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

• Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) reported better-than-expected Q3 earnings and revenue, sending shares higher.
• Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) reported better-than-expected Q3 numbers, sending shares higher.
• Bare Escentuals Inc. (NASDAQ: BARE) Q3 profit easily topped analysts' estimates, and shares surged.
• Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (NYSE: COG) received an upgrade following the release of its Q3 numbers.
• Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) reported strong Q1 results, sending shares higher.
• E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) reported a smaller-than-expected net loss for Q3.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) Q3 earnings topped estimates and revenue was up sequentially.

E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) is a well-known brand in the broker space. It competes vigorously with the other giants, TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) and Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW). To be honest, if I were looking for investment ideas in this sector, I would probably begin my search with the latter two. It's difficult to put E*Trade on the list. The company got in trouble during the financial crisis because it was exposed to the mortgage industry. It has now become, in my opinion, a speculative play on a return to glory.

The latest earnings report shows what I'm talking about. For the third quarter, E*Trade lost, on a GAAP basis, 66 cents per share from continuing operations, wider than the year-ago loss of 60 cents per share from continuing operations. After adjusting for an item related to debt extinguishment, the current red ink is equal to 5 cents per share.

Earnings are rolling in on this fine Tuesday morning, with many companies reporting. One of those is TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD), which stepped into the earnings spotlight and reported fourth-quarter earnings of 26 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by four cents per share.

Quarterly revenue came in at $657.9 million, which is 1.3% better than a year ago. Looking ahead, the online brokerage forecast full-year 2010 earnings to come in between $1.10 and $1.40 per share. The consensus estimate for fiscal 2010 is $1.05, so the shares could see a bit of a boost on the forecast. AMTD's quarterly earnings fell 8.8% compared to a year earlier, but the company did post new highs in average client trades per day and new net assets.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) to Overweight from Market Weight on valuation as it sees limited downside to consensus estimates. The firm raised its target on shares to $20 from $18.
• Jefferies upgraded WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) to Hold from Underperform following the Q2 results as it believes the company's cross-selling strategy is paying off. The firm raised its target on shares to $12 from $5.
• FBR Capital upgraded J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's trend-right product, inventory control, unit growth, and strong management. The firm raised its target on shares to $36 from $25.
• Popular (NASDAQ: BPOP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• HearUSA (AMEX: EAR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

I know, I know. You look at the recent performace of E*Trade's (NASDAQ: ETFC) shares and you say to yourself, man, I've got to play this stock and make some return! Sure, E*Trade shares have doubled since the first of the year. But then the earnings hit the fan, my trading friends, and that double suddenly disappeared.

The brokerage reported a Q1 loss that was wider than the year-ago number. E*Trade lost 41 cents per share versus a loss of 20 cents per share in 2008. According to this source, that was a penny worse than what Wall Street was bracing itself for.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says a few calls Tuesday show the positives in this market.

So many conference calls, so little time to really assess what the heck was happening when it was happening. Nevertheless, a few calls pretty much defined the positive action, and they have to be highlighted.

First, the TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) (Cramer's Take) call showed you what I have been looking for: renewed interest in the stock market by retail people trying to make money off the wild swings and the exchange-traded funds. I am no fan of the ETFs, but I am a fan of new people in the game, and Ameritrade confirmed what I was thinking could be happening: actual interest in stocks at the new lower levels. It's a positive -- not a huge positive, but a positive nonetheless.

Discount broker E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) will run its famous "talking baby" TV ad during the Superbowl. It won't help the failing company. The stock is still a "sell."

E*Trade shares change hands at $1.18. That is down from a 52-week high of $5.79. For the fourth quarter of last year, the company reported a net loss of $276 million, or $0.50 per share. And, E*Trade's operating interest income, a key measurement of its health, keeps dropping. The firm said it had applied for money from the TARP but admitted there was no guarantee it would be successful in securing that funding.

E Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC), which competes with TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) and Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW), is doing splendidly today. As I write this, the stock is up well over 15%. But I would not touch this one with a ten-foot pole, as they say.

According to this article, E*Trade reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday of $0.50 per share. While that was a lot better than the $3.98 per-share loss reported in last year's Q4, it wasn't enough to beat expectations. Wall Street was hoping for a loss of $0.24 per share. E*Trade said in its press release that daily average revenue trades increased 18% and that 97,000 new accounts were captured. While both of those stats are impressive to a certain degree, an investor must keep in mind that E*Trade is a complicated story. The company really screwed itself by exposing its shareholders to so much financial risk; sure, that might be hindsight now, but it nevertheless is true. And with all the loan provisions and all the issues with the company's involvement with applying for the government's TARP initiative, etc., I can tell you that I absolutely would not want to play around with this stock.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) on Tuesday named Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota's founder, president of the Japanese automaker. Toyota, once believed to be better immune than U.S. carmakers to the recession has been struggling as well with its sales declining 4% in 2008 for the first time in a decade. This is the first time in 14 years that a Toyoda family member has taken the helm. While this appointment is not surprising, it comes earlier than expected. TM shares gained over 2% in premarket trading.

