Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) has been losing money and ground in the specialty/teen retailing business, so the company has decided to turn to a new CEO, one with quite a bit of experience in the surfing and skating world. The new head man at PSUN will be Gary H. Schoenfeld, the former CEO at Vans.

The 46-year-old Schoenfeld replaces Sally Frame Kasaks, who had served as CEO since 2006 and board chairwoman since 2007. According to the company, Kasaks will continue to remain with the company as a director. Schoenfeld will take the helm of the retailer on June 29.

The problem with using consumer confidence as a guide to buy stocks is that consumers tend to be fickle.

Nowhere is that more true than in the clothing space, especially the teenybopper clothing space. Fall out of favor with the younger crowd and your business can be destroyed. Poor management decisions don't help, either.

As such, Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) lost its mojo and has yet to find its way.

While consumer confidence might have soared in April, the move seems to be in response to a two-month surge in stocks versus any real strength on the home front.

The jobs market is still poor with stagnant or declining wages. Corporations are still in lay-off mode and oil prices are marching ever higher. In other words, there are still hurdles to overcome before the "all clear" can be given.

I don't mean to rain on the parade of recovery, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

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.

Shares of Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) rose in after-hours trading yesterday after Adrenalina (OTC BB: AENA) announced an offer to acquire the company for $4.50 per share. Shares of PacSun had closed at $3.80. The press release announcing the offer said that the proposed deal would consist of a "combination of cash and Adrenalina common stock" and is " subject to PacSun's Board and shareholders approval, execution of a definitive agreement, obtaining the requisite financing and certain other terms and conditions."

There are so many red flags here that it's hard to know where to begin. Pacific Sunwear has a market cap of $250 million, more than 10 times that of Adrenalina's. Adrenalina also has just $329,000 in cash and a history of huge losses for a company of its size. A few years ago, minnows could gobble up sharks but with credit markets as tight as they are, it's hard to see a company of Adrenalina's size swinging a deal like this.

Then there's the CEO of Adrenalina, Ilia Lekach. You may remember him as the former CEO of Parlux (NASDAQ: PARL), where he made numerous offers to take the company private that quickly disappeared, and frequently complained about market manipulation by short sellers. You can read more about him in Herb Greenberg's "Worst CEO of the Year" column from 2006.

Investors would do well to ignore Lekach's offer based on his history of smoke-blowing, and focus on the mess that is Pacific Sunwear's current operations.

UPDATE: Pacific Sunwear has announced that it has rejected the offer. Shares are down 1.5% today, at $3.74.

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

• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) earnings potential due to its denosumab is expected to rise substantially.
• Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) beat low Q2 expectations but forecast a loss in Q3.
• BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. (NYSE: BJ) beat Q2 profit estimates and announced share buybacks.
• BWAY Holding Co. (NYSE: BWY) topped Q3 expectations on cost containment and increased productivity.
• Fuqi International Inc. (NASDAQ: FUQI) beat Q2 expectations and offered Q3 and full-year guidance.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) reported higher Q2 earnings but lower sales, dragged down by Old Navy.
• Hewlett-Packard Corp. (NYSE: HPQ) reported strong Q3 earnings results due to its global reach.
• Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) Q2 results fell more than expected, but it reaffirmed its earnings forecast.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) may post preliminary results (another loss) before Sept.
• Lowe's Cos. Inc. (NYSE: LOW) posted better-than-expected Q2 profits but offered a cautious sales forecast.
• Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN) weak guidance lead to analyst downgrades.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) posted strong Q2 results and announced an aquisition.
• VeriFone Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PAY) offered a positive outlook, which sent shares soaring.

For more highlights from this week, see: Hershey, Heinz, Burger King, Foot Locker, Saks and others

Upcoming quarterly reports include Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Borders (NYSE: BGP), Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP), Tivo (NASDAQ: TIVO), Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL), Dell (NASDAQ: DELL), Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), and Tiffany (NYSE: TIF).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Rival home improvement chains Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Not surprisingly, given the ongoing housing slump, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial on average expect both companies to post earnings lower than in the same period a year ago. For Home Depot, that's 61 cents per share, down 20.8%, and for Lowe's, 56 cents per share, down 16.4%. Meanwhile, cabinet maker American Woodmark Corp. (NASDAQ: AMWD), for whom Home Depot and Lowe's are major distributors, is also expected to report lower earnings: 11 cents per share, down 67.6%.

