Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) will get its chance to impress Wall Street when it reports its most recent quarterly results Tuesday following the market close. The company will be reporting its fiscal first quarter numbers, and analysts are expecting slightly lower numbers that its first quarter last year.

The giant in sports apparel and footwear last reported earnings back on June 24 when it was able to outpace analyst estimates, and this time around analysts are looking for the company to show earnings of 97 cents per share. In its first quarter last year, the company reported earnings of $1.03 per share.

Nike has strong fundamentals, an exceptional brand, and ample opportunities to expand in emerging markets. And yet the stock has meandered for the better part of four months -- straddling the critical 50-day moving average. What's going on here?

More than likely, institutional investors are concerned that Nike, Inc. (NYSE: NKE) will fall prey to consumer pull-back, even though 60% of the company's sales are outside the now 'frugal consumer' U.S.

Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), which owns the Payless shoe store, issued its Q2 release after the bell on Wednesday. Earnings per share took a significant dive once you made some adjustments for last year's results. They came in at 29 cents per share, a decrease of over 40%. Net sales went down over 8%.

On the surface, the news isn't good -- and it gets worse. As we all know, every investor has to play the earnings game with Wall Street. Collective Brands lost the good fight. The market was looking for 33 cents per share, according to Earnings.com. Coming in four pennies short is about as comfortable as wearing sneakers two sizes too small. Shares of Collective Brands were punished in the after-hours' session, with investors bidding the stock down by close to 7% at one point, though it later recovered.

Following up on my Nike (NYSE: NKE) post from last week, you just knew I would have to comment on Nike's earnings report, right? Bottom line, it was a rough report and the short-term outlook is bleak as far as future orders go -- but all is not lost for Nike.

Here are the reasons to be optimistic. First, this is Nike, ladies and gentlemen. This is the company that has the biggest of the big names in its stable of athletes: Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James, to name just a few. This ensures that Nike will continue to be in the discussion as long as these athletes are at the top of their game.

It is a rare occasion when several of my interests line up ... but that has happened this week. First and foremost, I am a sneakerhead - a sneakerfreak - a sneakerologist - whatever you want to call it. I am also a fan of music, namely great guitar players - and being a child of the 80's, Eddie Van Halen is one of the first names that comes to mind when asked to name great guitarists. Well, sneakers and Eddie Van have collided, as the rocker is suing Nike (NYSE: NKE) for using his "Frankenstrat" guitar's color scheme in a pair of shoes without his permission.

Nike has created a design for a pair of its Dunk Low sneakers that has a red sole on a black show, with white and black diagonal stripes decorating the sole. Eddie contends that this design has caused "irreparable harm and damage" to his design, which he trademarked back in 2001. According to Nike, "Nike's Dunk shoe design is not substantially similar to any of the Van Halen designs, and Nike has not referenced the 'Van Halen' name or image as part of any marketing campaign or promotional material associated with the shoe."

Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), a footwear retailer that competes with companies such as Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), issued Q1 results on Wednesday after the bell. The business earned 59 cents per diluted share. That represented a decline over last year's results which, on an adjusted basis, calculated out to 66 cents per share.

That's not the only disappointing news. You also have a sales decline, impacted by currency effects (of course), as well as the expiration of a license related to the Tommy Hilfiger brand. Also, same-store sales dipped by 4.8% on a reported basis, and 3.2% after the exclusion of currency translation. As can be seen, you can look at same-store sales any way you'd like, but in the end, they went down, and that is never healthy for a retailer. A retailer always wants to see rising comps.

Earlier this week, Under Armour (NYSE: UA) issued what could be a very painful recall for both its customers and the company itself. The company voluntarily recalled more than 200,000 of its athletic cups on fears that they could break if hit -- which could then cause injury to the athlete. Last time I checked (and it has been years since I have had to use a "cup") these things were actually supposed to protect the most sensitive area of male athletes, right? If these things aren't doing their jobs, get them off the shelves. Millions of men will agree with me (I think). These cups were manufactured in China according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and noted that UA received (brace yourselves men) "five reports of cups breaking, including an injury involving cuts and bruising." Yipes!

What would St. Patrick's Day be without finding a way to help my readers wear a little bit o' the green?

Turns out that Adidas (OTC: ADDYY) is combining two of my favorite things: the classic Campus 80 gym shoes and Irish Rap pioneers The House of Pain. Yes, you read that right.

This afternoon in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Concepts will be releasing The House of Pain X Adidas Campus 80 to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

One stock that I think has traded irrationally is Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ: DECK).

Shares of the UGG and Teva footwear company had fallen to $80 per share in late October, but lost nearly 50% of its value from there in November.

Considering that the company increased guidance on Oct. 23, this move made little sense.

When I last wrote about DECK in July, shares were trading for more than $100, but well off their highs above $160. At that time, I suggested that investors resist the urge to buy the beaten-down stock, no matter how tempting.

It wasn't that I didn't believe in the potential of the company. Instead, the macro picture being as it was at that time suggested waiting for a better entry point. I thought below $80 would make sense.

I was right about waiting, although I did not think the stock would sink to less than $50 as it did in late November. Obviously something was amiss given that DECK's performance was quite stellar.

On August 14th, Skechers USA, Inc. (NASDAQ: SKX) made public its offer to acquire Heelys, Inc. (NASDAQ: HLYS) at a price of $5.25 per share. At the time I wrote that the offer seemed low, and Heelys' management seems to agree, issuing a press release stating that "The Board believes the $5.25 offering price does not reflect the value of Heelys and that entering into discussions with Skechers based on their unsolicited proposal is premature at this time."

