"If you are looking for maximum rebound potential, you have to go lower down on the quality spectrum; it is typically the lower quality and lower priced stocks that will have the largest gains when the market rebounds," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his industry-leading service focused on distressed companies, The Turnround Letter, he looks at a package of 10 stocks recently trading below $5 per share while also offering "bundles of cash."

Here's his review:

Even if the national headlines weren't already providing enough focus on the economy, plenty of economic data is due out as the month and the quarter wind down. U.S. economic data scheduled to be released this week include:

• Personal income (Aug. 2008): Monday 8:30 AM
• Consumer confidence index (Sept, 2008): Tuesday 10:00 AM
• Challenger job cut announcement (Sept, 2008): Wednesday 7:30 AM
• ISM manufacturing survey (Sept. 2008): Wednesday 10:00 AM
• Construction spending (Aug. 2008): Wednesday 10:00 AM
• New motor vehicle sales (Sept. 2008): Wednesday 4:00 PM
• Monster employment index (Sept. 2008): Thursday 6:00 AM
• Factory orders (Aug. 2008): Thursday 10:00 AM
• Employment situation (Sept. 2008): Friday 8:30 AM
• ISM nonmanufacturing survey (Sept. 2008): Friday 10:00 AM

Other economic events scheduled for this week include:

• Fed's Hoenig speaks on "The Economy and Monetary Policy": Monday 9:45 PM
• Fed's Lockhart speaks on the economic outlook: Tuesday 1:00 PM
• Ford Motor Co. September 2008 Sales Conference Call: Wednesday 1:00 PM
• AMETEK Inc. at Oppenheimer Industrials Conference: Thursday 8:00 AM
• DuPont at Citigroup Ethanol on the Cob Conference: Thursday 12:50 PM
• Fed's Evans speaks at Agricultural Markets and Food Price Inflation conference: Thursday 1:00 PM
• Fed's Bullard speaks at Indiana University Department of Economics: Thursday 7:00 PM
• Fed's Hoenig speaks on "The Economy and Monetary Policy": Thursday 9:45 PM
• National Association for Business Economics 50th Annual Meeting to address Future Economic Challenges: Friday 9:00 PM

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) to Outperform from Perform as they believe LEDs are beginning to gain traction in general lighting applications.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) to Hold from Underperform following the acquisition by MidAmerican Energy. The company's target was increased to $25 from $20.
  
• RBC upgraded the Banking sector to Overweight from Underweight following the governments "massive assault" on the financial crisis. RBC believes government actions that include the potential creation of a Resolution Trust Corporation, the creation of federal insurance for money market fund investors and the ban on short selling will result in higher bank stock prices through year end; Wilmington Trust (NYSE: WL), KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) and Pacific Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ: PCBC) were upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform.
  
• Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper.
  
• UBS upgraded Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Gap (NYSE: GPS) was upgraded to buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Analyst downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Thomson Reuters (NASDAQ: TRIN) to Sell from Buy as they believe uncertainty in the financial sector will hinder growth.
  
• Piper cut MIPS Technologies (NASDAQ: MIPS) to Neutral from Buy as they believe estimates are at risk following the departure of ChipIdea's co-founder. The company's target was lowered to $3.70 from $8.
  
• Jefferies downgraded GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) to Hold from Buy on valuation as they view the risk/reward less compelling following the recent rally.
• Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) was downgraded at Baird to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Wachovia downgraded Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) and Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY) to Market Perform from Outperform.

Analyst initiations:

• Jefferies initiated Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) with an Underperform rating and $38 target and thinks the company's sales and margins are at risk with negative comp trends getting worse.
  
• Cantor believes Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) has a powerful franchise while the stock trades at a 33% discount to peers. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $8 target.
  
• Stanford started Mentor (NYSE: MNT) with a Buy rating and $32 target and thinks the company is poised to benefit from growing global demand for products and services that make people look younger and more attractive.
• Scripps Networks (NYSE: SNI) was initiated at UBS with a Neutral rating and $43 target.
  
• BMO Capital initiated Costco (NASDAQ: COST) and BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) with Market Perform ratings and a $72 target and $42 target, respectively.
  
