For nervous investors and analysts looking for good news on the earnings front, it's been a week of mixed blessings. However, judging by the expectations for the following ten so-called barometers of the U.S. economy, or important sectors of it, things could be looking up. All these companies are scheduled to report quarterly results next week (April 21 to April 25).

These first six companies are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post growth in profits in the most recent quarter, compared to the same period of last year:

• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN): 22.9%
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): 21.8%
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA): 20.5%
• AT&T (NYSE: T): 13.8%
• Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP): 7.7%
• 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM): 5.5%

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says until the public feels they won't lose money on a home, no problems will get solved.

Would you ever buy a house in this environment? That's really the ultimate question that has to be asked -- that the Fed should be asking -- if this junk is ever going to come back to life.

I know some of it is so short-term that the jury's back and the verdict is guilty, but most of it hinges on a simple issue: housing depreciation. If you think that your house is going to lose value, default on the second home lien. Which then, we know now, means defaulting on the ultimate mortgage.

The Fed can tinker with LIBOR (I still can't believe they wasted the banking system's time with the LIBOR/auction plan). It can issue statements that are a little more pro-growth than neutral.

Or it can try to change the psychology of the home buyer and homeowner.

Things keep getting worse and builders get more and more cautious. In fact, according to the Commerce Department's most recent survey, housing starts dropped 10% to an annual pace of 1.19 million in September from a 1.33 million rate in August. That's worse than economists expected. Briefing.com's survey showed economists estimated a more modest fall to 1.29 million.

We haven't seen a housing market this weak since 1993 and the future doesn't look any better. Housing permits were down 7% to an annual rate of 1.23 million in September from 1.32 in August. That's the lowest level for permits in 12 years.

This news follows the report that the Mortgage Bankers Association will release today at its annual convention indicating falling mortgage originations and a builder's confidence survey that was released Tuesday indicating that builder's confidence is at record low levels. The nation's builders are hit hard. The most recent to report was the nation's largest, D. R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), whose orders dropped by 39%. Last week, Moody's downgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN), Centex (NYSE: CTX) and Pulte (NYSE: PHM) homes to junk bond status.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Genesit Energy LP (GEL), EnerNoc (ENOC) and Comcast (CMCSA) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Genesis Energy (AMEX: GEL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $40 target at Stanford, as the firm believes the company's affiliation with Denbury Resources and pending acquisition of petroleum products, terminals, and transportation businesses from the Davison family will drive rapid growth.

• EnerNoc Inc (NASDAQ: ENOC) was initiated with a Hold rating and $42 target at Jefferies, due to valuation. EnerNoc was also initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and $40 target.

• Stifel expects Comcast (OTC: CMCSA) to benefit from higher penetration levels of DVR and HDTV set-top boxes over the next several years and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $34 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Select asset managers were initiated at Credit Suisse:

• AllianceBernstein (NYSE: AB), Affiliated Managers (NYSE: AMG), Fortress Investment (NYSE: FIG), Invesco (NYSE: IVZ), Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) and T Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) were initiated with Outperform ratings.

• Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), Calamos Asset Mgmt (NADAQ: CLMS), Eaton Vance Corp (NYSE: EV), Federated Investors (NYSE: FII), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), Legg Mason Inc (NYSE: LM) and Waddell & Reed (NYSE: WDR) were initiated with Neutral ratings.

• Deutsche Bank initiated Ryland Group (NYSE: RYL) with a Buy rating and $52 target, as well as Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) and Meritage Homes Corp (NYSE: MTH) with Hold ratings and a $23 target and $29 target, respectively.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).