The presidential campaigns have prompted much discussion of energy policy and alternative energy sources. Some solar-energy-related concerns are scheduled to report this week, and expectations seem to be high. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is expected to report 81 cents per share earnings, up 67.9%; ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) is expected to post earnings of 32 cents per share, up 62.5%; and Suntech Power Holdings Co. (NYSE: STP) is expected to have earnings of 32 cents per share, up 21.9%. Even China Sunergy Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CSUN) is expected to have swung to a profit of 3 cents per share, from a per-share loss of 14 cents a year ago.

If you were paying close attention to this column last week, you would have sidestepped some of the pain and misery investors in many of the stocks discussed have suffered lately. Of late, we have seen the general direction of the markets turn positive, even in the face of news to the contrary.

Perhaps it is because investors have an appetite for stocks, since there seems to be few investment alternatives. Real estate is off limits and the yield on bonds and other fixed-income investments is pathetically low.

The theme for the week ahead is SMOOTH SAILING. In this week's column, we delve into some stocks that will be announcing earnings, and that may benefit from the changing tide of investor sentiment. To be sure, there will be several areas of choppiness as we continue to be bombarded by the stormy realities of a turbulent economy.

Monday, May 19

The chart for Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) looks M'm M'm good. Sporting a smooth line with nary a ripple over the past 12 months, management has done a great job at keeping both company earnings and share price up, even in the face of significant food inflation. While shares have been condensing during the past few months, recently they have been rising with a series of higher highs and higher lows. Be on the outlook for earnings of 44 cents per share on revenue expectations of $1.89 billion. Now that I think of it. That's a lot of soup wrapped in tin-plated steel -- one of many materials that has seen its price almost double in the past six months.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: American International Group, Pacific Sunwear, FedEx and Cheniere Energy were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded American International Group (NYSE: AIG) to Neutral from Buy as they expect market concerns regarding balance sheet pressures and dilutive capital raises to pressure shares.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Sell from Buy as they believe Q1 trends are disappointing following the comp results.
  
• Morgan Keegan downgraded FedEx (NYSE: FDX) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the uncertainty related to fuel prices and the economy. RBC
  
• Capital cut Cheniere Energy (NYSE: LNG) to Underperform from Outperform citing the corrected 2007 10K which indicates increased liquidity concerns.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Oppenheimer cut Navios Maritime (NYSE: NM) to Perform from Outperform.
  
• Credit Suisse lowered TAL International Group (NYSE: TAL) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Vital Signs (NASDAQ: VITL) was downgraded at Piper to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Brokers and Asset Managers sector, Pacific Sunwear and Metabasis Therapeutics were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded the Brokers and Asset Management sector to Attractive from Neutral as they believe an inflection point has been reached for stocks with minimal credit exposure, or where exposure is marked to market. Goldman expects the problem to shift to regional banks and specialty finance from brokers. As such, Goldman upgraded American Express (NYSE: AXP), Metlife (NYSE: MET), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) and NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation, merchandising improvements, operating efficiencies, favorable product mix, and reductions in underperforming categories.
  
• Rodman & Renshaw raised Metabasis (NASDAQ: MBRX) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation given the potential for MB07803.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• HSBC raised Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Neutral from Underweight.
  
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Underweight.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Motorola, Paccar, Pacific Sunwear, Talbots and RightNow Tech were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, and is positive on the company's free cash flow generation.
  
• Wachovia raised Paccar Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR) estimates to Market Perform from Underperform based on better-than-expected European performance.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Buy from Hold as they believe the demo division divestiture and improving product execution in core PacSun stores could drive accelerating EPS growth.
  
• Citigroup also upgraded shares of Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) to Hold from Sell on valuation but remains concerned about the company's long-term outlook.
  
• Roth Capital upgraded RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW) to Buy from Hold, as they are encouraged by RNOW's Q3 results and raised guidance and believes the worst is behind the company.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman added Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Akamai (NADAQ: AKAM) to Overweight from Market Weight.
  
• Lehman upgraded Harley Davidson (NYSE: HOG) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Gabelli upgraded Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) to Hold from Sell.

Upscale lifestyle products company Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) reversed the trend among its competitors and posted good 1Q earnings. Total sales for 1Q 2007 increased 16% to $314.5 million, which is a new record. Earnings increased a big 45% to $29.4 million, which works out to diluted EPS $0.17. So far so good, but ... None of Urban Outfitters three current brands posted remarkable increases. Anthropologie sales increased 2%, Free People increased sales by 8%, while its main brand, Urban Outfitters, declined 5%. The big sales increases came from a 30% increase in internet sales, and 12% increase at Free People Wholesale.

