higher.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) reported a Q4 net loss and announced additional job cuts.

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

• Analogic Corp. (NASDAQ: ALOG) Q1 earnings plunged well below expectations due to costs.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) solid Q3 earnings were in line with analysts expectations.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) beat Q1 expectations and same-stores sales increased.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) lowered its guidance and announced layoffs and factory closings.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) withdrew its guidance due in part to weak consumer spending.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) lowered its outlook due to weaker-than-expected holiday sales.
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) offered a full-year profit forecast that missed analysts' expectations.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) lowered its earnings guidance and announced price increases.
• FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) reported a deeper-than-expected loss but topped sales estimates.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) Q2 net loss was in line with expectations but revenue fell short.
• Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) raised its full-year forecast, doubling the share price.
• Hooker Furniture Corp. (NASDAQ: HOFT) shares sold off following disappointing Q3 results and outlook.
• Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) reported a deeper-than-expected Q3 loss on increased costs.

So the earnings crunch continues, and here's a look at some companies scheduled to report results this week that are anticipated to be big winners and losers in terms of earnings growth.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA): $4.10 EPS (+53.9%) on revenue of $3.8 billion (+54.6%)
• EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG): $2.34 EPS (+50.0%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+62.2%)
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP): $0.47 EPS (+44.7%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+11.5%)
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT): $0.62 EPS (+43.5%) on revenue of $5.3 billion (+7.0%)
• Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES): $2.76 EPS (+38.4%) on revenue of $8.3 billion (+14.6%)
• Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR): $2.19 EPS (+35.2%) on revenue of $7.8 billion (+126.2%)
• Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL): $2.08 EPS (+34.6%) on revenue of $1.0 billion (+40.1%)
• U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X): $3.91 EPS (+32.0%) on revenue of $5.9 billion (+39.6%)
• Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW): $0.49 EPS (+30.6%) on revenue of $1.7 billion (+21.3%)
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM): $2.52 EPS (+27.4%) on revenue of $144.4 billion (+46.8%)

Clearly expectations are high for oil and energy. Other companies expected to report double-digit earnings growth include Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), NYSE Euronext Inc. (NYSE: NYX), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), and Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET).

If you were looking for help from the economic front or from the oil patch today to help out the market, that wasn't in the cards. Home prices plunged by a record 15.3% from may 2007 to May 2008. Consumer confidence also came in at a 16-year low. From bottom to top to bottom we had more than a 150 point trading range in the DJIA today. These are the unofficial closing levels:

• DJIA 11810.04 (-32.89)
• S&P 500 1314.54 (-3.46)
• NASDAQ 2368.28 (-17.46)
• 10YR T-Note 4.105% (-0.063%)
• 52-week lows
• Top 10 Analyst Calls

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) saw a sharp rise with shares up 15% at $4.20 late in the day after the company announced a large IRS refund and a $1 billion buyback to retire close to half of its stock.

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) hit the 52-week low list and a multi-year low earlier today before recovering list after the FDA delayed a decision on its anti-clot blood thinning drug, with shares down some 1.5% at $46.87 in the final minutes today.

Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) saw shares rise a sharp 7% with shares at $27.88 in the final minutes today after the company raised guidance.

Reliance Steel (NYSE: RS) saw shares up after the company raised its own guidance again. Its shares were only up 0.5% at $73.85 in the final minutes of the trading day. Shares were up over 5% at the start.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) saw a drop after the company came clean and fessed up that high fuel prices and low demand for premium delivery services were hurting business domestically and abroad. Shares were down 6% at $62.26 late in the day.

Kodak (NYSE: EK) is recently up $1.75 to $14.12.

EK's Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase of as much as $1 billion, representing 25% of the shares outstanding. EK also announced it received a tax refund from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service of $581 million.

