Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) reported Q4 results on Tuesday (hey, what day did you expect the company to do it on?) after the bell. By the looks of the price action going into the report, as well as the price action after the report, you would have thought that the results were incredible. They were, in terms of an earnings beat, but other aspects of the report gave me pause.

Ruby Tuesday made 28 cents per diluted share during the fourth quarter. According to Reuters, analysts were only looking for 20 cents of per-share profit. Okay, so we know why Wall Street was so excited. Beating by 8 cents is impressive.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) struck gold when it entered the breakfast market decades ago. Today it's fighting for Starbucks' boutique coffee business. Where will it turn next to expand its business? How about electricity?

According to our sister blog, Engadget, a new North Carolina McDonald's will include electric vehicle (EV) recharging stations, part of the ChargePoint network. While you stuff your face, your car could be stuffing its battery.

Leading off is one of the very symbols of U.S. capitalism, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD). You can't get much more American than MickeyD's.

The irony is that McDonald's strength recently has been due to its expansion in foreign markets.

There are currently more than 30,000 restaurants in 120 countries. Less than half of the restaurants are located in the United States. McDonald's has been doing especially well lately, thanks to the recession.

Today is the 4th of July, and the nation is busy celebrating its 233rd birthday.

The past year has been pretty rough for the old Republic, with the economy going through its worst spat in 80 years.

Still, I'm an optimist, and I think we'll come through this stronger than ever. To honor America's birthday, I want to highlight three great all-American brands that deserve a place in your portfolio.

Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC), a fast-food chain whose colleagues include Burger King (NYSE: BKC), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Wendy's/Arby's Group (NYSE: WEN), and Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), reported earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday after the bell. The shares have done well today on the news. As I write this, Sonic's stock is up well over 12% in afternoon trading. Volume is great. Do you want to get in on the action?

Sonic said it earned an adjusted 24 cents per share. This article reported expectations as being $0.20 per share, so management beat the bottom line by a nice amount. We'll throw that result on the positive side of the line.

In my mind, there is no better cure for the common cold or the slight hangover (sorry, Mom!) than McDonald's (NYSE: MCD). Egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast, old-fashioned McNuggets for lunch, and I'm a new woman. Apparently folks around the world have stuffy noses or pounding headaches, because the burger baron saw its same-store sales rise 5.1% in May. This improvement comes despite continued economic pressures and an increase in unemployment.

Business overseas was better for McDonald's than stateside sales. Europe saw a 7.6% rise in same-store sales, compared to just 2.8% in the United States. Highlights for American business included coffee beverage, which exceeded expectations, and the Southern Style Chicken Biscuit and Sandwich (the former of which is another of my favorites).

One of the first movers seeing an uptick in spending due to increased consumer confidence is the restaurant space. Only a few diehards really like to stay home and cook. Dining out is a great way to escape. Even better is going to a restaurant for a meal that's affordable.

The fact that dining has suffered during this recession is indicative of how bad things really have been.

Given that confidence is rising, it's no surprise then that Landry's Restaurants (NYSE: LNY) has almost tripled in value since hitting bottom in early March.

Does the word "McVeggie" seem like an oxymoron to you? No, it's just the latest way McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), the fast-food behemoth that made its name serving cheap hamburgers, is adapting to the world's demands.

In an effort to expand more into Indian markets, where vegetarianism is the common lifestyle, McDonald's has devised a menu completely lacking in beef and pork. According to IndiaMarks, an online guide to "everything India," some of the items featured on Indian McDonald's menus include:

• McVeggie: Vegetarian patty with all the fixings on, yes, a sesame-seed bun.
• McAloo Tikki: Vegetarian patty made from potatoes and peas, garnished with tomato and vegetarian mayonnaise.
• Paneer Salsa Wrap: Paneer (homemade cheese) breaded and fried, then topped with a salad mixture, veggie mayo, and cheese.
• Veg McCurry Pan: Similar to pizza, this is crust topped with sauce and vegetables.
• Pizza McPuff: A crust stuffed with tomoato-based sauce, vegetables, and mozzarella cheese.

