Today was a whip-around day. All day. Despite better construction and better manufacturing employment data, the markets looked like they were trying to roll over again before the end of day rally took stocks back up on the day. It seems that bargain hunters won over the fear that was felt earlier this afternoon.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,789.21 +76.48 (0.79%)
S&P 500 1,042.82 +6.63 (0.64%)
Nasdaq 2,049.20 +4.09 (0.20%)

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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.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $265 from $170, citing higher iPhone expectations, new partnerships, and likely upward revisions to Street estimates driven by gross margins.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm views a possible deal between end General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal positively, as it thinks NBC will provide higher-margin growth for Comcast.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Michael Baker (AMEX: BKR) to Buy from Neutral after the company completed the sale of its Energy business. The firm raised its target on shares to $46 from $40.
• Jefferies assumed coverage of Endo Pharma (NASDAQ: ENDP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. The firm cites valuation, a strong base business, and solid cash flow for the upgrade, and has a $30 target price on shares.
• Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst upgrades:

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) and Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) to Buy from Hold on better demand trends as it believes overall enterprise IT spending is turning more positive. The firm raised its target on Computer Sciences to $62 from $54 and on Cognizant to $45 from $42.
• Citigroup upgraded E-Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Buy from Hold as it believes loan less trends have improved and the company could potentially be acquired. Citi raised its target on shares to $2.30 from $1.50.
• Auriga upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Buy from Hold as it believes consensus expectations for 2010 are too low, but admits the company's Q1 results could be fairly weak. Auriga believes Microsoft is coming up to its "most powerful product cycle in many years" and raised its price target on shares to $30 from $24.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Fidelity Southern (NASDAQ: LION) was upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at SunTrust.
• Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) reported Wednesday morning that its chairman and CEO, Donald Layton, will step down at the end of the year. He will retain all of his current responsibilities through the end of 2009, by which time E*Trade hopes to have named a successor.

In a warm and fuzzy press release, Layton summed up his tenure at E*Trade: "It was an exciting but very challenging time as E*TRADE dealt successfully with the severe financial distress of the last two years. Now that our major recapitalization is complete and the online brokerage business is growing again, I have accomplished what was needed for me to end my time as CEO on schedule. I wish to thank everyone involved -- it was a great team effort."

Shares of E*Trade Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC) caught a boost this morning on reports that Citadel Investment Group LLC, the online broker's largest stock and bond holder, has scrapped its plan to unload 120 million shares over the next three months. The size of the planned sale represented about 10% of the hedge fund's investment in ETFC.

"Citadel believes that the termination of the plan at this time is in the best interests of E*Trade and all of its stakeholders," said the firm in a statement. The massive sale, first announced on Aug. 11, was due to commence today, but Citadel says that no shares have been sold under the plan.

Today's market news was dominated by two events. The first is that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported earnings a bit better than expected and had a forecast that was a bit better than expected, to. Traders were left to ponder whether this means a modest return of the consumer or whether Wal-Mart is just that much better than its competition.

The government coincidentally announced July retail sales which were helped by the automotive "clunkers" program. Most analysts were surprised that the figure dropped .1%. The two pieces of news made traders reflect on the reality that the recession may be ending but the collateral damage is not.

Because no day can go by without some news on housing, there was date from RealtyTrac that foreclosures rose 7% last month compared to June.

The day's unofficial numbers:

Dow 9,399.17 +37.56 (0.40%)
S&P 500 1,012.84 +7.03 (0.70%)
Nasdaq 2,009.35 +10.63 (0.53%)

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says many stocks, considered frothy at one time, have turned into good turnaround stories.

Here's still one more version of a short-seller's nightmare. What happens when froth turns to investible? What happens when you see behavior that clearly indicates froth and then, somehow, the fundamentals change, and the stock takes off?

We have seen that recently in so many situations that it is pretty dazzling. It was one thing to see Genworth (NYSE: GNW) (Cramer's Take) back from the dead on its own.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) has garnered three upgrades in as many days this week. On Monday, Fox-Pitt upped the equity from Underperform to In Line, while FBR on Tuesday raised its opinion from Underperform to Outperform. Raymond James rounded out the trifecta on Wednesday, hiking its rating on ETFC from Underperform to Market Perform.

Judging by this rush of analyst love, Wall Street seems to think the worst is over for E*Trade. However, most of this week's commentary falls under the category of "damning with faint praise." For example, Fox-Pitt said they now believe ETFC is more likely to be acquired by another firm than to file bankruptcy, and Raymond James observed that the stock has "limited downside" -- hardly a bold statement for an equity that settled Wednesday at $1.23.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to Outperform from Neutral based on field research that indicates improving traffic trends and visibility from cost savings initiatives.
• FBR Capital upgraded E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Outperform from Underperform citing an attractive risk/reward following the company's capital raise and debt exchange commencement. The firm believes the worst is behind the company and has a $2 target on the stock.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Perform on expectations demand trends will improve, leading to more normalized profitability.
• Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Today had all the earmarks in line for another solid day of sell-offs, yet the markets held ground considering the tone this morning. The good news was low inflation, the lowest in over 50 years.

But agriculture stocks were hammered on overseas competitive news about weak pricing and demand. Then came a banking downgrade from the S&P playing catch-up. Despite the mixed performance at the end of the day, this felt like a win. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 8,497.18 (-7.49)
S&P 500: 910. 71 (-1.26)
NASDAQ: 1,808.06 (+11.88)

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The shares of E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) took a dive this morning after the online brokerage house announced plans to boost its balance sheet. The company will sell $400 million in common stock, and launch a debt exchange worth more than $1 billion. In a statement, E*Trade said its capital-raising initiatives "will significantly reduce the company's debt service burden."

Back in April, the cash-strapped brokerage was instructed by the Office of Thrift Supervision to quickly raise new capital and reduce its leverage. Today's newly announced share offering and debt swap are expected to bring in at least $1.2 billion, although the transactions are expected to dilute the investments of current ETFC shareholders by about 40%.

The market spent the day as it has many a Friday in the summer: slowing going no where.

The University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index showed a very modest increase in June up to 69, from 68.7 in May. The same survey showed that expectations for six months from now actually dropped.

Oil and gas prices still dominated the headlines. Oil still hovers around $72 and the average price of gas rose for the 45th consecutive day to $2.63. The has to rattle consumers who have precious little discretionary income as it is.

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

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) Q1 profit fell despite strong sales of Plavix and Abilify.
• Check Point Software Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CHKP) was downgraded based on its guidance.
• Domino's Pizza Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) strong Q1 results were boosted by early debt retirement.
• DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) strong Q1 results were driven by Madagascar 2.
• Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ENDP) Q1 results led to an analyst's downgrade.
• E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) widened its Q1 loss, sending shares sharply lower.