If direct-to-consumer sales are the hot ticket, then why did Urban Outfitters, Inc. open six new expensive stores during 1Q, four Urban Outfitters and two Anthropologie? Why does the company plan to open an additional 32 expensive locations during the coming year? Gross profit margins remained essentially flat, but the cost of inventory increased 19% because the new stores have to be stocked. Why not build a more sophisticated internet presence?

Urban Outfitters, Inc. plans to launch a fourth brand in early 2008. This brand will be primarily an upscale home and garden brand. It is unclear how many, if any, of the 32 new stores will belong to this as yet unnamed brand.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. was helped this quarter by one-time federal tax incentives that contributed $0.03 per share to earnings by reducing the corporate tax rate to 22.3%. The rate will return to its normal 36.2% in FY 2008. Still, Urban Outfitters is a bright spot amongst its competitors. American Eagle Outfitters' profits are below expectations, and the stocks for Aeropostale, Pacific Sunwear, and Abercrombie & Fitch are all down. Shares of Urban Outfitters, Inc. closed recently at $25.51, up $0.14.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Every time I walk through a mall (not too often these days), I see a new "hip" store of which I was previously unaware. I can always count on a few mainstays, though ... the cell-phone-accessory kiosk manned by overly enthusiastic employees, the tantalizing aroma from Auntie Anne's pretzels, and the always tasteful novelty shops. In most malls, I can typically scope out the latest yuppie fashions in either Gap (NYSE: GPS) or Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) (and often-times both). Despite the encroachment of Hot Topic (NASDAQ: HOTT), Pacific Sunwear of California (NASDAQ: PSUN), and other trendy competitors, these two venerable names have stood the test of time, providing relatively affordable threads for men, women, and kids.

In addition to its eponymous chain, which was started in 1969, GPS runs the Old Navy and Banana Republic chains. The retailer's most recent experiment, Forth & Towne (created to appeal to thirty-something career woman) was a bust and has now been abandoned after 18 months. Same-store sales trends have turned south of late, dropping five percent in fiscal year 2005 and slumping seven percent last year. And during the past 12-month cycle, GPS has seen its quarterly earnings drop more than 35 percent. The stock is well off its highs, having lost two-thirds of its value since early 2000. With technical resistance bearing down in the form of the equity's 10-month and 20-month moving averages, relief might not be in sight for a while.

Monday March 5

• Landstar Systems Inc (NASDAQ: LSTR) to hold Q1 mid-quarter update conference call at 2pm.
• Federal Reserve St Louis Bank President William Poole to speak at 11am, Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to speak at 2pm.

Tuesday March 6

• International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT), a "global company specializing in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of computerized gaming machines and systems products," to hold its annual shareholder meeting at 1pm.

Wednesday March 7

• Saks Inc (NYSE: SKS) to hold Q4 earnings conference call at 10am.
• PDUFA date for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Humira, a Tumor Necrosis Factor blocker, which is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of arthritis.
• PDUFA date for Merck and Co Incs (NYSE: MRK) Janumet, a treatment for Type 2 Diabetes.

Thursday March 8

• Monthly Same Store Sales to be reported by Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT), Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT), Aeropostale Inc (NYSE: ARO), Kohl's Corporation (NYSE: KSS), Pacific Sunwear of California Inc (NASDAQ: PSUN), Abercrombie & Fitch Co (NYSE: ANF), Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) Nordstrom Inc (NYSE: JWN) and J.C. Penney Co Inc (NYSE: JCP).

Friday March 9

• PDUFA date for Eli Lilly and Company's (NYSE: LLY) Cymbalta, a treatment for depression.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) were the most notable upgrades for the first trading session of 2007.

• Home Depot (NYSE: HD) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Hold with a $50 target at Raymond James, expecting that the worst is over in the housing market with hopes 2007 will be a better year.

• Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) was added to Stifel Nicolaus' Select List while maintaining its Buy rating, citing Google's growth rate as compared to its peers. Note that Stifel removed eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) from their Select List.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bear Stearns upgraded JB Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $27 target; the firm expects JB Hunt to Outperform its pure truckload competitors during the downturn and for a potential buyer to surface.

• Bear Stearns also upgraded Merck (NYSE: MRK) to Outperform from Peer Perform with a $53 target, based on improved sales growth for Vytorin/Zetia, growth from Junuvia and vaccines, along with pipeline catalysts.

• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Pacific Sunwear (NASDAQ: PSUN) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $25 target, believing that tight inventory management favors margin improvement and that business at core stores have stabilized.

• Calyon upgraded UAL Corp (NASDAQ: UAUA) to Add from Neutral and raised their target to $48 from $35 based on good prospects for 2007.

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