EK call option volume of 29,104 contracts compares to put volume of 2,712 contracts. EK July option implied volatility of 50 is above its 26-week average of 45 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

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

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Rochester, New York-based Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) was founded in 1892, and is well known for its wide range of photographic film products; it remains to this day the largest supplier of photographic films in the world. The company played a vital role in the invention and development of the motion picture industry, setting the standard of 35 mm film.

But times change. In 1999, Kodak entered into the consumer inkjet photo printers market in a joint venture with manufacturer Lexmark (NYSE: LXK). In 2004, Kodak announced it would stop producing traditional film cameras, beginning a multiyear struggle to refocus on digital photography and printing. Some of the results of that effort include the Kodak Smart Picture Frame, into which digital files are downloadable via a network connection. The Kodak Gallery is a website where users can upload photos into albums, print them out, and create mouse pads, calendars, and the like. And in 2006 Kodak announced that Flextronics (NASDAQ: FLEX) would manufacture and help design its digital cameras. Kodak also has long-term plans to sell ink jet printers and flat-panel displays.

The earnings crunch is in full swing, and here are a few of the highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) reported a slip in profits and warned of slow growth in 2008.
• Alberto-Culver (NYSE: ACV) returned to profitability after a spin-off and restructuring.
• Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) beat expectations and offered a revised forecast.
• Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE: BDK) beat expectations but lowered its outlook due to the housing slump.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) fell short of earnings estimates, sending shares lower.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) responded to disappointing results by announcing price increases.
• Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) fourth-quarter profit fell on higher costs for raw materials.
• Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTC: LNVGY) nearly tripled quarterly earnings on strong demand for PCs in Asia.
• MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) beat expectations, even after excluding a one-time investment gain.
• McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC) posted solid results on strength in international markets.
• McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) beat expectations, but reported flat same-store sales in December.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reported strong second-quarter results on strength in emerging markets.
• SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) reported a profit but missed revenue expectations.
• Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) missed estimates and lowered expectations for the next quarter.
• 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) beat expectations despite a decline in profits.
• Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) profits fell and it announced a plan to raise prices.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) met earnings estimates but fell short of revenue expectations.

For additional BloggingStocks earnings highlights, see Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, Countrywide, Merck, UBS and others and Exxon, Boeing, Halliburton, Sony, UPS, Honda and others.

In an effort to get some kind of public recognition of its Firedog installation and help-desk services, consumer electronics retailer Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) and Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) have partnered to find the most lovable pooch possible to star in the retailers' Firedog ads.

Firedog was basically a response to competitor Best Buy, Inc.'s (NYSE: BBY) Geek Squad services, which will perform all kinds of computer services in-store or on location at a customer's home.

In proper marketing fashion, Chief Marketing Officer for Circuit City, Peter Weedfald, stated that "We're looking for a dog that represents the personality of Firedog: fun, professional, loyal, quick and intelligent." Loyal, quick and intelligent are good qualities to look for in a canine. But professional?

While Circuit City searches high and low for the pooch in a business suit, Kodak is sharing the stage by pointing out that Americans who love to photograph their pets should consider using its EasyShare all-in-one printers.

Never mind that this dog and pony show says nothing about the quality, costs or types of services Circuit City's Firedog offerings will provide. Something about a smiling dog gets the American public all warm and fuzzy, and presumably more likely to rush out and buy new printers.

You too? Go ahead and bite. We know your dog is the cutest of them all. Visit this website and submit your doggy submissions until December 8, 2007. If your pet has that winning doggy style, Circuit City and Kokak will make a $50,000 donation to a local humane society of your choice.

As Brent Archer recently wrote, Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) has been one of the most visible sponsors of the Olympic games for years, but it's a partnership that's coming to an end. After the Beijing games in 2008, Kodak will no longer pay the $50 million plus per Olympiad to be the official film and imaging sponsor.

Shares of Kodak have been terrible performers over the past decade as the company faces increased competition in the digital age. The Street appears to approve of dropping the Olympics, and the stock was up more than 5% on the news.

