Today was yet another day where the close was not certain until the very end of the day. Markets opened lower this morning before turning around slowly to post a slight gain in late afternoon trading. Continuing worries on Ireland's banks and US and Chinese monetary policy pointed the market toward a small loss for the week.

Traders appear to have overcome worries about the effect of China's latest monetary tightening moves, choosing to believe that Chinese growth would remain strong. Discussions in Europe related to Ireland's banks and more debate about the possible inflationary effect of QE2, which also served to cool the market.

Here are the numbers for late afternoon trading today:

Dow Jones 11,181.34 +0.11 (0.00%)
S&P 500 1,197.17 +0.48 (0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,514.57 +0.17 (0.01%)

Top Analyst Calls

The coming week will bring late-season earnings reports from Best Buy Inc. (BBY), ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG), Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and Walgreen Co. (WAG), all of which are expected to post earnings and revenue growth, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Below is a closer look at a few other companies reporting this week for which expectations are high.

In the three months that ended in January, Williams-Sonoma (WSM) saw strong holiday sales, declared a quarterly dividend, and announced the retirement of its CEO. Analysts expect the San Francisco-based home products retailer to report that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled from the same period of last year to $0.74 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to be 6.2% higher to $1.1 billion. For the full year, the forecast calls for earnings of $0.81 per share (+56.8%) on $3.1 billion in revenue (-8.3%). Williams-Sonoma earnings results have been better than expected in recent quarters -- beating consensus estimates by more than 200% in the third quarter.

Cost Plus Inc. (CPWM) reported Thursday that its net loss from continuing operations for the third quarter of fiscal 2009 came to $22.3 million, or $1.01 per share, compared to a net loss of $24.0 million, or $1.09 per share, last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of $1.10 per share. Cost Plus also said net sales for the quarter totaled $181.9 million, a 10.4% decrease from the year-ago period. Same store sales for the quarter decreased 9.1% due in part to lower furniture sales and a relatively flat customer count.

Diamond Foods Inc. (DMND) reported a record profit of $0.88 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2010. That was 38% higher than a year ago and topped the analysts' consensus forecast of $0.81 per share. Net sales for the quarter came to $180.6 million, 8% lower than in the prior year, due in part to a late walnut crop harvest. Diamond's forecast for the fiscal year are EPS of $1.72 to $1.82 and revenue of $585 million to $605 million, which is in line with analysts' expectations.

Canadian banks are scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week, with third-quarter reports coming from Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). While Canadian banks on the whole held up better than their U.S. counterparts during the financial crisis, these five are expected to report that their earnings are still declining in the most recent quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for EPS for these banks to have fallen from 15% to 25% from a year ago. Their long-term EPS growth forecast is for between 10% and 12%, which is in the same range as U.S. rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), but better than Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Earnings multiples for these Canadian banks are 10x to 12x, but none of them have a First Call consensus recommendation is to buy. The Motley Fool, though, considers TD as a value stock and RY a stock poised to pop. All of them are trading much closer to their 52-week highs than lows, and shares of all are up more than 100% since March lows.

Last week, JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) posted a quarterly loss and lowered its guidance. But as interest in alternative energy continues to grow, analysts polled by Thomson Financial are still looking for good things from solar energy concerns scheduled to report earnings this week.

Strong growth at Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) in the third quarter prompted it to lift its guidance back in October. Analysts expect the Chinese company to post profits that are 76.3% higher than a year ago, or $1.18 per share on revenues of $268.4 million (+225.0%). Though Trina Solar missed estimates in the second quarter, analysts on average recommend buying TSL. Shares are down 81.4% from a year ago and trading near an all-time low.

Earnings of rival LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) are expect to have risen 47.9% to $0.71 per share on revenues of $486.7 million (+206.6%). Also based in China, LDK has not missed estimates in recent quarters; in fact, it blew past expectations in the second quarter. Yet the consensus recommendation is to hold LDK. Like Trina Solar, LDK's shares are trading near an all-time low; the share price has fallen 50.0% in the past year.

Analysts anticipate third-quarter earnings for Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) to be a whopping 96.3% higher than a year ago, or $0.54 per share on revenues of $248.0 million (+154.5%). The company easily topped estimates in the previous quarter. ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) are also expected to report earnings growth of 29.7% ($0.37 per share) and 23.8% ($0.42 per share), respectively. All three of these stocks reached 52-week lows last week, and all are considered buys.