Today Skechers shot back with its own press release, with chairman and CEO Robert Greenberg stating that "We are particularly disappointed that, after repeated contacts over several months, Heelys will not agree even to discussions or provide us with an opportunity to conduct due diligence. . . We are very interested in continuing our dialogue and, as discussed in Skechers' letter of August 13, we may also be prepared to refine our proposal if additional value can be identified during the due diligence."

So why won't Heelys at least engage in discussions, given that Skechers is indicating that it might raise its bid? This looks like a replay of the Yahoo, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) - Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) takeover battle on a much smaller scale, with Heelys' brass not inclined to talk about a deal, even if it is in the best interests of shareholders.

If Skechers gets bored with the slow pace of negotiations and walks away, Heelys will have some splainin' to do. Given that the company went public at over $30 per share and now sits at $5.25, it's pretty clear that the management team doesn't know enough about shareholder value to reject a takeover offer without further discussions.

This post is one in a series on prominent company nicknames. See all 25, and share your thoughts and memories about Needless Markup below in the comments.

Neiman Marcus may be the most successful upscale retail department chain that selected shoppers love to hold a grudge against.

The chain caters to primarily female, upper-income and upper-middle shoppers, and features designer lines that rival boutique (and beyond) price levels.

Further, while some of the products are decidedly exclusive, some are not or appear to not be, according to shoppers, but the prices of these items remain in the stratosphere, and it is for this reason that the store was tagged with the nickname "Needless Markup."

Here's a classic example. About a year ago Marie Lang, sister of yours truly, was searching for a leather shoulder bag. She found a medium brown, designer bag she liked for $1,200 at Neiman Marcus. However, being a discerning/critical comparison shopper, Marie of course took a few days to scout the competition.

The result? She found a comparable shoulder bag at Bloomingdale's for $595. Had she been willing to take a slightly smaller bag, she could have secured one for $395.

Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW), famous for its work boots, posted its 24th straight quarter of record profits. Revenue for 2Q2008 totaled $267.4 million, up 6.8%. EPS increased 17.9% to $0.79. More importantly, sales revenues increased in all global regions. The company's order backlog increased, indicating demand for its products outstrips supply. Inventory levels decreased 7% due to company efforts to control expenses and improve operational efficiencies. Accounts receivables increased 13%, so more money is moving through the pipeline. The company repurchased 200,000 shares of stock. Operating margins were squeezed a bit given the recent run up in raw material costs.

CEO Blake Krueger forecasts a growth rate in the 7.6-11.8% range, truly impressive when so many other retailers are struggling. This growth rate would translate into revenues in the $1.23-$1.26 billion range and EPS in the $1.83-$1.90 range. Inexplicably, the stock dropped 11.5% to $23.50 on the earnings release, despite the fact that 2Q EPS beat estimates by $0.02. The stock began to climb back a bit yesterday to close at $23.33, down from its 52-week high of $31.21, but it is dropping again this morning.

Timberland Co. (NYSE: TBL), manufacturer of outdoor apparel and footwear, reported a 33% drop in revenue back in February, due mainly to a decline in its sales of boots and children's footwear. Seacoastonline.com reported, excluding restructuring costs, the company stated that it earned 52 cents per share in its fourth quarter. That earnings report came in one cent higher than the results expected by analysts polled by Thomson Financial. The company is currently in the process of dual share buy-back plans, initially involving over 12 million shares of it's Class A Common Stock.

While the company has experienced tough times in the marketing of outdoor shoes and boots, the manufacturer reported an increase of approximately 3% in its sales of accessories and apparel, which includes its strong SmartWool socks line. While the company has weathered a drop in domestic same-store sales of more than 9%, Seacoastonline.com reported that sales for the company declined only 5.5% globally in the fourth quarter. Careful watch on the economy might expose this stock as a nice quick pick in the event of a retail turnaround. Timberland is working to revitalize sales by applying additional new focus on footwear aimed at the food service, health care and hospitality industries.

Timberland is currently trading at approximately 50% off its 52-week high of $27.76 per share.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger and does not knowingly hold positions in the companies he blogs about.

With this year's summer Olympics just around the corner, athletic outfitter Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) unveiled its new Olympic products yesterday.

While Nike has never really embraced the concept of being a sponsor for the Olympics, it prides itself on being an outfitter for the competing athletes. This year there will be thousands of Olympic hopefuls from over a hundred companies that will be sporting the famous "Nike Swoosh" on themselves for millions of watchers to see.

Nike will definitely leave its own footprint all over this summer's Olympic games. For the first time ever, BMX will be an Olympic medal sport, and the new Nike gear for the sport is being heralded by Nike's global director for action sports, John Martin, as the "illest BMX product ever." I honestly thought the word "illest" vanished from the vocabulary around the same time as Run-DMC; guess I was wrong. But I will definitely look forward to seeing the "illest" BMX gear ever, Nike definitely got my attention on that one!

The choppy/consolidating (or perhaps worse) market conditions sometimes give the impression that growth plays do not exist, but that is not the case, and one growth company worth reviewing is Skechers.

Skechers USA Inc. (NYSE: SKX) designs and markets contemporary footwear for men, women and children under seven individual brands, including the Skechers, Michelle K, and Somethin' Else names.

In general, analysts expect adequate same store sales gains in FY 2008 for Skechers' 150 company-owned stores, and via department store distribution. Analysts also expect new product introductions to proceed cautiously, as the footwear sector braces for continued discretionary spending reductions by U.S. consumers, due to the sluggish U.S. economy.