• Isle of Capri (NASDAQ: ISLE) was initiated at Goldman with a Sell rating and $6 target.

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

• Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) beat Q2 estimates, offered guidance, and announced a quarterly dividend.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) profit tumbled as consumers stopped paying off credit cards.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) mixed Q2 results were boosted by international operations.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) reported strong Q2 numbers but shares still fell afterward.
• Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) did not meet analysts' estimates but lifted its full-year outlook (see transcript).
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) posted strong results that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
• Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) better-than-expected Q2 results lifted other tech stocks as well (see transcript).
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) posted better-than-expected Q2 results (see transcript).
• Lawson Software Inc. (NASDAQ: LWSN) net income fell due to an auction-rate securities related charge.
• Mattel Inc. (NYSE: MAT) Q2 results topped expectations despite lower profits on weak demand for Barbie.
• Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) posted better-than-estimated Q2 earnings on strong sales growth.
• Overstock.com Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) fell nearly 30% after reporting earnings for the second quarter.
• Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) posted strong Q3 results due to long-term government contracts.
• Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) preliminary Q1 results sparked an after-market rally.
• Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) beat low earnings expectations and also raised its quarterly dividend.
• Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) beat Q2 expectations due in part to strength overseas, but shares fell.

For more highlights from this week, see: Citigroup, eBay, IBM, Merrill Lynch, Microsoft and others

The earnings crunch continues next week. Among companies scheduled to report are Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Texas Intruments (NYSE: TXN), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Hershey (NYSE: HSY), and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

For the most part, the dominant players in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software space include Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), SAP (NYSE: SAP), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

But, there are a variety of mid-size players trying to compete. One is Lawson (NASDAQ: LWSN).

And this week, the company reported its latest quarterly report. Revenues increased 9.4% to $233 million but net income dropped 55% to $3.7 million, or $0.02 per share. Why? Well, Lawson took a charge for its exposure to auction-rate securities.

The quarter saw $51 million in signed software contracts, up from $42 million in the same period a year ago (there were four deals in excess of $1 million). For the most part, Lawson is getting traction from investments in its technology platform -- as well as its salesforce.

For the year, Lawson forecasts revenues of $920 million to $925 million. EPS (earnings per share) is expected to range from $0.43 to $0.47.

However, Wall Street is still concerned about the competition and macro environment. As a result, the shares of Lawson have been languishing this year, dropping from $9.94 to $7.14.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: California Pizza, Lawson Software and Bare Escentuals were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Oppenheimer initiated California Pizza (NASDAQ:CPKI) with a Perform rating. The firm is neutral on the stock given the company's exposure to California and diminishing returns in new markets.
  
• KeyBanc initiated Lawson Software (NASDAQ:LWSN) with a Hold based on expectations that 1H09 will be challenged by a TTM sales headcount decline and the difficult IT spending environment.
  
• William Blair assumed Bare Escentuals (NASDAQ:BARE) with an Outperform rating. The firm estimates the company owns only a modest single-digit share of the nearly $9B U.S. cosmetics market, making its market opportunity attractive.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Citigroup initiated Hess Corp (NYSE:HES) with a Hold rating and $133 target.
  
• NetSuite (NYSE:N) was started with a Sell rating and $14 target at Piper.
  
• Morgan Keegan initiated Berry Petroleum (NYSE:BRY) with an Outperform rating.

Monday October 1

* Beijing Med-Pharm Corporation (NASDAQ: BJGP) to hold a conference on the acquisition with Sunstone Pharma at 9am.

Tuesday October 2

* Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to report monthly sales at 1pm, General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) to report monthly sales at 2pm.
* PDUFA date for Biovail Corporation (NYSE: BVF)/Depomed Inc (NASDAQ: DEPO)/King Pharmaceutical Inc's (NYSE: KG) Glumetza for glycemic control in diabetic adults.

Wednesday October 3

* Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THLD) to discuss Glufosfamide results from Phase III Clinical Trial at 4:30pm.

Thursday October 4

* Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 10am.
* Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
* Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 5pm.

