Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Buy from Hold based on valuation. The firm, which has a $50 target on the stock, believes Tysabri PML cases are reflected in shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) to Buy from Hold as it finds the valuation attractive and believes the company's sales are benefiting from stabilization in California and share gains. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $45 from $36.
• RBC Capital upgraded Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $39 from $36 citing valuation and views it as a low risk option on a global economic recovery.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at RBS.

Even for a company the size of Nokia (NYSE: NOK), a quarterly loss of $834 million is still a big deal. And, this is what the company posted for its Q3 report (it's the first net loss since 1996).

OK, the main reason for the red ink was the write-down of a joint venture with Siemens that develops network equipment. No doubt, the business has been brutal. But, Nokia somehow thinks there's potential for growth.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says a good shakeout on Monday would prepare us for a "fulcrum day" on Tuesday.

Could have been worse. With Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take) never lifting -- which was, by the way, wrong after a certain point -- and oil not rallying, you had no place to go. Last week we lost tech, banks, and oil. You can't even go up with just two of them, so to lose all three was dreadful.

I said last week that the calendar just didn't favor the bulls. The propensity to want to lock in gains ahead of the last weekend in September -- the one that is ended by the Yom Kippur holiday, which will always have thin trading -- is just too great.

Plus, don't forget that every month that is supposed to be bad gets tons of play for being bad: October! Ooooooo, scary! You know that's going to happen again.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares rose after it reaffirmed its full-year earnings and sales outlook.
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) will have low double-digit EPS growth, predicts one analyst.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a decline in earnings but a small rise in sales, sending shares lower.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and higher revenue.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high after topping analysts' Q2 earnings expectations.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year guidance.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded McAfee (NYSE: MFE) to Outperform from Market Perform after channel checks indicated the company's September quarter deal flow has been stronger than expected. FBR raised its target on shares to $50 from $41.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) to Overweight from Market Weight, citing increased wireless backhaul capex spending by Tier-1 carriers. The firm raised its target to $32 from $21.
• RBC Capital upgraded Brunswick (NYSE: BC) to Outperform from Sector Perform as the firm thinks the company no longer has liquidity risk and can generate significant profits by 2012. The firm set a $17 target on the stock.
• Bronco Drilling (NASDAQ: BRNC) was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
• LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• UBS upgraded U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) and UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) to Buy from Neutral.

Much of the focus this week will no doubt be on the FOMC meeting on interest rates and the subsequent decision, as well as on the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh, were the agenda will include bonuses for bank executives among other things.

Things will be fairly quiet again on the earnings front as the next earnings season has yet to ramp up. However, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters do have high hopes for a handful of companies that will release results this week.

Soon, you may be able to throw away your wallet. That's the vision of Nokia (NYSE: NOK), which announced that it will launch a mobile payments service.

The service is called Nokia Money (the platform is based on Obopay, in which Nokia recently made an investment). For the most part, it is geared for simplicity, which is definitely crucial for the consumer market. Essentially, you'll be able to send a payment by using another person's phone number. There will be other helpful features, such as the viewing of account balances in real time.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded National Fuel (NYSE: NFG) to Hold from Sell to reflect better than expected drilling results for the company's Marcellus shale assets. Citi raised its target on shares to $43 from $42.
• Baird upgraded Netezza (NYSE: NZ) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $14 from $7 based on the company's new product announcement and potential revenue acceleration.
• JPMorgan upgraded Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm finds the valuation attractive following Liberty's better than expected Q2 results and set a $13 price target on the stock.
• Marlin Business (NASDAQ: MRLN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at William Blair.
• Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) was upgraded to Sell from Conviction Sell at Goldman.
• Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Normally we think of revolutionary products created by start-ups or entrepreneurial minds just out of college, but the most talked about new projects of 2009 are being produced by some of the best known companies in the world.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): With its massive online presence and a truly efficient business model, Amazon has become the largest online retailer in the world. It is now taking on a new business, web services, namely cloud computing (learn more HERE), called the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). While hosting this infrastructure and presenting e-commerce with a reasonably affordable alternative with no up-front costs, Amazon has taken an early lead in this space, with some believing its cloud computing business will one day overtake retailing. "Amazon will be like a book store that sells cocaine out the back door. Books will be just a front to sell storage and cloud computing." says Larry Dignan, Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic.

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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Q2 earnings were in line with expectations but sales beat.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) beat earnings estimates for Q1, but on horrible metrics, sending shares lower.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) lower Q2 earnings beat expectations and previous guidance, boosting shares.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) Q1 profit and sales dropped, but still beat expectations, sending shares higher.
• Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss and shares rose.

A Buy rating has been issued in these circles for Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM), but there are several qualifiers.

Palm left a great deal of market share gains behind, as a result of what looks like inadequate production of the Palm Pre, but the view from here argues that strong reviews from technology critics and a the slow-but-continual increase in applications, will enable the Pre to achieve good things for this device manufacturer.

Well, last week's Beige Book report and other indicators didn't in fact make it clear whether economic recovery is underway. So what do we have to look forward to this week?

There's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's testimony at the House Committee Hearing on the Financial Regulation Plan on Wednesday evening. Or how about the bankruptcy filings for the second quarter or Leading Indicators Index for May, scheduled to be released Monday afternoon and Thursday morning, respectively. Will they provide a clear signal about the direction of the economy? Probably not.

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

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) easily topped Q4 earnings estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Brinker International Inc. (NYSE: EAT) forecast Q3 earnings that are well above analysts' estimates.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) said it narrowed its loss in Q4 despite restructuring costs.
• Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM) is expected to fall short of Q4 earnings expectations.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) reported strong Q2 results and and raised its outlook for Q3.

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

• American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) lowered its earnings forecast for fiscal 2009.
• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and strong revenue growth.
• Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings despite a decline in sales.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) soaring earnings beat Q4 expectations despite a decline in revenue.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was downgraded on risk to its earnings from currency issues.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) is set to release its fourth-quarter earnings results after the closing bell today. According to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, the Canadian-based mobile phone manufacturer is expected to ring up a profit of 84 cents a share on $3.42 billion in revenue -- a big feat for any company during the current economic climate.

The company has plenty going for it. It has millions of loyal subscribers and sales of "smart" phones are expected to climb this year, in sharp contrast to the outlook for the overall wireless industry. But the company faces some headwinds as well. Increased competition, a lagging stock price and concerns that its expansion into the consumer market could take a bite out of profits down the road.