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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) reported better-than-expected Q3 results but shares fell anyway.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) posted strong Q3 results but shares sold off on a disappointing guidance.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) said lower Q1 earnings fell short of analysts expectations.
• Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) topped Q3 profit and revenue estimates, lifting shares.
• Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) posted a narrower-than-expected Q3 loss, sending shares sharply higher.
• Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE: HMC) reported lower Q2 earnings and sales on weak demand for cars.

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

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) shares rose even though it reported a wider loss for the quarter.
• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) posted better-than-expected Q1 results but warned of challenges.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) reported a net loss and slumping revenues for the first quarter.
• Center Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CLFC) was downgraded following its Q1 earnings report.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) posted lower Q3 earnings that still topped analysts estimates.

Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC - option chain) stock is falling today after the company reported a first-quarter loss of $249.4 million, or 30 cents per share. SYMC's adjusted profit of 38 cents per share met analysts' forecasts of 38 cents per share, but the company's revenue of $1.47 billion missed projections of $1.52 billion. 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 SYMC.

This morning, SYMC opened at $16.04. So far today the stock has hit a low of $14.48 and a high of $16.09. As of 11:35, SYMC is trading at $15.00, down $2.59 (-14.7%). The chart for SYMC looks neutral and S&P gives SYMC a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

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

• Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) posted a large-than-expected earnings decline due to bad investments.
• AmeriCredit Corp.(NYSE: ACF) was downgraded despite topping Q1 expectations.
• BP (NYSE: BP) Q3 earnings and revenue soared due to surging energy prices.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Q3 results included some big charges and no free cash.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) posted strong Q1 results that easily topped Wall Street expectations.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) posted better-than-expected Q3 profits lifted by price increases.
• DivX Inc. (NASDAQ: DIVX) topped earnings expectations and offered revised guidance.
• Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) narrowed its net loss in Q2 and matched expectations.
• First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Q3 revenue more than doubled, results easily topping estimates.
• Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) posted its first quarterly loss in five years.
• Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) topped Q3 earnings estimates and offered full-year guidance.
• Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) solid Q3 results were helped by higher prices and offered neutral guidance.
• McAfee Inc. (NYSE: MFE) reported that it topped earnings estimates, sending shares higher.
• Nintendo Co. (OTC: NTDOY) posted solid results driven by popularity of the Wii and DS systems.
• Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) topped Q1 expectations but lowered its full-year forecast.
• Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Q3 earnings tumbled on the recession and exchange rate issues.
• Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) earnings were affected a loss of market share and currency issues.
• U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) reported the most profitable quarter in its history and beat estimates.
• Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Q3 earnings matched expectations but shares rose.

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Adam Katz.

Regarding Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) earnings, the company is having a tough time in this environment for several reasons. First, its consumer business saw a massive slowdown starting in September. Digital River, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) reported earnings a day before SYMC and tipped the hand of SYMC's consumer business stating that its core business grew 27% sans SYMC, yet the business overall grew at 17% YoY.

Secondly, currency helped SYMC over the past two years and the strength in the dollar has created a stiff headwind.

Third, the company is losing market share in the enterprise to McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) which, due to more efficient R&D as well as smart acquisitions, can now outstack SYMC.

So what to do here? The stock is cheap, and given the amount of recurring revenue that it has, along with the number of pure play software companies that have technology SYMC needs, the company will likely assemble a competitive response. Then it becomes a function of management execution. Ultimately, I think MFE presents the better risk reward for growth investors, while SYMC is more appropriate for a value investor looking to buy discounted cashflow.

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

• Activision Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) posted stellar results on the popularity of Guitar Hero and Transformers.
• Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) beat Q4 estimtates with record earnings and raised its guidance.
• Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: AMKR) beat Q1 expectations on strong demand for wireless.
• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) reported strong Q1 results that beat Wall Street estimates.
• Barnes Group Inc. (NYSE: B) beat Q1 expectations on its "global reach" and raised its 2008 guidance.
• Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• DirecTV Group Inc. (NASDAQ: DTV) posted better-than-expected results and announced share buybacks.
• Double-Take Software (NASDAQ: DBTK) beat Q1 expectations and raised its Q2 and 2008 guidance.
• Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) profits surged in the first quarter on record high gold prices.
• ICON plc (NASDAQ: ICLR) beat Q1 expectations and raised its full-year guidance.
• Marvel Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: MVL) easily beat Q1 estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
• Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) reported a surge in Q1 profits that beat Wall Street estimates.
• Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) beat Q1 expectations and lifted its Q2 and 2008 forecasts.
• Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) beat Q4 expectations and raised its Q1 outlook.
• Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG) Q1 profits more than doubled due to soaring oil prices.
• Unilever (NYSE: UL) posted strong results, with revenues beating estimates for the first time in six years.
• UTStarcom Inc. (NASDAQ: UTSI) released a preliminary guidance well above expectations.
• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) posted better-than-expected results on success of its theme parks.