And maybe it is a sensible cost-cutting move -- cost-cutting moves nearly always send a company's share price up. Movie Gallery (NASDAQ: MOVI) soared last month after the rental-chain announced it was closing 13% of its stores, only to tank when bankruptcy rumors emerged on Friday.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Higher interest rate are making commercial real estate deal makers think twice about deals, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street," sending shares of companies like Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) down from $64 to $60.75 a share.
• The Financial Times reported that U.S. senators have proposed new laws that would impose higher taxes on private equity firms that list their shares on stock exchanges, a move that could be a blow to private-equity firm Blackstone Group, which is seeking to list its shares.
• The U.S. and U.K. are working on a treaty that would allow Britain to buy American weapons without obtaining export licenses, the Financial Times reported; any deal on the issue could face opposition in the U.S. Congress, although the British believe eliminating the need for the licenses would expedite the arms purchasing process.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Turnaround candidate Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) may be ready to shine, BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column reported, and now may be a good time to evaluate a potential EK play, according to investment advisor Gregory MacArthur.
• Gateway Inc (NYSE: GTW) is selling products in China for the first time in a pilot program with Digital China Holdings Ltd, the LA Times reported.
• According to The Nation, The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is planning to ask its board of directors later this year for approval to invest in five petrochemical projects in Thailand.
• Cementos Portland Valderribas, a unit of Fomento de Construcciones y Contractas is planning a bid for Texas Industries Inc (NYSE: TXI), the Expansion reports, citing people close to the situation.

News Corp (NYSE: NWS) Interactive is close to finishing a deal to buy online photo-sharing site Photobucket for about $300 million. Photobucket is one of the largest properties on the internet with over 14.7 million unique visitors a month, according to NetRatings.

After the purchase of social network MySpace, News Corp went from an also-ran online to one of the largest internet networks. The company also has sites for its news organization and studio. Photobucket makes that footprint much bigger.

Photobucket supplies many of the photos loaded onto MySpace. As a matter of fact, it would appear that the two sites have a large number of unique visitors in common, which could have pushed the value of Photobucket's audience down a bit during the bidding. Duplicate audience is not usually worth as much as visitors who are completely unique. But, Photobucket is also a large video sharing site, so News Corp picks up a competitor to YouTube.

The large questions raised by the purchase is where companies like Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) were? Yahoo! has an online photo business, but with the company's problems it would seem that adding to that strategic part of its business would have made sense. Meanwhile, Kodak is struggling to move to a digital photo market. It has an online photo-sharing site, but picking up one of the largest sites in the industry might have helped the company with its turnaround.

It seems that Mr. Murdoch and the management at Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) are the only buyers with any stones.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Earnings continue going strong, and a host of important shareholder meetings also take place this week.

Monday May 7

• SEC to hold Open Commission Meeting at 9am
• McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5pm. Analysts will concentrate on McKesson's pharmaceutical solutions revenue, new distribution clients/new business, new IT solutions introduced, labor/benefits costs, operating expenses, sector position by business line, and margins.

Tuesday May 8

• Echostar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) to hold shareholder meeting at 2pm.
• Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
• Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 5pm. Investors will look for comments on how the company is integrating its game line-up onto the three new game systems -- PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.

Wednesday May 9

• Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) to hold a shareholder meeting at 1pm.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) will hold a two-day capital markets meeting in Stockholm.

Thursday May 10

• Viacom Inc (NYSE: VIA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am. In addition to motion picture results, analysts will focus on VIA's broadcast advertising revenue, and the company's efforts to broaden its relatively-tight-demogaphic cable television audience.
  
• Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) to hold Windows Mobile Business Update at 12pm.
• Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) to hold a shareholder meeting at 5pm in Mountain View.

Friday May 11

• American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am. Analysts will concentrate of AIG's overall premium growth for its property/casualty unit, along with improved cost controls company-wide -- a pivotal factor for a superior performance, moving forward.