According to a number of studies, Wall Street's initial reaction to a proposed buyout is a good indication of whether a deal will pan out or not. So when Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) recently made an $88 million bid for Cost Plus World Markets (NASDAQ: CPWM), and the response from investors was immediately negative (the stock price fell 20%), it was probably telling.

I guess Pier 1 was listening. On Wednesday, the company said it was revoking its bid.

Funny enough, the CEO of Pier 1, Alex W. Smith, originally called the deal "compelling" and that it "would create significant value for the stakeholders of both companies."

Oops.

But now, according to Smith, it looks like the deal will be too expensive. After all, it appears that Cost Plus is going to fight.

Yet, why not try to fight back? Pier 1 does have some leverage. Plus, there are certainly cost synergies (basically, the industry really needs consolidation).

Then again, when it comes to Wall Street, sometimes it is easier to just give in.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) withdrew its proposal to acquire Cost Plus (NASDAQ: CPWM).

Deutsche Bank has a Buy rating with a $7.25 price target on PIR.

PIR overall option implied volatility of 93 is above its 26-week average of 84 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Volatility Index NASDAQ 100-VXN at 28.13; 10-day moving average is 26.27.

Things are getting hostile in the furniture business. That is, Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) has announced a $4 unsolicited bid for rival Cost Plus (NASDAQ: CPWM). That comes to about $88 million. On news of the deal, Cost Plus' shares rose 13% to $3.47.

Although, the folks at Cost Plus are skeptical, calling the deal "highly conditional." Of course, the board will meet to discuss the proposal.

With the recession and real estate bust, it's a good bet we'll see more consolidation in the furniture business. Simply put, it will be a way to cut capacity as well as reduce cost structures.

No doubt, Cost Plus will want to get a higher price, but in light of the challenging environment, that's probably going to be tough. Besides, Cost Plus and Pier 1 have many common shareholders, who may pressure for a transaction. What's more, Cost Plus's "poison pill" will expire on June 30th.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Salesforce.com, First Marblehead and The E.W. Scripps Co were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q1 results and recommends accumulating shares on any weakness from concerns around a slowdown in bookings. They believe that while bookings growth slowed in Q1, CRM's growth remains stellar and its market opportunity remains large.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded First Marblehead (NYSE:FMD) to Market Perform from Underperform. The firm believes most of the bad news is reflected in shares and that there are early indications of "thawing" within the private student loan ABS market.
  
• Lehman upgraded the E.W. Scripps Co (NYSE:SSP) to Overweight from Underweight and expects the upcoming July 1st split of Scripps Networks Interactive from Scripps will give the company strategic opportunity by separating high growth cable from traditional newspapers and broadcasting.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ING upgraded Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) to Buy from Hold and StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO) to Hold from Sell.
  
• Cost Plus (NASDAQ:CPWM) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Level 3 (NASDAQ:LVLT) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM), better known as Cost Plus World Market, recently reported a 3Q net loss of $13.9 million, which was not as big as initially forecast. That's pretty much it for the good news. CEO Barry Feld argues that the turnaround strategy is beginning to gain momentum. While it is true that net sales were up 2.5% in 3Q, it is equally true that same-store sales and gross profits declined. YTD same-store sales are flat, same-store sales are down 6.7%, and net loss totals $43 million or $1.95 per diluted share.

Feld is predicting (hoping for) a rather impressive 4Q, with total revenue of $377-$389 million, $160+ million more than 3Q revenue. This target will be hard to hit given that this year the company is not offering its heavily discounted coupon sales that drew customers into stores last year. Even if the company does post excellent 4Q results, FY 2007 revenue will top out at just over $1 billion, leading to a net loss in the $1.45-$1.58 per diluted share range.

Investors seem quite happy with the company's 3Q results. They bid the stock up more than 15% on the news, to close Friday at $4.06.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Toyota Motor Corp (TM), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), SourceFire (FIRE), Kohl's Corp (KSS) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) to Buy from Neutral to reflect expectations for greater operating profits and margin expansion in 2007.

• Keybanc upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Buy from Hold based on increased conviction in JBHT's ability to increase intermodal volumes, easier 2H and 2008 comps, buybacks and valuation.

• Jefferies upgraded SourceFire Inc (NASDAQ: FIRE) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated better Federal IT spending and solid sales activity.

• Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird on valuation.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings, citing recent monthly Velcade prescription trends for the move higher...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ: ACGL) to Buy from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns raised Parexel International Corp (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Joseph upgraded West Marine (NASDAQ: WMAR) to Buy from Hold.

• Morgan Keegan raised Cost Plus Inc (NASDAQ: CPWM) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).