Rumors have been circulating for almost a month about Borders' (BGP) possible bankruptcy filing. People familiar with the situation told The Wall Street Journal that the filing could come as early as the middle of this month.

Borders has been trying to hold off the filing by delaying payments to vendors. But this is only temporary. Now the matter has reached a critical stage. The company has obtained about $500 million to $550 million in debtor in possession financing that would keep the company operating after a court filing.

Reports surfaced Thursday that Borders (BGP) started negotiating with banks for financing to help keep the bookstore chain liquid during bankruptcy proceedings. Later in the evening, GE Capital made a $550 million financing commitment to the embattled company.

This financing should allow Borders the financial flexibility and level of liquidity to advance its restructuring plan. The plan includes closing stores, cutting costs, expanding its rewards program, and increasing non-book offerings -- all with the goal of improving cash flow and profits. Borders did note that it will explore alternative possibilities, such as restructuring its debt under court supervision.

Borders' (BGP) loss widened in the third quarter to $74.4 million or $1.03 per share, compared with a loss of $37.7 million or 63 cents a share, according to the Wall Street Journal. Revenue fell 18% to $475.6 million. Same-store sales were down 13%. Gross margins fell to 15.4% from 18.5%.

Borders stock was hit hard after hours, falling 7.3% to $1.27. Earlier in the week, William Ackman said his hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management would finance a $960 million takeover bid for Borders' larger rival, Barnes & Noble (BKS).

It almost seems silly, but it shows how bad things have been before the last two days. The stock market had a second day up. It's been a while since we could say that. Today's gains were also well above the gains which were lost yesterday and the DJIA had its best day in almost a month. Bank stocks led the rally today, although many sectors shared in the joy. Suddenly, DJIA 10,000 was back today after a more than 200-point rally.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,018.28 +274.66 (2.82%)
S&P 500 1,060.24 +32.18 (3.13%)
Nasdaq 2,159.47 +65.59 (3.13%)

Top Analyst Calls

Below are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks. Click through to the original posts for more details.

• Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (ANN) shares rallied on heavy volume after it posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings.
• AutoZone Inc. (AZO) Q3 earnings easily beat consensus expectations and same-store sales rose sharply.
• Borders Group Inc. (BGP) posted a wider operating loss, decreasing gross margin, and a same-store sales decline.
• Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) posted strong Q3 results and offered guidance, boosting shares on a down-market day.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, due in part to a surge in membership sales.

Borders Group (BGP), a bookseller that competes with Barnes & Noble (BKS) and Amazon (AMZN), is down in afternoon trading. At the time of this writing, my screen showed a quote of $2.08, which represented a decline of over 9%. Volume was getting up there.

The one-year chart communicates an unattractive situation. It emphasizes the volatility you'd be taking on if you were to buy. Another piece of information that does the same is the 52-week range. The 52-week low is 85 cents per share; the 52-week high is $4.48 per share. Pretty scary if you ask me.

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

• Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI) Q2 results were essentially flat but an analyst's upgraded helped boost shares.
• Borders Group Inc. (BGP) reported strong Q4 earnings due to cost cutting but revenue continued to decline.
• Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) received an analyst's downgrade on valuation following release of its Q3 report.
• CarMax Inc. (KMX) rose to a new 52-week high following better-than-expected Q4 earnings and sales results.
• Charming Shoppes Inc. (CHRS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 net loss and said same-store sales declined.

Last week, Borders Group Inc. (BGP) announced that CEO Ron Marshall was resigning as CEO, effective immediately, to go run A&P.

Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Michael J. Edwards was promoted to CEO in the wake of poor results and rumors of a possible bankruptcy on the horizon. On Wednesday, the company's stock got a nice boost when Bill Ackman -- a major shareholder and major creditor of the company -- suggested that he would not push the company into bankruptcy.

Shares of Borders Group (BGP) tumbled yesterday after the company announced that CEO Ron Marshall was resigning, effective immediately, to become CEO of Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (GAP), the parent company of the perpetually struggling A&P chain of grocery stores.

Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Michael J. Edwards will step in as interim CEO.

In the publishing world, it's a mad scramble to get a piece of the e-book market. While the dominant player is Amazon.com (AMZN), there are other strong offerings from operators like Barnes & Noble (BKS) and Sony (SNE).

But one of the companies left out has been Borders (BGP) . Then again, the company's fortunes have been ailing over the past few years.

Though the earnings season is winding down, and the coming week includes the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., plenty of reports are still due out. And analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters don't seem to be expecting too many turkeys among this week's bunch.

Leading U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), which has just named a new chief executive officer and a new chief operating officer, is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $0.26 per share, up from $0.14 in the same period of last year. But revenue is expected to total $6.9 billion, or 4.3% less than a year ago. The full-year forecast is for a profit of $0.25 per share (-16.7) on $26.4 billion (-3.9%) in sales. This dividend payer has offered upside surprises in the past two quarters, topping estimates by 11 cents per share in the third quarter.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), a bookseller that competes with Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE: BGP), issued a Q2 earnings report on Thursday morning that in no way makes me want to invest in the company. As far as I'm concerned, the retailer has a lot of work to do, and I wouldn't want to involve my portfolio with a business that is still trying to find its way.

Barnes & Noble earned 14 cents per share on an adjusted basis. Earnings.com reports an expectation of 10 cents per share. So management went beyond projections. Should shareholders be content with such news and call it a day?

After the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, the earnings spotlight turns to Canadian banks: Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) are all scheduled to report their second-quarter results.

While banks north of the border of generally have held up better than their U.S. counterparts, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect the four listed above to report that earnings declined between 20% and 30% since the same period of last year. All four have P/E ratios around 10, and they are paying dividends. Shares of all four have surged 50% to 83% in the past three months, but are still 26% to 38% lower than a year ago.

With a new CEO looking to bring Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) back to viability and a stock price hovering at less than than $2 -- but up big time from its 52-week low of 34 cents -- the company is revamping its board of directors in a big way.

The company is reducing its board of directors from 10 members to 8; Edna Medford and Michael Weiss will not be standing for reelection. In a press release, the company said that "Five of the remaining incumbent Directors -- Don Campbell, Joel Cohen, Amy Lane, Brian Light, and Larry Pollock --- will stand for re-election at the annual meeting, but have advised the Board of their intention to step down from the Board over the coming months as suitable replacements are found."

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

• American Electric Power Co. Inc. (NYSE: AEP) lowered its earnings forecast for fiscal 2009.
• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings and strong revenue growth.
• Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings despite a decline in sales.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) soaring earnings beat Q4 expectations despite a decline in revenue.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL) was downgraded on risk to its earnings from currency issues.