Friday October 5

* PDUFA date for Bristol Myers Squibb's (NYSE: BMY) Abilify for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with Bipolar I Disorder.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Siemens AG (SI), Business Objects (BOBJ), Continental Airlines (CAL), Lawson Software (LWSN) and Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc (TRMP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Lehman upgraded shares of Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) to Overweight from Neutral reflect the potential major portfolio reorganization over the next few years as well as the strong momentum in the group.

• UBS upgraded shares of Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) to Buy from Neutral to reflect easy compares in Q2 and signs of improving underlying European demand.

• Soleil upgraded Continental (NYSE: CAL) to Buy from Hold as they believe better-than-expected June consolidated revenue growth suggests strong enough revenue momentum to offset above-average domestic capacity growth affecting its important Newark hub.

• Matrix upgraded Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) to Sell from Strong Sell to reflect increasing revenues from software licenses.

• Brean Murray upgraded shares of Trump Entertainment (NASDAQ: TRMP) to Buy from Hold citing recent share weakness, improving trends, potential monetization of excess real estate and the use of the Trump brand outside of Atlantic City...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Northstar Realty Finance Corp (NYSE: NRF) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

• Goldman raised Par Pharmaceuticals' (NYSE: PRX) rating to Neutral from Sell.

• Bernstein upgraded Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) provides software and service solutions to customers in manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and the service sector. Based in St. Paul, its offerings include performance management, supply chain management, resource planning, customer relationship management, asset management, and industry-tailored applications. In addition, the company offers consulting, training, and implementation services. It operates offices in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. Lawson has a well-developed system of business partnerships, which includes such firms as Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW).

The company pleased investors earlier in the week, when it issued upside guidance for fiscal fourth quarter results. Management now expects EPS of about 5-7 cents and revenues of $201-$208 million. Analysts had been looking for 4 cents and $193.60 million. Deutsche Securities and Davenport subsequently reiterated "buy" recommendations on the stock and declared price targets in the $12.50-$13.00 range. The stock popped into the initial stage of a bullish "pennant" consolidation pattern on the news. Prices frequently exit pennants moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the issue with six "strong buys," three buys" and one "hold." Analysts expect a 113% growth rate through the next year. The LWSN Price to Sales ratio (2.86), Price to Book ratio (2.41) and Sales Growth rate (118.02%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages.

Institutional investors hold about 84% of the outstanding shares. Over the past fifty-two weeks, the stock has traded between $5.39 and $10.28. A stop-loss of $8.80 looks good here. Note that the firm is expected to report Q4 results on July 26th, after the close.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

Successful companies are constantly engaged in the struggle to streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance operational performances. There is an outfit in St. Paul, Minnesota that has been helping firms over those hurdles for more than thirty years. Its programs are used at some 4,000 customer sites, in forty countries.

Lawson Software (NASDAQ: LWSN) offers enterprise enhancement program systems to customers in the manufacturing, distribution, maintenance and service industries. The firm's software products include performance management, supply chain management, resource planning, customer relationship management, manufacturing resource planning, asset management, human resources, accounting and industry-tailored applications. The company also provides consulting, training and implementation services. Lawson has business partnerships with the likes of Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW).

The stock popped into a bullish "flag" pattern last week, when the firm preannounced better than expected Q3 EPS and revenue results. The next day, Deutsche Securities and Dougherty reiterated "buy" recommendations and boosted their price targets to the $10-11 range. Then, this Monday evening, the company officially released its Q3 numbers and they topped raised Street consensus figures.

Monday April 9

• Lawson Software Inc (NASDAQ: LWSN) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 4:30.
• PDUFA Date for Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc's (NASDAQ: MLNM) Velcade, which is a new type of cancer drug called a proteasome inhibitor.
• Bank of Japan to hold two-day monetary policy meeting.

Tuesday April 10

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to hold annual shareholder meeting at 9am.
• Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) to report Q1 earnings, signaling the official start of the Spring earnings period; conference call at 5pm.

Wednesday April 11

• Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
• Genentech Inc (NYSE: DNA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 5:15pm.

Thursday April 12

• Tektronix Inc (NYSE: TEK) to hold Investor Conference at 9am.
• Krispy Kreme Donuts Inc (NYSE: KKD) to report Q earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.

Friday April 13

• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.