The new earnings season doesn't kick off until Alcoa (AA) reports its first-quarter results on April 11, but a few stragglers are still reporting their earnings for the previous quarter this week. The most prominent earnings reports on tap are Wednesday's results from Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and from Monsanto (MON). Here's what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to see.

Bed Bath & Beyond

During its fiscal fourth quarter, the nation's largest domestics retailer opened new stores and its CEO sold shares. Analysts anticipate that the New Jersey-based company will report per-share earnings of 97 cents, an increase of 11.3% from the same quarter of last year. The company also is expected to post revenue of $2.4 billion for the three months that ended in February, a 6.3% rise from a year earlier.

Thursday was marked by mixed markets with technology stocks higher and the rest of the market mixed to lower. The dollar was up and both oil and gold were down. A lackluster jobless claims might have taken away some of the zing that the ADP and TrimTabs data showed for employment trends ahead of Friday's non-Farm Payrolls and unemployment rate due Friday morning. Still, many key names were on the move today.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,697.31 -25.58 (-0.22%)
S&P 500 1,273.85 -2.71 (-0.21%)
Nasdaq 2,709.89 +7.69 (0.28%)

Last year was definitely tough for Monsanto (MON), which is the world's largest seed producer. Some of its problems included lackluster results from its corn seed as well as plunges in the sales of Roundup herbicide.

But going into 2011, it looks like things may be getting back on track. According to its latest earnings report, Monsanto generated sales of $1.8 billion, up from $1.7 billion in 2009. In fact, there was a recovery in its Roundup business.

BMC Software (BMC) rallied to a ten-year high Thursday. January 50 call options were active with implied volatility at 29. February call option implied volatility at 31, below its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Monsanto (MON) said orders are on track for Genuity Reduced-Refuge family of corn products and Genuity Roundup Ready 2 Yield Soybeans, according to slides the company presented at a conference Thursday. The company is expected to report first quarter results on January 6. January call option implied volatility is at 29; April is at 31, below its 26-week average of 34, according to Track Data. Large option volume suggests decreasing price movement.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Colgate (CL) and Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) to buy from hold.
• Wells Fargo upgraded IDACORP (IDA) to outperform from market perform.
• Union Pacific (UNP) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Goldman upgraded Quicksilver (KWK) to neutral from sell.
• Republic Airways (RJET) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded GAMCO Investors (GBL) to neutral from underperform.
• Senior Housing (SNH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.

Analyst Upgrades

• State Street (STT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Roth Capital upgraded Intel (INTC), Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Nvidia (NVDA) to buy from neutral.
• Bebe Stores (BEBE) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.
• W&T Offshore (WTI) was upgraded to buy from accumulate at Global Hunter.
• Citigroup upgraded International Rectifier (IRF) and Timberland (TBL) to hold from sell.
• Watson Pharma (WPI) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Atmel (ATML) was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Needham.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Oppenheimer upgraded MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from perform.

If you are looking for clues to which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should take note.

Jefferies Group (JEF) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 1,382,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $32,403,125. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 1.73% and now own 3.76% of the stock.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Duoyuan Global Water (DGW) to neutral from underweight, citing the potential for positive fundamental news flow through the end of the year, and upped its price target to $16 from $9.
• Jefferies upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from underperform, expecting a benefit from a significant ramp in EVDO software sales as mobile data growth accelerates.
• Myriad Genetics (MYGN) was upgraded at RBC Capital to outperform from sector perform with a $23 price target based on valuation and potential to be acquired.
• Goldman upgraded Mohawk (MHK) to neutral from sell with a $53 price target.
• Smithfield Foods (SFD) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO capital with a $21 target.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Monsanto Company (MON), a big name in seed distribution, is trading higher this afternoon. With less than ninety minutes to go before the end of the session, shares of the company are up 0.7% to $48.85. Not a huge move. Volume, however, is significantly above average.

Interestingly enough, there have been some negative headlines about the business today. As an example, TheFly mentions a downgrade on the stock by Goldman Sachs. And then there's this one over at Zacks.com, describing the company's quarterly report as weak.

Today was a mixed day where traders and investors alike could not decide whether to trade cautiously or whether to take on risk again. More technology concerns were prevalent and the newest jobs data led traders to believe that the non-Farm payrolls data will come in weaker on Friday.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,967.65 +22.93 (0.21%)
S&P 500 1,159.97 -0.78 (-0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,380.66 -19.17 (-0.80%)

MSCI Brazil Index (EWZ) closed up $1,01 to $75.40. The Brazilian general election of 2010 will be held on Sunday, October 3. The Presidency of the Republic, all Chamber of Deputies seats, and fifty-four of the Federal Senate seats, will be contested in this election, along with all 26 states (plus the Federal District) governorships and the state legislatures.

October put option implied volatility is at 28, November is at 29, December puts are at 31. This versus its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Stocks were up by the end of the session, but today's direction felt more whip-saw than set in any solid direction. A record-high gold price and a falling dollar came after consumer confidence managed to come in much weaker than expectations.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA
S&P500
NASDAQ

Top Analyst Calls

Shares of St. Louis based agricultural products company Monsanto (MON) have been beaten down in 2010. Year-to-date, the shares have lost over 26%, but it appears that a change of sentiment has taken place over the last month with the stock surging 33%.

Monsanto is a great way to play the theme of higher agricultural commodity prices. The price of wheat has surged an incredible 88% since June 9 as fears about supply, as a result of a severe drought in Russia, have gripped the market. Earlier this month, corn futures staged a similar, albeit less dramatic, rally.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Monsanto Co (MON) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 67,500 shares of company stock at a market value of $3,515,142. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by -1.65% and now own 0.22% of MON stock.

Overseas Shipholding Group Inc (OSG) was not far behind, with insiders buying 42,880 shares at a market value of $1,496,789. Insiders now own 15.69% of the company's stock after decreasing their overall holdings by 0.05% during the past six months.

Analyst Upgrades

• Janney Montgomery upgraded Microsoft (MSFT) to buy from neutral with a $30 price target, citing valuation and expectations for strong Q4 results.
• UBS upgraded SanDisk (SNDK) to buy from neutral based on favorable pricing and mobile design win momentum. The firm raised its target to $55 from $46.
• BMO Capital upgraded Medtronic (MDT) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and its product pipeline. The firm has a $48 price target on the stock.
• Lorillard (LO) and Qualcomm (QCOM) were upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Monsanto (MON) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• FedEx (FDX) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.