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

• AnnTaylor Stores Corp. (NYSE: ANN) reported a smaller-than-expected Q1 loss as sales slumped.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) smaller-than-expected Q1 net loss sent shares higher.
• Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) solid Q1 results were in line with expectations.
• Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) posted higher-than-expected Q1 results but same-store sales fell.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) lower Q1 earnings beat expectations and lower revenue was in line.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays believes Procter & Gamble's (NYSE: PG) portfolio mix provides better leverage to stabilizing macro trends. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Equal weight and raised its target to $60 from $56. Note the firm downgraded Colgate (NYSE: CL) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) to Buy from Hold as it finds the risk/reward on shares compelling at current levels and sees upcoming catalysts from McCafe and easing commodity pressures. The firm raised its target price to $65 from $60.
• FBR Capital upgraded Talbots (NYSE: TLB) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect an attractive risk/reward, reduced risk of a bankruptcy, and merchandise improvements. The firm raised its target price to $4 from $2.
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.

Fast-food firm McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) received a boost this morning, as Deutsche Bank upped the company to Buy from Hold. The brokerage noted that the burger behemoth could receive a boost in the second half of the year from its McCafe line of beverages. These drinks are now available in 10,000 locations, up from 1,000 restaurants a year ago.

McCafe is in the midst of a heavy advertising campaign, which includes TV, radio, print, online and outdoor ads that were launched earlier this month. MCD is spending more than $100 million in order to introduce McCafe to the American masses.

McDonald's (NYSE: MCD - option chain) Vice Chairman and CEO James Skinner sold 150,000 shares of the stock on the open market last week. That equates to $8.0M of selling against only a scant $269K of insider buying in the past three months. 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 MCD.

This morning, MCD opened at $54.34. So far today the stock has hit a low of $53.75 and a high of $54.46. As of 11:55, MCD is trading at $54.02, down $0.18 (-0.3%). The chart for MCD looks bullish and S&P gives MCD a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

It has been a while since I have had the pleasure of discussing Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and its business issues. That changes today, as Moody's Investors Service downgraded Starbucks' $550 million senior unsecured notes to 'Baa3' from Baa2.'

The move takes into account what the ratings house sees as challenges lying ahead for the coffee company. In addition, Moody's cut Starbucks' short-term commercial paper rating.

An analyst with Moody's stated that the "downgrade reflects Starbucks challenge of refocusing the business without significantly damaging its brand, as well as weaker than anticipated operating performance" over the intermediate term. The biggest problem facing Starbucks is seen as weakness in consumer spending and increased competitive pressures.

Today's news was entirely about financial stocks. There is no denying it. We ran a full summary bank by bank showing the needs or lack thereof that Uncle Sam was going to require. But because those have all been read about over and over, today's closing bell piece revolves around some of the other winners that are outside of financial stocks. You would have never thought that 8.9% unemployment could look so good. Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,574.81 +164.96 (1.96%)
S&P 500 929.21 +21.82 (2.40%)
Nasdaq 1,739.00 +22.76 (1.33%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Early this morning, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) announced that its April comparable sales increased 6.9%. The company's sales were pushed higher as sales strength in the United States helped to offset the impact of the stronger dollar. When the dollar is strong, it lessens the value of overseas sales -- the stronger dollar led to a 1% decline at MCD restaurants worldwide.

Breaking down the numbers, sales in the U.S. increased 6.1%, European sales increased 8.4% and sales in Asia/Middle East/Africa increased 6.5%. Excluding currency translations, MCD worldwide sales increased 8.9%. In the United States, MCD received its biggest boost from its new McCafe coffees (a personal favorite, although it is tough to top an ice cold diet coke) and its chicken Snack Wraps.