TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says you'll miss some great opportunities if you blindly believe all the bad news.

You want a rebuke to the "never-ending woes of commercial and residential real estate mortgage bonds"? You get one every day in this market, and today is no different. Look at what is up big today: Genworth (NYSE: GNW) (Cramer's Take), Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) (Cramer's Take), Wyndham (NYSE: WYN) (Cramer's Take), Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) (Cramer's Take) and Zions (NASDAQ: ZION) (Cramer's Take). Each in its own way needs the residential or commercial real estate markets to be robust to thrive, and if the myriad articles I read about the horrible state of the mortgage bond market and the dim commercial real estate prospects were true, why would you be making money in Wyndham, a gigantic timeshare company? How could Regions and Zions be rallying? They are among the worst of the worst; unless you consider Genworth and Lincoln National, which are supposed to be roadkill because of all of their mortgage bonds.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) reported dismal Q1 numbers as same-store sales plunged.
• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) dismal Q2 results were in line with analysts' expectations.
• Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE) reported lower earnings and revenue for Q1 and offered no guidance.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) earnings, revenue, and same-store sales all fell in the first quarter.
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) Q1 earnings declined but still topped analysts' expectations.

Never mind the bears and bulls or even the pigs and chickens, I think between Wall Street and Washington D.C. the goofs and ghosts are leading the charge.

What I mean by this is that the rationale for certain market activity and advisement makes no sense to me. Maybe we are not recovering from the recession but we are moving into something like a shadow economy, where people look at what is going on in the market and rationalize it after the fact, when all the real energy is in the darkness.

Today American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays, and Lazard Capital Markets upgraded AEO from hold to buy. Why now, after the stock has run up 65% this year, do they finally wake up and think there might be something here?

After five consecutive quarters of losses it was reported today after the markets closed that MBIA (NYSE: MBI) earned $3.34 per share in the first quarter through March 31, 2009. This flies in the face of analysts expectations of a 33 cent loss.

The stock closed today at $6.96 but in after hours trading has been up over $8.00 as I type at 5:00 EST.

As earnings season begins to wind down, some apparel retailers are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the 800-pound gorilla in the space, will report that it earned $0.77 per share in the first quarter, about the same as in the first quarter of last year. But JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) are expected to report lower profits for the first quarter as consumers continued to hold off on spending. Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) are expected to have swung to a loss year over year.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Winn Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) are likewise expected to report declining earnings, while the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP), parent of the A&P supermarket chain, is expected to have narrowed its net loss 68.9% to $0.28 per share.

Over the past few weeks the market has been playing a favorable tune but that does not mean that all bad news and negativity have been wrung out of it. There is plenty of fear and suspicion creating volatility.

In many cases this past quarter I have been doing naked puts, in stocks I would be happy to own anyway. I first mentioned this opportunity about seven week ago in Investor fear puts me 'naked' on Wall Street. The actual option position is a "sell to open" put where you get paid today, to pledge to buy something at a later date. These options are available at different strike prices and monthly intervals depending on the company stock.

There are very few people on this planet that can honestly say that they have not been affected in some way by the economic firestorm caused by underappreciating risk.

Congress, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission during a period where the White House was comatose, opened up the flood gates for Wall Street's financial wizards to bet the world and lose!

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

• American International Group Inc. (NYS: AIG) posted a record loss even as it asks for more taxpayer funds.
• AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) shares sank after it missed Q4 expectations by a wide margin.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) reported strong Q2 results, sending shares upward toward its 52-week high.
• Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) shares soared after it reported better-than-expected numbers for Q4.
• Chico's FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) Q4 loss widened on impairment charges and severance costs.

After the closing bell sounded yesterday afternoon, MBIA (NYSE: MBI) stepped into the spotlight to report fourth-quarter earnings. The struggling banking firm saw its fourth-quarter loss shrink to $1.2 billion, or $5.30 per share from last year's fourth-quarter loss of $18.55 per share.

This quarter's loss came courtesy of a $1.7-billion and a $532-million loss on insured derivatives. Both of these losses were logged pre-tax. The company's CEO Jay Brown blamed the rough 18-month period on the "worst credit crisis since the Great Depression." Last year was a rough year for MBIA, as the weak housing market lead to many homebuyers and homeowners defaulting on or lagging in their mortgage payments leading to a major problem for MBIA, which insures mortgage bonds. The problem for the banking firm is that the mortgage turmoil is expected to continue.

Trillions of dollars have been introduced into the world economy since last July, when I thought it would be interesting to jump in and pick stocks prior to the carnage in the financial sector taking complete hold.

For the past eight months our government has been taking over financial institutions, absorbing debt, lowering interest rates, nationalizing some private companies, investing in others, and rebating taxes through stimulus packages to increase liquidity and spending. The Federal Reserve has essentially dropped the interest to zero.

The government was the last to announce that we are in a recession. Well, duh! However, recession or not the world is still open for business although less of it. Gold is down 30% from it's highs and oil having totally collapsed from $147 a barrel at the time of the original story to the low $30's now.

The original story was Serious Money: Tempting fate with 10 financials -- buying into a pool of financial stocks at a time when these stocks went unloved by all.

