Analyst upgrades:

• Netflix (NFLX) upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Rockwell (ROK) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• Chico's (CHS) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
• Ann Taylor (ANN) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• Meredith (MDP) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• CarMax (KMX) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Family Dollar (FDO) upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Siliconware Precision (SPIL) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie.
• Amedisys (AMED) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• TRW Automotive(TRW) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Magna (MGA) upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded Boeing (BA) to neutral from sell, citing increased delivery forecasts. The firm raised its target to $68 from $50.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Meredith Corp. (MDP) to buy from hold to reflect improving broadcasting and magazine advertising fundamentals. The firm raised its target for shares to $40 from $36.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Transatlantic (TRH) to market perform from underperform after the annual statutory data was published. The firm raised its target for shares to $51 from $4.
• Disney (DIS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Royal Caribbean (RCL) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• FedEx (FDX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) announced yesterday that take a $16 million one-time charge in the second quarter of 2009. According to the press release, "The charge includes the cost of a companywide workforce reduction of approximately 250 employees; the closing of Country Home magazine, effective with the March 2009 issue; and relocating the creative functions of the ReadyMade brand and Parents.com to Des Moines."

The company cited the recession's impact on advertising revenue as the driving force behind the cutbacks. The end of Country Home isn't exactly shocking. I subscribed to the magazine via a special online offer where you could get one year for free -- We wrote it up on WalletPop back in May. The home decor magazine market seems to be extremely crowded and Country Home had very little to distinguish itself from a dozen or so similar publications.

The cutbacks were announced in the middle of the trading day yesterday and didn't seem to elicit any particular reaction from traders.

The cyclical decline in advertising revenue and the secular move toward free online content have not been kind to magazines. US News & World Report and Men's Vogue have cut back on the number of issues. It seems likely that more magazines will follow in their footsteps as advertisers and consumers cut back.

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).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ariba, Meredith Corp and Time Warner Telecom were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Montgomery initiated Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) with a Buy rating and $14 target and said ARBA's SaaS transition is essentially completed and that the benefits of higher cash flow, new sales hires, product releases, and new markets should be seen in FY08.
  
• Jefferies resumed coverage of Meredith Corp (NYSE: MDP) with a Hold rating and $59-$61 target and expects ad growth to slow given the current economic backdrop.
  
• Citigroup initiated Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) with a Buy rating and $29 target. The named TWTC its top pick in the emerging telco sub-sector based on its differentiated niche position, strong fiber assets and sustainable revenue growth.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JP Morgan started Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) and Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT) with Overweight ratings.
  
• Lehman started Transocean (NYSE: RIG) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Bear Stearns initiated StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) with an Outperform rating and $87 target.

Score another one for the Web 2.0 revolution. Just one day after Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX)'s Life magazine announced that it was done as a print publication, Meredith Corp (NYSE: MDP) is now saying that Child will become online-only. As I wrote earlier, I think that we will continue to see the collapse of numerous other print publications, newspapers and magazines alike. Many of them simply lack a compelling raison d'etre (Yep, I took French) with more varied, up-to-date content available on the internet. Why pay for a subscription to Child when you can read sites like BloggingBaby online for free? Why buy UsWeekly and Star when PerezHilton and Styleikon are there with up-to-the minute celebrity gossip?

If the print industry is to survive (without contracting severely) it will have to find ways to provide readers with additional value that they can't get online. Any ideas?