It will be a busy week. Republicans are poised to gain control of the House of Representatives and gain governorships in Tuesday's mid-term elections. Also, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce another round of quantitative easing Wednesday, following the FOMC meeting. Major retailers are scheduled to report October same-store sales Thursday, while the October unemployment rate, announced on Friday, is expected to remain at 9.6%.

Toyota's (TM) fiscal second-quarter results will be one of the highlights on the earnings front this week. After three periods of way underestimating Toyota's earnings, have the analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters got it right this time? The stock sure could use a boost. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) is in a similar situation; i.e., high expectations for this week's quarterly results but a stock in need of a boost. Marathon (MRO) and Starbucks (SBUX) are also expected to post strong earnings growth this week, but both stocks are riding high.

"As soon as it is possible to do so, several North American companies are likely to move quickly to enter Cuba, the greatest untapped opportunity remaining in the western hemisphere," says Jim Powell.

Here, the editor of Global Changes & Opportunities looks at what he believes are the best investment opportunities for investing in Cuba, should such a change occur.

"In August, Raul Castro announced that 500,000 public workers in Cuba will be laid off and will need to find jobs in newly-legalized small private enterprises.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Dollar Tree (DLTR) to neutral from underweight and $48 price target.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $70 from $59, citing growth in wireline HST demand.
• Needham upgraded NetScout (NTCT) to buy from hold with a $29 price target, citing channel checks that indicate industry spending on network monitoring software may be improving.
• Nstar (NST) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) was upgraded to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• Air France-KLM (AFLYY) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Community Health (CYH) to buy from hold based on expectations for improved 2011 demand. The firm has a $40 price target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Invesco Mortgage (IVR) to buy from hold following the company's better-than-expected Q3 dividend. The firm also raised its target price for shares to $23.50 from $21.50.
• Goldman upgraded SuccessFactors (SFSF) to conviction buy from buy, citing cloud exposure.
• Vulcan Materials (VMC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Comstock Resources (CRK) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Ladenburg.
• Trimble Navigation (TRMB) was upgraded to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Oshkosh (OSK) to outperform from neutral, citing valuation as it believes post-Iraq U.S. military spending concerns are overdone. The firm keeps a $42 price target for shares.
• Goldman transferred coverage on CenturyTel (CTL) with a buy from a neutral and has a $42 price target on the stock. The firm believes CenturyTel could increase buybacks and or increase its dividend given free cash generation and low payout ratio.
• Lazard Capital upgraded Hatteras Financial (HTS) to buy from hold to reflect increased dividend projections. The firm has a $30 price target for shares.
• EOG Resources (EOG) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Donaldson (DCI) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Since I last wrote about Vulcan Materials (VMC), the stock has been under pressure from the sellers. I wrote my previous piece back near the beginning of May. The one-year chart shows the terrible plunge after that particular point in time. Technically, the stock could be unappealing.

Then again, could it have already bottomed out? Joseph Lazzaro brought up that possibility. It's an interesting situation. The 52-week low for the equity is $41.80; the 52-week high is $62. The stock closed yesterday's regular session at $46.85. It was up roughly 3.6%, taking advantage, I'm guessing, of the bullish tone of the overall markets. Volume, however, wasn't too impressive, as it was merely average.

Now may be a decent time to reconsider Vulcan Materials (VMC), which I first discussed here on June 3, 2009, at a price of $46.28.

Institutional investors have been cautious with Vulcan, a major producer of construction aggregates, asphalt and concrete, given the uneven and likely below-normal GDP growth start to the U.S. recovery.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) saw shares rise following its report of better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
• Beazer Homes USA Inc. (BZH) posted a Q2 profit and revenue growth, and announced a stock offering.
• CBS Corp. (CBS) reported improvements in both Q1 net income and cash flow, but shares declined.
• Clorox Co. (CLX) posted Q3 earnings that were higher than analysts had expected and offered weak guidance.
• First Solar Inc. (FSLR) reported quarterly earnings that easily topped analysts' expectations.

Vulcan Materials (VMC) is currently trading in the red. It's very in the red, actually: at the time of this writing, shares were down $3.86, or over 6.5%, to $55.03. The markets are down today, of course, so that has to be taken into consideration; yet, of more importance is the first-quarter report that was released on Monday.

The maker of construction aggregates lost 35 cents per share from continuing operations versus losing 29 cents per share from continuing operations in the year-ago period. There was negative free cash flow during the quarter, too.

The shares of Vulcan Materials (VMC) have accelerated out of a low near $42, hence I'm removing my "stand aside" recommendation and I'm now confident that Vulcan can retake higher ground from here. I first wrote about Vulcan on June 3, 2009, at a price of $46.28.

Institutional investors have been cautious with Vulcan, a major producer of construction aggregates, asphalt and concrete, given the uneven start to the U.S. recovery.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) received an analyst's upgrade ahead of next week's Q4 earnings report.
• Acer Inc. reported its highest quarterly earnings in almost three years due in part to growth in shipments.
• Baidu Inc. (BIDU) swung to a better-than-expected Q4 profit, with strong revenue growth, and offered rosy guidance.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) offered an upside surprise as well as full-year earnings above Wall Street estimates.
• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) strong quarterly results and guidance, as well as litigation concerns, failed to inspire Wall Street.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) posted strong Q4 and full-year earnings results due to growth in emerging markets.

Vulcan Materials Company (VMC), a producer of construction aggregates, released Q4 earnings on Monday after the bell. Today, the market is weighing in on the numbers. It doesn't like them. At the time of this writing, shares of the company were down over 3% in afternoon trading, backed by strong volume.

Total revenues dropped 26%. Vulcan booked a loss of 10 cents per share from continuing operations. According to Earnings.com, a loss of 2 cents per share was expected.