Shares of office products retailer, Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS), recovered today after opening much lower following the company's announcement of a 14% fall in quarterly profit, which missed analysts estimates by 6 cents per share.

For the quarter ending Jan. 31, 2009, Staples said it earned 36 cents per share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $6.17 billion. This compared to analyst estimates of earnings of 42 cents per share, before one-time items, on revenue of $6.79 billion.

Discount retailer Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) saw its shares surge higher in Wednesday trading after it posted a fourth-quarter profit from continuing operations that came in ahead of analysts expectations and offered a better-than-expected outlook.

Clearly, investors view BIG as a recession stock to own.

Earnings from continuing operations totaled a dollar per share, ahead of the 93 cents per share analysts were expecting, and 3 cents higher than the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $1.37 billion from $1.41 billion last year, but beat expectations of $1.36 billion. Same-store sales fell a mild 3.2%, as sales of discretionary items, such as furniture and toys, were challenging.

I've been doing a fair amount of chest puffing lately, as many of my moves suggested here and elsewhere have paid huge dividends for investors. Today, I want to highlight one of my mistakes: General Electric Company (NYSE: GE).

Someone is going to own one heck of an asset when this all shakes out. Unfortunately for GE shareholders, there is a very real risk that you will be on the outside looking in when all is said and done.

Each day the odds are growing that bondholders or the government will end up owning the equity in GE. Given the long-term future of the company, those two parties will be quite pleased.

There was a time when Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) was the cream of the crop in the PC business. Its college dorm beginnings and customization model allowed the company to separate itself from a host of other competitors.

It is hard to say what exact magic it was that allowed the DELL story to unfold, but suffice it to say the company was the best in the business at selling computers to individuals and small businesses. But I'm not so sure that is the case any longer. The heady days of the dot-com boom were when this company reached its prime. It has been a slow death ever since.

Is it realistic to expect Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to deliver double-digit earnings growth in this environment?

Seriously, can retail customers afford premium coffee when budgets are severely strained and debts are high?

No way. Premium coffee is a luxury item, and though many are addicted to java, cutting back is relatively easy to do. In that dynamic, sales are likely to slow.