MetLife (MET - option chain) stock is trading lower today along with most other insurance companies this morning after the cost to insurers related to Friday's earthquake in Japan was estimated to be between $15 to $35 billion. Prudential Financial (PRU) and AIG (AIG) are also down so far in today's trading. Even if these insurance companies are actually on solid footing financially with regard to their expected claims, I expect investors could be frightened for several months to come, which could keep share prices depressed. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on MET.

Generally, I avoid stocks already above $50 -- but there are exceptions. Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) is one of these, and it's worth a review.

Prudential has weathered the recession and is now set to post impressive earnings growth in 2011 and 2012.

A strong variable annuity business is likely to be complemented by double-digit earnings growth in asset management: The company currently manages about $641 billion in assets. Meanwhile, PRU's insurance unit will recover more slowly, due to sub-par life and disability margins.

Things look to be pretty quiet on the economic calendar this week. Here are the highlights:

• Tuesday: Weekly chain-store sales
• Wednesday: Federal budget balance for January
• Thursday: Wholesale trade data in December
• Friday: Trade balance in December and the weekly inflation survey

However, three iconic companies -- Walt Disney (DIS), Coca-Cola (KO) and Hasbro (HAS) -- highlight this week's quarterly results. Here's a look at what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are anticipating from these and others.

It will be a busy week. Republicans are poised to gain control of the House of Representatives and gain governorships in Tuesday's mid-term elections. Also, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce another round of quantitative easing Wednesday, following the FOMC meeting. Major retailers are scheduled to report October same-store sales Thursday, while the October unemployment rate, announced on Friday, is expected to remain at 9.6%.

Toyota's (TM) fiscal second-quarter results will be one of the highlights on the earnings front this week. After three periods of way underestimating Toyota's earnings, have the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters got it right this time? The stock sure could use a boost. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is in a similar situation; i.e., high expectations for this week's quarterly results but a stock in need of a boost. Marathon (MRO) and Starbucks (SBUX) are also expected to post strong earnings growth this week, but both stocks are riding high.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Lubrizol (LZ) to Hold from Sell following the company's analyst day citing its continued pricing power in lubricants. Citi upped its target price for shares to $115 from $82.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Viacom (VIA) to Buy from Neutral citing the company's ratings improvement, 2011 film slate, and video game pipeline. The firm has a $45 price target for shares.
• BMO Capital resumed coverage on Gammon Gold (GRS) with an Outperform from a Market Perform following the its equity issue. The firm has a $12.50 price target on the stock.
• Comerica (CMA) and First Horizon (FHN) were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Prudential (PRU) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Itron (ITRI) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

In case you need to be reminded to look closely at the books, today's poster boy for erroneous ledgers, Bernie Maddoff, should be a constant reminder. Furthermore, when you are looking at the books, remember that Benjamin Graham, mentor to "my pal Warren," advised buying stocks for less than their intrinsic value. And book value is the starting point in attempting to establish that.

Two weeks ago, I posted an update on my toxic stock picks. These were six unloved stocks where I felt the stage was set for market beating returns. The same is true again for today's market-beating group, although it is not the headlines that tied this group together, but their standout bargain metrics.

Again this week, consensus forecasts for companies reporting quarterly results call for double-digit earnings growth from many of them, compared to the results from a year ago when shares of many companies were at recessionary lows.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for strong earnings results from Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM), Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), Time Warner Inc. (TWX), MasterCard Inc. (MA) and Washington Post Co. (WPO), which we'll take a closer look at here, as well as from Devon Energy (DVN), DirecTV (DTV), Loews (L), Marsh & McLennan (MMC), NYSE Euronext (NYX), Williams Companies (WMB) and others.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings and declared an annual dividend.
• Allstate Corp. (ALL) swung to better-than-expected Q4 earnings and also swung to a full-year profit.
• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. (BWLD) shares tumbled after it posted disappointing earnings tied to costs.
• The Cheesecake Factory Inc. (CAKE) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings but sales were flat.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) earnings numbers for Q4 resulted in upgrades from two analysts.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) higher Q4 earnings matched the expectations of analysts, and shares rose.

Insurance giants Allstate (ALL) and Prudential Financial (PRU) reported fourth-quarter results after the closing bell on Wednesday.

Allstate said it earned $518 million, or $1.09 cents per share. That exceeded the $1.01 per share expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, and compares with a loss of $1.13 billion, or $2.10 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenue for the quarter just past totaled $8.06 billion, which was up 22% from the year-ago period.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU), the Newark N.J.-based life insurance giant, is scheduled to release fourth-quarter financial results after the market closes Wednesday, and then to discuss those results in a conference call tomorrow, Thursday, Feb. 11, at 11:00 AM (ET). An audio webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Prudential saw management changes, sold its stake in a joint venture and declared an annual dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period to come to $1.11 per share. That compares with $1.59 per share in the previous quarter and a loss of $2.04 per share a year ago. Revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be 6.9% higher than a year ago to $16.2 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for life insurance giant MetLife Inc. (MET) to report that its earnings rose 80.0% from a year ago to $0.95 per share for the three months that ended in December. Revenue, however, is expected to total $12.6 billion, which is down 10.1% from a year ago, during a fourth quarter in which it offered guidance and declared a quarterly dividend. The analysts' forecast for the full year calls for earnings of $2.89 per share (-25.7%) on $48.3 billion in revenue (-5.3%). This New York-based insurer's earnings results have been better than expected in three of the past four quarters, beating estimates by as much as 20 cents per share.

MetLife's long-term EPS growth forecast is 10.7%, which is better than that of competitor Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), and its earnings multiple is 8.8x. The First Call consensus recommendation has been to buy MET for more than 90 days, despite a recent downgrade of the stock. The mean price target is $42.87. Shares have been trading between $32.00 and $40.00 since August and closed the week at $35.32.

Shares of MetLife Inc. (MET), the largest life insurer in the U.S., rose Monday after the company released preliminary fourth quarter and full-year 2009 financial results, as well as guidance for 2010.

New York-based MetLife said it now expects to report operating earnings for the fourth quarter between $740 million and $785 million (90 to 95 cents per share), compared with from $132 million (17 cents per share) in the fourth quarter of 2008. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2009 are expected to total between $8.5 billion and $9.1 billion, up about 7% from the fourth quarter of 2008.

Analyst upgrades:

• Wells Fargo upgraded Prudential (PRU) to outperform from market perform. The firm thinks the company is in a better position than its peers and will be able to more effectively exploit M&A opportunities.
• UBS upgraded Reliance Steel (RS) to buy from neutral based on potential growth through M&A and valuation. The firm raised its target to $50 from $49.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Eastman Chemical (EMN) to buy from hold on expectations the company's portfolio transformation will drive higher normalized earnings power, which the firm believes is not fully reflected in consensus estimates. Deutsche raised its target price on shares to $70 from $62.
• Amylin Pharma (AMLN) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Cephalon (CEPH) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Acuity Brands (AYI) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

It's official: the holiday season is here, marking the beginning of the race to the end of the year. It's also time for another FOMC interest rate decision, as well as for another look at the employment situation, perhaps the most dreaded measure of the economic recovery in the U.S. This week will bring the Challenger job cut announcements for October on Wednesday, initial jobless claims for last week and the Monster Employment Index for October on Thursday, and the employment numbers for October on Friday.

The earnings season rolls on this week as well, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting good showings from the reports of Boston Beer Company Inc. (NYSE: SAM), DirecTV Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV), Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE), Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI).