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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) Q2 earnings were in line with expectations but sales beat.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) beat earnings estimates for Q1, but on horrible metrics, sending shares lower.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) lower Q2 earnings beat expectations and previous guidance, boosting shares.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) Q1 profit and sales dropped, but still beat expectations, sending shares higher.
• Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss and shares rose.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) reported dismal Q1 numbers as same-store sales plunged.
• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) dismal Q2 results were in line with analysts' expectations.
• Bankrate Inc. (NASDAQ: RATE) reported lower earnings and revenue for Q1 and offered no guidance.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) earnings, revenue, and same-store sales all fell in the first quarter.
• Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) Q1 earnings declined but still topped analysts' expectations.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded FTI Consulting (NYSE:FCN) to Outperform from Perform on expectations the stock will outperform in the second half of 2009 due to easier comparisons and a "deeper and longer" restructuring cycle. The firm has a $62 target on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Cigna (NYSE:CI) to Hold from Sell to reflect reduced balance sheet risk following the company's capital raise and the potential for a PBM sale. The firm raised its target price to $23 from $13.
• Goldman expects Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE:CCE) to benefit from favorable soda demand and lower commodity costs. The firm upgraded shares to Conviction Buy from Buy and has a $20 target on the stock.
• Novellus (NASDAQ:NVLS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America/Merrill.
• CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.
• Allegiant (NASDAQ:ALGT) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  

Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) is not the darling of Wall Street today. As I write this, the retailer's shares have lost 30% of their value. Trading volume is heavy. The company missed Wall Street's estimates by a pretty wide margin.

The call, was for an adjusted loss of $0.55 per share in the fourth quarter. According to the press release, Ann Taylor lost $1.03 per share on an adjusted basis. Last year at this time, there was a profit of $0.19 per share. What a difference a year makes. By the way, if you include all the GAAP stuff in the current Q4, Ann Taylor lost an amount equal to the mark of the beast. I don't even want to write the evil number out, but it begins with a 6 if you want a hint.

While the release of economic data doesn't stop next week (see economic schedule highlights below), the earnings season does wind down dramatically. Most of the S&P 500 companies already have reported on the past quarter, which means dismal earnings news is largely behind us, at least for a while. About the only companies of note expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters to report falling earnings this week are Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN), Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), and Steinway Musical Instruments Inc. (NYSE: LVB).

While PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) and Big Lots Inc. (NYSE: BIG) quarterly profits are expected to be about the same as a year ago, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) are expected to have swung to losses in the most recent quarter.

The parade of layoffs continues with Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) announcing that it will cut 725 workers -- 8% of its US workforce.

CEO William L. McComb noted in a press release that "The challenging retail and economic environment requires us to remain more focused than ever on cost rationalization and act decisively to manage the relationship between our revenue and our SG&A."

The company's performance has been absolutely brutal of late, and the stock price has followed. But the company will be debuting its new collection designed by Isaac Mizrahi this month, and the buzz appears to be quite good.

Liz Claiborne sold has sold off a lot of brands over the past two years -- a wise move given that the value of those assets has likely plunged in the interim. Turning around the company will be impossible without an economic recovery but by cutting costs, ditching lesser brands, and hiring a star to revitalize a legendary brand that has lacked life for years, Liz Claiborne could be poised for a comeback.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says companies saddled with high debt loads can be found in every sector in every business.

Overleveraged. Too much debt. Need to pay down debt. How many times have you read that story?

You read it so much because it plays out every day and plays havoc with stock picking almost every time you see a savory stock down on its luck.

This weekend, as I went through the charts, I was amazed at how low some stocks have gone, stocks that I would normally say to just take a flyer on, but turn out to have so much debt, short- and long-term, that they are just too dangerous.

Consider these perhaps poisonous morsels:

With CEOs catching flack for flying in private planes, many are taking it down a notch and flying first class.

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) CEO William L. McComb takes it a step further. According (subscription required) to The Wall Street Journal, "The boyish-looking executive, who turned 46 Monday, flies nearly 200,000 miles a year, all of them on commercial flights, almost always in coach."

