CVS Caremark (CVS), which competes with Walgreen (WAG), Rite Aid (RAD), and Wal-Mart (WMT), posted fourth-quarter data on Monday. Sales increased 7%, and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations (excluding, in addition, a penny per share relating to a tax benefit) came in at 78 cents -- good for a growth rate of over 11%. That bottom-line performance matched analyst projections, according to our earnings preview.

As we all know, matching expectations is sometimes the death of a stock. The market has no conscience when it comes to mercilessly punishing an equity for not going beyond the call of the analysts. However, CVS actually did pretty well yesterday, rising 5% by the end of the session; the move was backed by healthy volume.

CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS), the largest retail pharmacy chain in the U.S., is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter financial results in a conference call Monday, Feb. 8, at 8:30 AM (ET). An audio webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, CVS announced share buybacks, named a new head of HR and provided H1N1 flu shots nationwide. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period of $0.78 per share. That compares with $0.65 per share in the previous quarter and $0.70 per share a year ago. Revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be 8.6% higher than a year ago to $26.2 billion.

Walmart (WMT) will be getting rid of more than 11,000 employees inside its Sam's Club wholesale stores and replacing them with outside marketers. Frankly, it's surprising the world's largest retailer didn't do this years ago.

Sam's Club offers so many products in bulk that goading some aisle surfers into buying 36-packs of portable sausages comes at a price: sampling and in-aisle live displays. The manufacturers of those products or their hired outsourcers will now get the joy of working those demo displays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Walmart (WMT) to buy from neutral, citing compelling valuation, margin expansion and expense control. The firm has a $60 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Urban Outfitters (URBN) to outperform from market perform on valuation and its belief that sustainable positive comp trends will return in 2010. The firm maintains a $35 price target on shares.
• JPMorgan upgraded Manpower (MAN) to overweight from neutral. The firm cites valuation and improving temp fundamentals in the U.S. and France for the upgrade and has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Arena Resources (ARD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• C.R. Bard (BCR) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

My trade on GameStop Corp. (GME) has come to an inauspicious end. Today, I sold out of my position, realizing a significant loss.

It's always difficult to turn a paper loss into an authentic one. You worry if the stock is going to suddenly rise after you sold out. I'm sure that could happen in my case. In fact, at the time of this writing, shares were higher than the price at which I sold them. I ditched them at around $19.60 per share.

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In The DRIP Investor, he looks at the 10/10 Club -- stocks that have boosted their payouts by 10% a year for at least 10 years. He explains,"The table below features seven stocks that belong to the exclusive '10/10' club:

Retailers don't like competition. As it is, they get enough of it from each other in the pursuit of razor-thin margins. It's standard practice to squeeze manufacturers for lower prices and more concessions as part of this battle.

For years, it's also been the norm for retailers to push back on manufacturers' direct-to-consumer models, as it gives consumers one less reason to enter the store, results in smaller basket sizes and greater pressure on wallet share. When a consumer product giant decides to bypass the retailers, eyebrows rise across the consumer business industry, with manufacturers thinking about new revenue possibilities while retailers worry that other product companies will follow.

After Walmart (WMT) announced home theater and other installation services in 2009, fellow retailer Target (TGT) will now be doing the same. Mostly, Target wants to be the retailer of choice for flat-panel televisions and grab installation services in that arena as well. Target's new install service will be provided by Zip Express Installation, and most likely won't affect Target in any way, shape or form.

Have you been into a Target or SuperTarget recently? The flat-panel television lineup and merchandising is absolutely atrocious compared to retailers like Walmart (which has stepped up its game considerably in consumer electronics), Best Buy (BBY) and even wholesale retailers like Costco Wholesale (COST). Is Target just playing the "me too" game or does it really think having this installation service will make those considering a flat-panel television flock to its doors?

Carter's Inc. (CRI), a retailer of children's apparel, reported Q3 earnings on Friday. The company delivered a nice increase in both sales and net income. It even beat earnings estimates. Yet, the stock is down over 3% as I write this. The market can be funny sometimes, huh?

The top line increased over 10%. Adjusted per-share profit came in at 84 cents. That represented a whopping increase over the adjusted 58 cents per share recorded one year ago. Carter's also experienced a good rise in comparable store sales; the statistic went up over 6%. The OshKosh segment didn't do so well with comps, however.