State Street (NYSE: STT) reported its earnings fell 71% to $65 million, or 15 cents a share on costs of more than $800 million to prop up funds and cut its work force. Excluding certain items, profit was $1.18, beating the $1.13-a-share estimate. STT gave notice late Friday that it's setting on $5.5 billion of unrealized after-tax losses on its investment portfolio and $3.6 billion in unrealized losses in conduits. The stock was down over 25% 35% in premarket trading.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced that fourth-quarter sales decreased 4.9% to $15.2 billion, below estimates of $15.3 billion. EPS was $0.97, but excluding special items, fourth-quarter EPS increased 6.8% to $0.94, 2 cents better than estimates. The stock was down 1.2% in premarket trading.

International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) faces fresh accusations that it's abusing its market dominance in mainframe computers to shut out rival products in violation of European Union antitrust rules. IBM is set to report quarterly results after the close with analysts estimating it will post earnings of $3.03 a share. The stocks was down 1.2% in premarket trading.

I think it's fair to say that there's much trepidation about the earnings season that picks up steam this week. And for better or worse, numbers from the big financials have begun to roll in. Last week we saw profit sink for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and significant losses from Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) to be among those financials reporting fourth-quarter earnings growth this week. They anticipate that Bank of New York will post a profit of $0.70 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago and $0.72 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected come to $3.8 billion, about the same as it was a year ago. Bank of New York has fallen short of earnings estimates in two of the past five quarters, by as much as 11.1%. For the full year, analysts are looking for $2.78 per share (+5.8%) on $14.8 billion (+4.2%). The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy BK, and the long-term EPS growth rate forecast is 10.7%. Shares are 48.7% lower than a year ago. Other financials expected to report quarterly earnings growth this week include SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB).

Thinkorswim (NASDAQ: SWIM) will be acquired by TD AmeriTrade (NASDAQ: AMTD). At closing, each shares of SWIM will be exchanged for $3.34 in cash and 0.3980 of an AMTD share. SWIM January 5 straddle closed at $1.00, February 5 straddle closed at $1.50. SWIM overall option implied volatility of 78 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

AMTD says it "expects the transaction to be accretive by approximately three to seven percent of fiscal 2010 GAAP earnings and 10 to 15 percent 12 months following the completed integration." AMTD January option implied volatility is at 68, February is at 73; above its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) closed at $13.32. OXPS January option implied volatility is at 64, February is at 59; near its 26-week average of according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

After the stock market meltdown of 2008, Wall Street brokerages aren't anyone's favorites in 2009.

But some customers said they're still happy with their online broker.

A December ChangeWave survey of 3,051 consumers found that despite the extremely difficult financial market, two online brokerages still capture high customer satisfaction ratings -- Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) and archrival, Scottrade.

Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) closed at $23.80. Bernard Madoff of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested by Federal agents because his investment advisory business was a "giant Poinzi scheme" reports the Wall Street Journal. NDAQ January option implied volatility of 85 is above its 26-week average of 70 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) closed at $25.98. NYX January option implied volatility of 97 is above its 26-week average of 72 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) closed at $16.98. SCHW January option implied volatility of 99 is above its 26-week average of 61 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

TD AmeriTrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) closed at $12.92. AMTD January option implied volatility of 82 is above its 26-week average of 60 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Here is a frightening statistic: about 63% of people with retirement accounts have stopped contributing to them. That little nugget comes courtesy of a recent survey conducted for TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD).

Half of those who stopped contributing to their retirement accounts cited "financial strain due to the economic downturn." Another 32% cited unemployment, while 25% mentioned health care costs, according to a company press release. Of those polled, 34% had less than $50,000 in investable assets.

Many of the people who've quit or curtailed contributing -- nearly one in four -- are aged 35 to 44, which should be prime earning years. I am not going to bore you with financial planning 101, but the earlier you start to save (absent a market meltdown), the better because over time the stock market is your friend. Lately, though, it has not been much of one.

Mulling over this survey got me thinking that whoever is elected president is going to face the gargantuan challenge of rebuilding the financial security of millions of Americans who are being forced to push back their retirement plans or who have mortgages they can no longer afford. It's going to take years for people to rebuild their nest eggs and undo the damage they have done to their credit by over-extending themselves. Many people may never be able to return to their former lifestyles.

Of course, that may not be such a bad thing. If this crisis has taught us anything, it's that people need to live within their means.

If there is definitely one stock to avoid these days, it's E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC). I went back and forth on it over the summer, wondering if it was worthy of a trade at certain points, but after the broker's Q3 earnings report, I just don't have any good feelings about it right now.

Total net revenue declined over 21% to $377.7 million. The net loss per share from continuing operations on a diluted basis plummeted over 300% to $0.60. E*Trade, as we all know, has been a victim of the whole financial debacle. It's provision for loan losses was $517.8 million in the third quarter. This compares to a provision of $186.5 million in the previous year's similar quarter.

E*Trade states in its release that it is trying to further reduce its exposure to risk and it's keen on shoring up the balance sheet. Good attitude, I suppose. Also, daily average revenue trades for Q3 were up 7%. But it doesn't mean anything. This was a terrible quarter. The data is both horrible and telling.

It's a simple proposition for me: stay far away from E*Trade. Sure, there will come a time when the stock might make for a good investment, but that's a long way off. Technically, the stock is weak. And the broker will be unwinding its exposure to the financial markets for a while.