Mr. McComb deserves credit for cutting costs and sacrificing his own comfort and convenience, and the company's PR people deserve credit for spinning it into a puff piece in the nation's leading business newspaper. Coach class or no, the stock is still down 90% over the past year.

Still, Mr. McComb appears committed to cutting costs wherever possible to keep the company afloat while it sheds brands to strengthen its balance sheet and waits for the economy to rebound. If it can make it through this mess, strong brands like Lucky Brand Jeans and Juicy Couture could lead shareholders to impressive returns.

Update Nov. 26, 2008: See all 2008 Black Friday deals.

This week, some apparel and accessory producers and retailers offer a look at how they've been doing between early summer's economic stimulus spending and the coming holiday season. While Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) reported higher earnings last week, Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR), Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EBHI), Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. (NYSE: KCP), and K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) all reported net losses as consumers pulled back on spending over the summer due to higher fuel prices and other economic worries. The expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial for such companies scheduled to report this week don't look much different; i.e., a bright spot or two among lower expectations overall.

Hip retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) is expected to post earnings 22.9% higher than a year ago, to $0.35 per share, on revenue of $475.9 million (+26.4%). The Philadelphia-based company already said that same-store sales in the quarter were 10% higher. Urban Outfitters has beat expectations in recent quarters, by 11.5% in the previous quarter, and analysts on average recommend buying URBN. Shares fell to a 52-week low of $16.61 per share on Friday, and are down 29.5% from a year ago. Other companies expected to report more modest earnings growth in the coming week include watch and accessory maker Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL), retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), and TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX), parent of such discount retail chains as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. These three companies have tended to top analysts estimates in recent quarters, and Fossil and TJX ended the week near their 52-week lows.

While Los Angeles-based American Apparel Inc. (AMEX: APP) had a strong second quarter, the casual wear maker is expected to report $0.13 per share earnings for the third quarter, the same as in the year-ago period. And analysts anticipate that Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS) will report that profits fell 16.4% to $0.51 per share on revenue of $3.9 billion (+1.9%). Though same-store sales for October fell 9%, the Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based company reaffirmed its third-quarter forecast. Kohl's has offered positive surprises in recent quarters, topping estimates by 5.6% in the previous quarter. The consensus recommendation remains to buy KSS. Shares have been climbing after reaching a 52-week low in late October, but are still down 32.8% from a year ago.

Analyst upgrades:

• Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Principal Financial (NYSE: PFG) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's capital buffer could keep outrunning credit losses.
  
• Friedman Billings also upgraded Office Max (NYSE: OMX) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes the risk of recourse to Office Max from the Timber Notes formerly backed by Lehman is low and that any litigation by noteholders will have a low level of success.
  
• Citigroup upgraded CF Industries (NYSE: CF) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent weakness but lowered their target to $113 from $128.
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  

Analyst downgrades:

Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ - option chain) shares are dropping today after the company got a slate of bad news. First, S&P downgraded the stock today and cut its price target by 47%. Also, September retail sales came in way lower than expected, which is driving retail stocks lower today. Lastly, competitor Jones Apparel Group (NYSE: JNY) lowered its EPS guidance and is off by more than 20% today. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on LIZ.

This morning, LIZ opened at $11.06. So far today the stock has hit a low of $9.99 and a high of $11.15. As of 12:40, LIZ is trading at $10.59, down $1.17 (-10.0%). The chart for LIZ looks bearish and S&P gives LIZ a 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a January bear-call credit spread above the $15 range.

AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN), whose colleagues include Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) and Talbots (NYSE: TLB), reported Q2 earnings stats that beat the views of Wall Street. The retailer said it made $0.54 per share in the second quarter versus $0.51 per share earned in the similar period a year ago. These bottom-line results are on an adjusted basis. According to Reuters, analysts were looking for about $0.49 per share. So that's a nice $0.05 beat.

The bottom line may have surprised analysts, but other parts of the story didn't excite me. The top line decreased by almost 4%. Same-store sales took a big dive, declining pretty near 11%. Comps are an important metric for retailers, and a significant decrease like this one always makes investors cautious. Management cited low traffic levels as a driver of the dismal comps. Seems to me like someone at the chain needs to rethink the current marketing campaigns. The gross margin did improve, though, so at least there's that.