Back in 1998, Gene Hoffman founded eMusic. No doubt, it was smart timing. However, with the emergence of Napster, Hoffman realized he needed to provide users with a better option. "Our approach was to allow full access to our music library for a fee," said Hoffman, in an interview with me.

It was certainly a smart move. In fact, it became the basis of his next venture: Vindicia, which has announced a venture round of $5.6 million. The investors include Leader Ventures and DCM.

Over the past few years, Vindicia has built a robust platform to allow for on-demand payment management, especially for digital goods. The system helps with credit card breakage, fraud, compliance and various currencies.
Some of the customers include Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) and Reunion.com.

As seen with the success of companies like Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the subscription business model definitely has a lot of power. Yet, it requires a sophisticated infrastructure, which can be expensive. "Billing is not a core competency," said Hoffman. "It's something that should be outsourced so a company can focus on what it does the best."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) shares are trading higher this morning on news of two buyouts in the software industry. Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced this morning that it has agreed to buy open-source software maker MySQL AB for $1 billion, and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) reported this morning that it has agreed to buy BEA Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAS) for about $8.5 billion. Investors might think that SYMC could be an eventual buyout target. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SYMC.

After hitting a one-year high of $21.32 in October, the stock hit a one-year low of $15.15 last week. SYMC opened this morning at $15.16. So far today the stock has hit a low of $15.57 and a high of $16.16. As of 11:00, SYMC is trading at $16.12, up $0.72 (4.7%). The chart for SYMC looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

With recent weakness in its stock Checkpoint Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the leader in internet security, has become a very attractive play in the security space. A space incidentally, that IBM has indicated it plans on making an acquisition. After about a year of slow growth the company has managed to integrate past acquisitions and is starting to fire on all cylinders. It saw revenue soar 29% to $184 million in Q3. Earnings jumped 21% to 41 cents a share. Analysts were looking for 38 cents.

With operating margins of 52.3% in Q3, Check Point has better margins than many of its competitors, like Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC). By conducting its R&D in Israel it limits its costs as Israeli engineers, while world class in skill, don't get paid like they are world class.

With the recent market sell-off, the stock is now trading under $22 a share which gives it a PE of under 18. This makes for a very intriguing play for the coming year. Checkpoint continues to launch new products designed to ensure organizations receive the highest levels of integrated application security without impeding network traffic and degrading an end user's internet experience. The traction these new products get will ultimately determine if Checkpoint will continue its revival.

Aaron Katsman is the lead Portfolio Manager and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and Senior Editor of IsraelNewsletter.com. Disclosure: Writer holds stock in CHKP. He holds no position in any other stock mentioned as of 11/15/07.

Internet security company Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) today announced its purchase of Vontu for $350 million. Vontu's information security products and processes will aid Symantec in carving out a larger position in data security.

Symantec has traditionally focused on the gate-keeping aspect of security, while Vontu has been a leader in safeguarding the data inside the gate. This includes managing the wetware - establishing and maintaining policies to guide the worst security exposure, human beings, in their use of data. Vontu has also aggressively pushed to address rapidly evolving technologies such as iPods, Blackberries and thumb drives as possible avenues of data leakage.

The purchase seems well timed, in light of growing public concern (and legal suits) about data loss. It positions Symantec nicely as a turnkey solution for companies frantic to lock down their operations before they become the next public punching bag for their libertine handling of confidential info. Nothing drives business like a little fear.

The sale is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007. Symantec expects the purchase to dilute 2008 earnings by $0.02 per share.

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) shares are trading higher today after the Semiconductor Industry Association announced today that PC sales are up ahead of its forecast so far for 2007, which could translate to a higher demand for SYMC products as well. And this morning, Think Equities upgraded Symantec to Accumulate. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SYMC.