Eight of the ten financial stocks I wrote about are down or out at this point. When I last reported, the portfolio was losing 47% but it has sunk to new lows now standing at a loss of 58.56%. This compares to a drop in the S&P 500 of 29% or half the loss.

There are many analysts suggesting that we finally have arrived at the time to invest in financial stocks. Perhaps that is true, but do you invest in the downtrodden or the blue chips?

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that's the real problem, and every little bit helps.

Many are decrying that the AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take) bailout now helps the holders of the collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) who bought insurance against them from AIG. The idea is simple: These CDOs are worth, in many cases, next to nothing depending upon the vintages, geographies and FICO scores, but they will now be paid back at pretty much face value -- AIG CEO Ed Liddy said the prices will be negotiated, but I don't see how they can get any less because AIG guaranteed it and the U.S. is not abrogating any of these guarantees.

It's an obvious windfall and still one more piece of the stinking puzzle that involves unwinding the bogus real estate finance that prevailed from 2004 to 2007. The bigger issue, though, is whether the government will then take over MBIA (NYSE: MBI) (Cramer's Take) and Ambac (NYSE: ABK) (Cramer's Take) -- I know people at those companies say they don't need it, so OK, they don't ... but let's say they do for the purposes of reality -- and have them make good on all of the credit default swaps they wrote against bad CDOs.

If the government is willing, they can buy several trillion dollars of these easily through this method and then sit on them and hopefully they will come back to some value.

U.S. stock futures were lower Wednesday morning, a day after a historic election saw Barack Obama elected president. But if Tuesday markets rallied, today it seems we're witnessing a "sell on the news". President-elect Obama will inherit a troubled economy and that what Wall Street is back to focusing on this morning. Some data could contribute to current sentiment as the October ADP employment numbers will be released before the opening bell and October ISM services after. weekly energy inventory data are also out for release. Oil prices declined ahead of the data to around $68.30 a barell.

Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) reported an 18% growth in profits from continuing operations, and profit of 31 cents per share (excluding items), beating analyst estimates. Time Warner also lowered its outlook for full-year earning primarily because of layoffs at Time Inc. Advertising revenue at AOL as did revenue at its Warner Bros. movie division, but TWX saw growth in its cable-access and cable-network businesses.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) will both report after the close. Cisco is expected to report fiscal first-quarter earnings of 39 cents a share, News Corp., 22 cents a share in the fiscal first quarter according to Thomson Reuters.

Around the world, governments are flooding the market with new currency in order to stem the tide of bank collapses and slippery stock market slopes. They are taking over financial institutions, absorbing debt, lowering interest rates, nationalizing some private companies, investing in others, and rebating taxes through stimulus packages to increase liquidity and spending.

So far all we can say is that the world is still open for business, but it is a different world. Even gold and oil are down significantly.

In concert with world markets, the stocks in my daring (maybe fool hardy) story I posted a few months ago Serious Money: Tempting fate with 10 financials -- buying into a pool of financial stocks at a time when the "hate 'em" factor was at a peak, or so I thought -- are down even more. I think I am turning into the web's leading glutton for punishment by posting such stories. However, while my stock ideas have taken a beating now and then, I hope my integrity has remained intact.

I took some major lumps during the collapse of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) as I candidly posted, Chasing Value: Not -- WaMu one week later - ouch!, and I lost some money also.

Nine of the ten financial stocks I wrote about are down or out at this point. When I last reported, the portfolio was losing 4.8%, and now it is losing 47% to date, not counting dividends. Only MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) is up and there are question marks about this company too.

If not for the collapse of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) this week, I would probably not have posted this saga so soon after last Monday's report. However, since I was a shareholder of WaMu and thought there was value in it when I posted Chasing Value: Are you watching WaMu? I felt it was time to take my lumps.

I cannot go on ranting and raving about the failures and deceptions of others without making sure that I am forthright and transparent myself. I did post Chasing Value: Not -- WaMu one week later - ouch! but now WaMu is toast and so is some of my money.

Since I posted Serious Money: Tempting fate with 10 financials, the results of buying into the following pool of financial stocks at a time when the "hate 'em" factor was at a peak, with each passing day investors have found something more to hate.

The portfolio is losing 4.8% to date, not counting dividends. Some of my colleagues thought it was way too early to get back into the financial sector; seems that way now, and one read me the riot act for reporting the story so soon on MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) being up substantially.

Almost two months have passed since I posted Serious Money: Tempting fate with 10 financials - the results of buying into the following pool of financial stocks at a time when the "hate 'em" factor was at a peak, or so I thought. Now things are even worse, much worse, and a new market bottom was reached only last week.

Trying to predict where this market will go is not possible, but there are many ways to play it. I chose to buy into a pool of financial stocks, believing the survivors would post gains that would overshadow the losers.

When I last updated this story, the pool of stocks was up 26%. Things have gotten worse, but the group is still up 13.89% plus the dividends. This is better than any of the indices, although it is much more speculative.

There was plenty of big news since the last report. While Lehman Brothers Holdings (OTC: LEHMQ) went bankrupt, MBIA Inc (NYSE: MBI) made up for it by more than doubling. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) is in survival mode supported by a Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) buyout offer. Seven stocks are up, two are down and one is gone (returns from July 29 prices):