Morgan Stanley (MS) is a global financial services firm that is engaged in four distinct business areas: investment banking, sales & trading, wealth management for high net worth individuals and asset management. It competes with other global financial services firms like Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), UBS (UBS) and Credit Suisse (CS).

Bank earnings are coming in mixed. A few days ago, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported its profit was up 47%. Then, Goldman Sachs (GS) reported earnings were down 52%. And on Wednesday, we got a stellar performance by Morgan Stanley (MS).

The Wall Street Journal reports that Morgan Stanley's profits were up 35% to $867 million, up from $460 million a year ago. Earnings jumped to 41 cents per share from 29 cents per share. Net revenue jumped 14% to $7.81 billion. Analysts at Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 35 cents a share on $7.35 billion.

The earnings season ramps up this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters foresee strong reports from such big names as Apple (AAPL), eBay (EBAY), IBM (IBM), General Electric (GE), Google (GOOG), Schlumberger (SLB) and Southwest Airlines (LUV). And fast on the heels of last week's big earnings beat from JPMorgan Chase (JPM), there will be plenty more results from the financial sector to peruse this week.

Among the financials expected to post double-digit earnings growth this week are Capital One Financial (COF), Morgan Stanley (MS), SLM Corp. (SLM) and U.S. Bancorp (USB), but the week's biggest earnings winner may be Wells Fargo (WFC).

As equity markets return and investors warm up to the risk trade, it looks like IPOs are poised for a strong 2011, especially in the tech sector. For example, according to a New York Times report, it looks like Groupon is in the process of talking to various Wall Street bankers to prep for a public offering.

Founded just a couple years ago, the company has grown like a weed. The website provides daily deals, which are at steep discounts. But Groupon actually gets half of the cut. Yes, it's a lucrative business as revenues reached $1 billion last year. Already Groupon is in 35 countries.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

The general feeling of investors right now is that we are at a potential turning point in the economy. The final piece of the economic puzzle is for the jobs market to start showing strong gains and the final piece of the puzzle for the stock market is for financial stocks to stage a big and sustainable rally. We might be right on the precipice of both of those things happening. Investors still have an opportunity, however, to get in on the ground floor in a number of names.

The most compelling name in this space could be Morgan Stanley (MS), which has found itself on the back burner this year, particularly compared to Goldman Sachs (GS). While both stocks have struggled in 2010, GS is going to finish the year on a high note. In the last six months, the shares have risen nearly 21% compared to a gain for MS of under 1%.

Consumer-goods behemoth Unilever (UN) was among the stocks making headway Tuesday morning. The British firm received an upgrade to overweight from underweight by brokerage firm Morgan Stanley, which stated, "We double upgrade Unilever to overweight, as we see the risk/reward profile for the shares as more attractive now than at any point in the past three years."

I am not going to agree or disagree with the decision for the upgrade right now; I want to take a look at the equity's chances to further this rally (at more than 3% as of this writing). There is evidence for both the continuation and the stall of the rally

Fear gripped Wall Street on September 29, 2008, when the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the bailout package. On that day alone, banks borrowed a record $155.8 billion.

The Fed had set up a lending facility called the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) to lend money to banks. As the crisis spread, borrowing increased almost daily. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) lists day-by-day borrowings:

Banks could face another mortgage crisis, according to Barron's, if they are forced to buy back subprime, Alt-A and options adjusted home mortgage securities they've sold prior to the financial crisis, mostly as mortgage-backed securities. Already some buyers, like Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC), have enjoyed some success returning defective mortgages. And this could be just the beginning.

The banks, of course, are fighting vigorously to fend off these demands. As usual, the courts will have to settle the matter. The focus of the debate seems to be founded on the issue of representations and warranties that may or may not have been violated.

There are no surprises among the 11 banks mentioned. It is the conspicuous absence of names you might expect to find that is.

So now, when you thought that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) was king of the hill, think twice. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Bank of America Corp. (BAC) both racked up perfect trading quarters, according to the Wall Street Journal.

JPMorgan had 12 days where it made more than $200 million each day. Bank of America had at least 25 days where it made more the $100 million from trading in the third quarter.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation following the recent sell-off and strong business trends. The firm has a $115 price target for shares.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to market perform from underperform on valuation after AIB sold its stake in the company. The firm has a $72 price target for shares.
• Jefferies upgraded OGE Energy (OGE) to buy from hold following the announcement that ArcLight will purchase 9.9% of OGE's interest in Enogex for $183M and believes this deal highlights the hidden value associated with Enogex. The firm raised its price target to $51.50 from $43.
• Thomas & Betts (TNB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Bayer (BAYRY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to outperform from market perform as it sees less headline risk from the Gulf of Mexico spill following Wednesday's House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. The firm upped its target for shares to $44 from $35.
• FBR Capital also upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to outperform from market perform as it views the valuation as attractive following the recent pullback in shares. The firm maintains a $35 price target for shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold on valuation; it views the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. The firm raised its target for shares to $39 from $36.
• U.S. Steel (X) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• News Corp. (NWS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Argus.
• Sprint (S) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.