After hitting a one-year high of $22.19 in October 2006, the stock fell to a one-year low of $16.20 in March. Over the past two months, the stock has been trending generally upward. SYMC opened this morning at $19.59. So far today the stock has hit a low of $19.49 and a high of $19.98. As of 10:35, SYMC is trading at $19.77, up $0.39 (2.0%). The chart for SYMC looks bullish but deteriorating slightly, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $17.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 13.6% return in just 4 months as long as SYMC is above $17.50 at January expiration. Symantec would have to fall by more than 11% before we would start to lose money.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: NutriSystem, Under Armour, CME Group, Air France ADS and Kilroy Realty were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Buy at Broadpoint on valuation, as they believe all concerns are overdone.
  
• Think Equities upgraded Under Armour (NYSE: UA) to Buy from Accumulate on valuation.
  
• Wachovia upgraded CME Group (NYSE: CME) to Overweight from Market weight, as they expect fed income volumes to benefit from a more active Federal Reserve.
  
• Goldman added Air France (NYSE: AKH) to its Pan-European Conviction Buy List citing valuation following the recent sell-off.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Kilroy Realty (NYSE: KRC) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe concerns are overblown and the company's underleveraged balance sheet can drive growth.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• UBS raised SXC Health Solutions (NASDAQ: SXCI) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Think Equities upgraded Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) to Accumulate from Source of Funds.
  
• DA Davidson & Co upgraded Texas Industries (NYSE: TXI) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Lehman upgraded Intersil Corporation (NASDAQ: ISIL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded SEI Investments (NASDAQ: SEIC) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) shares are trading higher today after the company announced two new programs designed to improve customer service and tech support for Symantec partners. If you think that the company won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SYMC.

After hitting a one-year high of $22.19 in October, the stock dipped to a 52-week low of $16.20 in March. SYMC climbed to trade higher in the summer months, but dropped sharply in late July and early August. SYMC opened this morning at $19.36. So far today the stock has hit a low of $19.34 and a high of $19.84. As of 10:35, SYMC is trading at $19.71, up $0.31 (1.6%). The chart for SYMC looks bearish but improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bull-put credit spread below the $17.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 16.3% return in less than 5 months as long as SYMC is above $17.50 at January expiration. Symantec would have to fall by more than 11% before we would start to lose money.

Monday September 10

• Illinois District Court: Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK) Vioxx trial to start.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) to webcast the launch of the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor.

Tuesday September 11

• Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke to speak at Bundesbank Conference in Berlin.
• Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE: LGF) to hold shareholder meeting at 10am.

Wednesday September 12

• Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC) to report Q4 earnings; conference call at 10am.
• Select Comfort Corporation (NASDAQ: SCSS) to hold Q3 Business Update conference call at 4pm.

Thursday September 13

• Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) to hold shareholder meeting at 11:30am.

Friday September 14

• W.W. Grainger Inc (NYSE: GWW) to hold August sales conference call at 8am.
• Isle of Capri Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ISLE) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9am.
• Interlink Electronics Inc (OTC: LINK) to hold a conference call to discuss asset sale at 1pm.

On August 16th, Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) informed Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: MNST) of a thread of malicious software, called Infostealer.Monstres, which uploaded 1.3 million entries with personal information from a remote server. The information contained on this server was limited to names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses.

It took Monster Worldwide five days to comment on the situation. "Regrettably, opportunistic criminals are increasingly using the Internet for illegitimate purposes," the company said in a statement Wednesday. The company is in the process of reaching out to its users and law enforcement on this issue.

Now, one might quickly say, "five days is a long time to keep quiet about this," but you'd be mistaken. Take a look at a few of the recent security breeches and how fast the response has been from corporations:

• Back on June 17th, 2005, MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) announced the information from 40 million credit cards "may" have been stolen. According to CardSystems, a third party processor of payment data, the credit card theft possibly occurred late last month, CNet.com reported. The company continued to say, "It identified a 'potential security incident' on Sunday, May 22nd and called the FBI the next day.

• CNBC's Charlie Gasparino reported earlier this month that a 'major identity-theft incident' occurred at Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER). According to his sources, the device stolen from Merrill's corporate offices included personal information, including Social Security numbers, of nearly 33,000 employees. Gasparino said the incident allegedly occurred two weeks ago, but Merrill is now "only getting around to telling people."

• Massachusetts-based TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TJX) reported on the week of January 15th than an "unauthorized intruder" gained access to its systems in mid-December, taking 45.6 million credit card and debt card numbers over a period of 18 months.

Monster Worldwide should be applauded on its immediate response on the matter. While the data stolen did not include credit card numbers or social security numbers, people need to be know what is happening with the information they hand out to websites.