After reading through the earnings release, it became quite apparent to me that management is clearly worried about the economy going forward. They're right, I think the rest of the year may indeed be rough on the consumer. With such weak stats, I think it would be hard to make a case for buying AnnTaylor's stock. If you're a contrarian and think the company will consistently beat earnings from this point on, and you turn out to be right, then buying the stock now might make for a good trade. But I'd have to hear good reasons for such a bullish case. I think it's entirely possible that AnnTaylor's shares trend lower from here. No matter what, I won't be putting this retailer on my personal watch list. My advice to the company: get traffic through the door with more innovative promotional schemes.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

I've been expressing my long-term bullishness on Liz Claiborne, Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) since the company announced that Isaac Mizrahi would be taking over as creative director for its flagship brand. The stock is down a little since that announcement back in January, but with the re-launch under Mizrahi's direction scheduled to hit stores in February, investors could start bearing the fruits of that deal soon.

A piece (subscription required) in yesterday's Wall Street Journal looked at Mizrahi and his plans for the Liz Claiborne brand, which has seen its sales decline by about 50% so far this decade: "The collection includes modern styles like cork-covered high heels and oversize tote bags in soft neutrals, metallics and bright colors, according to two people who were there. The designs also incorporate an updated Liz Claiborne logo."

Goldman Sachs analyst Benjamin Rowbotham called the relaunch "the single most important issue" for the company, and Liz Claiborne has reportedly given Mizrahi a rare level of creative freedom in reviving its brand.

Liz Claiborne has struggled of late, even more so than the industry at large, but remember: Mizrahi made Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) a cool place to shop for clothes. With the stock trading in the bargain basement, Mizrahi's new collection offers savvy investors tremendous upside potential.

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

• Albany Molecular Research Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRI) topped estimates and raised its full-year guidance.
• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Q3 earnings and revenues tumbled but beat low expectations.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) fell short of Q3 earnings expectations due to rising materials costs.
• Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. (NYSE: EL) posted strong Q4 results that led shares to a new 52-week high.
• Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and lifted its full-year forecast.
• JCPenney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) Q2 profit slipped but still topped analysts' expectations.
• LDK Solar Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Q2 net income soared, easily beating analysts' estimates.
• Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) rebounded from its tumble after its disappointing Q2 report.
• MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) posted strong Q2 results despite downgrades of its financial ratings.
• Newcastle Investments Corp. (NYSE: NCT) despite negative earnings, it announced a quarterly dividend.
• Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) posted dismal Q2 results and announced a share buyback program.
• Sysco Corp. (NYSE: SYY) Q4 earnings topped expectaitons on demand for bulk food products.
• TJX Cos. (NYSE: TJX) strong Q2 results fell short of expectations, as did the Q3 earnings forecast.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) topped Q2 estimates due to bargain seekers and international sales.

Also, Jim Cramer warns against bearishness on the financials and also suggests that the collapse of commodities will buoy earings.

For more highlights from this week, see: Abercrombie, Macy's, Kohl's, Sirius, UBS, Wachovia and others

Upcoming quarterly reports include Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Target (NYSE: TGT), La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), Saks (NYSE: SKS), BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), and Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Shares of Liz Claiborne (NYSE: LIZ) tumbled this week on an even weaker than expected second quarter earnings report, but the stock has since moved back to where it was before the release. Still: it's trading at $14.85, compared with the $40+ per share it was fetching in early 2007.

Suffice it to say, investors are skeptical about the company's prospects for a turnaround. The company said it expects to earn $1.40-$1.50 per share for 2008 so the price/earnings ratio is in the 10-range.

But there could be reason to expect tremendous upside over the long-term: back in January, the company signed legendary designer Isaac Mizrahi. At the time, I wrote that "If anyone can save the struggling fashion house, it's the man they just signed to be creative director of the company's flagship brand: Isaac Mizrahi. You can be sure he didn't come cheap, but he's just what they need. After all, this is the guy who actually managed to make Target (NYSE: TGT) a cool place to shop for clothes."