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

• American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AXL) reported a strike-related Q1 loss.
• Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) Q1 profit tripled on increased demand and higher prices.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted better-than-expected earnings despite Dreamliner delays.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) better-than-expected quarter didn't impress Jim Cramer.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reported Q1 earnings and revenue above analysts' forecasts.
• Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) reported a big loss on a one-time charge and fuel costs.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) posted a smaller-than-forecast profit drop and predicted a good Q2.
• EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) Q1 earnings rose 26% but missed expectations.
• Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) surprised Wall Street by swinging to a profit in the first quarter.
• Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) easily surpassed analyst estimates for the first quarter.
• Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) Q1 earnings and revenue rose due to international growth.
• Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) profit fell but was in line with analysts' expectations.

Where can you find the "Wall Street of the West?" In Colorado, of course -- specifically, Denver's 17th Street financial district.

Colorado's economy has come a long way from its foundation on trapping and mining. Denver's location, equidistant between Los Angeles and Chicago, between Seattle and New Orleans, has helped the Centennial State become the economic center of Rocky Mountain states -- even Denver's time zone and elevation help it keep in touch with the rest of the world. It's no wonder there's a large federal government presence in the state (U.S. Air Force Academy, NORAD, NOAA, Denver Mint, U.S. Geological Survey).

Companies such as Lockheed-Martin (NYSE: LMT), Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP), and Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) offer a sense of the diversity of the state's economy. And so do the three companies examined here: Vail Resorts Inc. (NYSE: MTN), Dynamic Materials Corp. (NASDAQ: BOOM), and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM).

It's about time the airlines started merging with great zeal. There are too many airlines. Four or five national carriers would be plenty when you consider all the foreign carriers as well. They should do some merging too. The announcement that Delta Airlines Inc. (OTC:DALRQ) and US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:LCC) may merge is great news to me.

Several years ago I raised this issue with Amey Stone, one of my favorite editors, pen pals and "right coasters." I suggested that the airlines were too slow and decrepit and should start merging.

At the time, we were witnessing banking mergers, insurance company mergers, telecom mergers, automobile company mergers; everywhere you turned there was consolidation in almost every industry. In particular, the aerospace industry had two huge mergers as Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) acquired McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed acquired Martin-Marietta to create Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT), so the idea was just outside their doorstep!

What in the world were they waiting for?