Despite largely positive corporate earnings reports, investor caution has set upon Wall Street. For the third straight day stocks are set to move into negative territory, with futures showing the three major U.S. indexes heading lower ahead of Thursday's opening bell.

Some blamed Wednesday's near 1% drops in the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 on a late-day sell-off driven by the latest Beige Book survey from the Federal Reserve that showed the economy is ever so slowly emerging from recession -- too slowly, it would seem, for investors.

With about a 50% run up since January, the stock market is poised for a dip. That is the conventional wisdom being touted by the analysts.

The idea is a good one, but what do you mean by a dip? This is where it experts disagree as usual. Let's take a sampling of some leading pundits:

• Sam Stovall, chief economist at Standard & Poor's, said: "But now (referring to continued high unemployment) that economic waters appear more choppy and third quarter earnings session is about to begin, are investors less inclined than they were a few weeks back to buy stocks on market dips?"

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is preparing for its upcoming turn in the earnings spotlight. The firm is scheduled to unveil its fiscal third-quarter results before the market opens Thursday, Sept. 17.

Ahead of the event, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting Discover to swallow a loss of about 12 cents per share, down sharply from its year-ago profit of 37 cents per share. Sales for the period are expected to arrive at $743 million.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has some questions for Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) regarding trial data for its leukemia drug, Clolar. Because Genzyme didn't follow the FDA's recommendations in conducting its main study of Clolar, the regulatory agency is reluctant to make a decision on the basis of the trial results.

In 2007, FDA staff advised Genzyme to conduct a randomized study in which participants receiving Clolar would be compared against a set of patients not receiving the drug. However, the drug company's primary tests did not include a control group; instead, the treatment was tested only on elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) to Market Perform from Underperform following the company's in-line quarter and extended buyback. The firm raised its target price on shares to $103 from $98.
• Merriman upgraded Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) to Buy from Neutral after transitioning coverage of the stock as it believes HB-LED chips are gaining momentum and that the company can top its recently raised guidance.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Glatfelter (NYSE: GLT) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q2 results due to falling net debt levels and valuation. The firm raised its target on shares to $14 from $8.
• Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
• Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Unit Corp. (NYSE: UNT) was upgraded to Buy from Sell at Jesup & Lamont.

A report today in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) says that Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) is delving into the "lean" manufacturing techniques employed by the likes of Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM). Scott Heydon has been named the coffee company's new "vice president of lean thinking," and he's visiting Starbucks joints around the country to help eliminate wasteful movements by the chain's baristas.

Yes, that's right. Under Heydon's aegis, baristas are encouraged to economize their motions to maximize how quickly they can whip up one of the chain's signature drinks. "Motion and work are two different things," he explained to the Journal. "Thirty percent of the partners' time is motion; the walking, reaching, bending." If the process can be streamlined to include less motion, therefore, Starbucks could theoretically churn out more coffee confections in less time, and possibly with fewer workers.

In the wake of its second-quarter earnings report, SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) has garnered no fewer than four price-target increases and at least two upgrades. Running through the list, FBR upgraded the shares from "market perform" to "outperform," while Collins Stewart upped the equity from "sell" to "hold." FBR also hiked its price target from $22 to $40, while Citigroup upped its target from $15 to $18. Elsewhere, Credit Suisse raised the stock's price target from $20 to $32, and Canaccord Adams increased its 12-month estimate from $21 to $29.

In fact, Wedbush Morgan is the lone bearish holdout this morning, with the brokerage firm bucking the trend by downgrading SPWRA from "outperform" to "neutral."

Despite an increase in the number of bad loans, Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) managed to exceed analysts' second-quarter earnings estimates. The New Jersey-based bank raked in a quarterly profit of $127.9 million, or 26 cents per share, up 16% from the year-ago period. The results topped Wall Street's consensus estimate for a profit of 24 cents per share.

However, HCBK's loan-loss provision surged during the quarter to $32.5 million, compared to $20 million during the first quarter. Net charge-offs rose to $9.6 million, more than doubling. Nonperforming loans escalated to $430.9 million (1.40% of total loans), up from $320.1 million (1.06% of total loans) at the end of the first quarter.

In running a very tight stock screen recently for value plays Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) showed up on a list of 14 stocks. Interestingly all the large railroad stocks did. This reminded me of several stories I have done on the subject, the most recent being Chasing Value: Watch BNI -- the heck with Citigroup.

To summarize, about six weeks ago a Citigroup (NYSE: C) analyst declared it was time to sell the stock when BNI was trading in the mid $60s -- I said investors should do the opposite, it was a great value. Friday the stock closed at $76.98. Even at this price it is a value and ever more so with oil prices steadly creeping up.

A lot of readers have been thinking similar thoughts to someone who commented on my recent post: Chasing Value: Watch BNI -- the heck with Citigroup.

• Donald wrote, "Why the hell would I take advice from a company, that as a whole, its Net income was US$ −27.684 billion for 2008.

