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.

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.

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:

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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.

St. Louis, Missouri based fertilizer company Monsanto Company (MON) has been an abysmal performer year-to-date, falling more than 32% in 2010. It appears that a risk reversal is taking place in the shares, however, as they have gained 10.34% in the last month, with all of the gains coming since July 6th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) has been pounding the table on this name for some time, arguing that all of the bad news at the company has been priced into the stock. The other catalyst that Goldman has cited is a dramatic rally in corn prices.

Goldman analysts wrote that "rising corn prices inflate the value of MON's biotechnology and could help moderate farmer resistance to higher product prices for its new technology." Goldman has a 12-month price target on Monsanto shares of $65, which implies a healthy return with shares trading around the $55 level currently.

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.

If you are looking for a textbook downtrend, you need look no further than agricultural giant Monsanto (MON). Since hitting a high just above $85 in early January, Monsanto has been on an uninterrupted escalator down to $45.

Unfortunately for Monsanto, today's disappointing earnings announcement is going to do nothing to help change that situation.

Monsanto announced that it only earned $0.70 per share last quarter -- compared to the $1.25 per share the company earned last year. So earnings are off by 44% while the stock price is off by 47% this year.

It looks like poor Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicide sales are largely to blame for Monsanto's struggles. It's not that farmers and others aren't buying as much herbicide. The problem is the price of these herbicides has declined from $35 a gallon a few years ago to current levels of $8 to $11 a gallon.

The calendar quarter winds down this week, and in the days leading up to the Independence Day holiday in the U.S., Apollo Group Inc. (APOL) is expected to be an earnings winner. General Mills (GIS) and Monsanto (MON) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week as well, but analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect them to post smaller profits.

Analysts on average expect for-profit education provider Apollo Group to report that its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 18.7% from a year ago to $1.55 per share. Revenue for the three months that ended in May is expected to have risen 23.2% in the past year to $1.3 billion. Apollo Group's per-share earnings have topped consensus estimates in the past five quarters, by as much as 13 cents per share. The First Call recommendation of analysts is to buy APOL and has been for more than 90 days. Shares have fallen 28.6% in the past three months and reached a 52-week low of $43.49 on Friday.

"One way to capitalize on the recent fear-drenched selloff is to take advantage of attractive valuations and invest in businesses tied to the long-term agriculture story," says David Dittman.

The contributing editor to KCI's Personal Finance explains, "Rising populations and growing middle classes in emerging markets mean people will spend more on food and increase their consumption of agriculture-intensive proteins. Here are two ways to profit from increasing demand for agricultural products: Monsanto (MON) and Bunge (BG).

"These two agribusiness heavyweights -- both of which we hold in our model Growth Portfolio -- have suffered because of specific short-term issues that don't threaten their respective positions in the sector.

Analyst Upgrades

• Thomas Weisel upgraded Deckers Outdoor (DECK) to overweight from market weight following channel checks. The firm also raised its target for shares to $170 from $162.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Amerigroup (AGP) to buy from hold as it believes the company is well positioned to benefit from health care reform. The firm upped its target for shares to $42 from $38.
• Cowen upgraded Cubist Pharmaceuticals (CBST) to outperform from neutral, citing increased conviction in Cubicin's patent exclusivity.
• OmniVision (OVTI) was upgraded to strong buy from buy at Needham.
• Take-Two (TTWO) was upgraded to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Wells Fargo (WFC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.