While this is an obvious question from a skeptical investor, and we all have good reason to be skeptical, it obscures a more important issue. Is there a relationship between the financial standing of the bank and the value of an individual analyst or adviser? The answer is, absent any conflicts of interest, that there is not.

The shares of Dow component Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) slipped to a fresh 52-week low out of the gate this morning, after the pharmaceutical firm said it was canceling development of two experimental drugs in late-stage trials. Pfizer is scrapping work on esreboxetine, a fibromyalgia treatment, and PD 332,334, a drug for generalized anxiety disorder, because "it was considered unlikely that either compound would provide meaningful benefit to patients beyond the current standard of care."

Currently, Pfizer is fumbling to find a replacement for its successful cholesterol drug, Lipitor, which loses patent protection in 2011. The pharma firm isn't having much luck, though. Two late-stage drugs for pancreatic cancer and for obesity were also recently dust-binned after disappointing study results.

When Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) fell from its June 2008 peak of $241.62, it fell hard. The stock bottomed out at $47.54 in early December, marking an 80.3% decline from peak to nadir. The shares have recently shown signs of life, though, having gained 78.7% during the past two months.

Even more compelling, POT closed last Friday atop resistance from its 20-week moving average for the first time since August, and appears poised to do so again this week. So, with the stock rallying back from its lows, why are investors gravitating toward bearish bets?

Virtualization specialist VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter earnings next Monday, Jan. 26, after the market closes. Ahead of the announcement, analysts are expecting a profit of 26 cents per share on sales of $516 million. The company has a mixed history in the earnings spotlight; during the past four reporting periods, VMW has matched estimates once, missed once, and surprised to the upside twice.

Prior to next week's release, Wall Street is aligned almost unanimously in the bearish camp. The stock sports 16 Holds and 3 Strong Sell ratings, according to Zacks, compared to just 2 Strong Buys. These skeptical analysts have placed an average 12-month price target of $26.33 on the shares, representing a reasonable 30% premium to Tuesday's closing price.

Elsewhere, short interest represents a whopping 14.6% of VMW's float. This accumulation of bearish bets would take nearly 10 trading days to fully repurchase at the stock's average daily volume. In the event of another upside earnings surprise, the shares could rally as these shorts rush to cover their positions.

Milwaukee-based Joy Global Inc. (NASDAQ: JOYG) offered up its fourth-quarter earnings report today, with the company raking in a profit of $1.11 per share on $1 billion in sales. The results surpassed analysts' expectations, which called for earnings of $1.08 per share.

The mining-equipment concern also updated its fiscal 2009 guidance. Joy Global now expects revenues of $3.5 billion to $3.7 billion for the current fiscal year, with earnings per share arriving between $3.60 and $4.00. The forecast fell short of Wall Street's consensus estimates for a full-year profit of $4.24 per share on $4 billion in revenue.

With so many corporations falling short of quarterly earnings expectations, investors have been quick to reward JOYG's better-than-expected fourth quarter. The stock gained roughly 10% in the first hour of today's trading, propelling the shares above resistance from their descending 10-week moving average.

Once the euphoria fades, though, Joy Global could be vulnerable to negative analyst notes. Zacks reports six Strong Buy ratings and two Buys, compared to just three skeptical Holds. If any of these bullish brokers are disappointed by the company's modest outlook for 2009, the stock could be hit with downgrades.

Price-target cuts are also a potential threat. JOYG's average 12-month price target is $49.45, according to Thomson Financial, representing a lofty premium of 118% to Tuesday's closing price. Any downward revisions to this consensus estimate could draw fresh selling pressure to the security.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

As U.S. stocks continue to struggle under seemingly unrelenting selling pressure, tech-sector heavyweight EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) plunged today into single-digit territory for the first time in more than two years. In fact, EMC earlier fell to $9.35, its lowest price since August 2004. However, today's losses are simply an extension of the stock's long-term trend -- EMC has steadily declined since November 2007 under pressure from its 10-month and 20-month moving averages.

The drop into single digits is troubling for EMC, since the round-number $10 region has provided support for the shares for more than 5 years. The stock hasn't closed a single month below this area since April 2003, and it's only made a few short-lived forays below double-digit territory in the intervening months. In fact, prior to today, the equity's annual low stood at $10.10.

EMC pared its losses by the close and settled today 3% lower at $10.12, but the stock isn't out of the woods yet. The multi-year low tagged earlier could prompt some analysts to reevaluate their bullish stance on this once-strong performer. According to Zacks, EMC has garnered 12 Strong Buys, 4 Buys, and 5 Holds, with absolutely no Sell or Strong Sell ratings to be found. This top-heavy configuration leaves the sliding stock highly vulnerable to downgrades or other bearish notes. Any negative commentary from the pros on Wall Street could force EMC to revisit that rarely explored territory south of $10.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.