A lot of earnings reports were issued last week. The market was busy sorting them all out. I'm going to take a fast look at several of the issuing companies.

American Express (NYSE: AXP): Don't leave home without it. Good advice for the card, perhaps, but what about the company? Should your portfolio leave home and forget this stock? I'd say so. It's not that American Express lost the earnings game. On the contrary, Bloomberg reported a beat. American Express earned 44 cents per share from continuing operations, adjusted. This was six pennies ahead of forecasts. Okay, I applaud such performance. And shares are way off the single-digit 52-week low. Thing is, I'm in love with another card business. Visa (NYSE: V). As I've stated before, I enjoy the beauty of Visa's lower-risk model. It doesn't have to put up with loan risk. Yes, the situation at American Express might be improving, but I'm not going to buy this one.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) closed at $32.68. The Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) and Merck merger is expected to close before year end. SGP shareholders will receive 0.5767 shares and $10.50 in cash for each share of SGP. MRK October and January option implied volatility of 31 is below its 26-week average of 37, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) closed at $16.77.Pfizer is expected to close on the acquisition of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for $33 in cash and 0.985 of a share of Pfizer by the end of 2009. PFE October option implied volatility is at 26, December is at 31; below its 26-week average of 36, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Pharmaceutical company Merck (NYSE: MRK), whose colleagues include Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), issued its Q2 numbers earlier in the week. Quite frankly, I found them to be boring. Of course, maybe boring isn't too bad these days, right? It's a lot better than an exciting ride on a profit-decline express.

Well, actually, Merck did see a decline in its bottom-line profit, but it wasn't an outrageously awful drop or anything like that. Merck made an adjusted 83 cents per share compared to an adjusted 86 cents per share in the comparable period. Three less pennies isn't the worst thing in the world on a relative basis. Plus, revenues increased 3% if you exclude currency effects (including them gives a decrease of 3%).

This morning, Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) acccepted for review the company's Marketing Authorisation Application for asenapine. If approved, it will be sold as Sycrest in the form of a tablet for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder.

Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a new-drug application for asenapine under the brand name Saphris.

SGP noted that it "highlighted asenapine as one of the Five Stars in our late-stage research and development pipeline at our R&D Update meeting in November 2008. At that time, we said that our aspirational filing date for asenapine in Europe was in 2009."

Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) closed at $43.11. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced on January 26 the acquisition of WYE for $33 in cash and 0.985 of a share of PFE. PFE closed at $14.04. WYE April and May option implied volatility of 23 is near its 13-week average of 23, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) and Merck (NYSE: MRK) approved a definite merger agreement on March 9. SGP shareholders will receive 0.5767 shares and $10.50 in cash for each share of SGP. SGP closed at $24.19. MRK closed at $27.16. SGP April and May option implied volatility of 37 is near its 2-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directorial price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

More and more, there are signs that the capital markets are finding equilibrium. For example, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was able to raise $13.5 billion in debt financing this week. The structure was a five-part issue of notes.

Of course, Pfizer needs the cash to pull off its $64.2 billion acquisition of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE).

Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) approved a definite merger agreement; SGP shareholders will receive 0.5767 shares and $10.50 in cash for each share of SGP. MRK is recently trading at $21.90 in pre-open trading, below its close at $22.74. MRK April option implied volatility of 55 is above its 26-week average of 50, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

SGP is recently trading at $20.70 in pre-open trading, above its close of $17.63. SGP March option implied volatility is at 88; April is at 69; above its 26-week average of 55, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

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

• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) reported that its Q4 profit tripled but it fell short of estimates.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) met earnings estimates but it is getting more pressure from Carl Icahn.
• BP (NYSE: BP) surprised Wall Street with a multibillion dollar Q4 loss due to lower oil prices.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) beat Q2 estimates but warned that incoming orders have declined.
• Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) reaffirmed its previous Q4 guidance, which pleased investors.
• Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) topped Q2 earings estimates and it announced job cuts.
• Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Q4 earnings fell on higher claim expenses and lower investment income.
• JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) adjusted earnings were in line with estimates but revenue fell.

If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

Drugmaker Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) reported this morning a drop of 48% in its fiscal first-quarter profit, hurt by higher costs tied to a buyout in the prior quarter. However, the company was able to post adjusted earnings well above analysts' predictions, pushing its shares up in morning trading.

Schering-Plough's profit during the first-quarter plunged to $291 million, or 15 cents a share, dragged down by charges related to its acquisition of Organon Biosciences NV. Excluding items, Schering-Plough's earnings figures would have come at 53 cents per share. Analysts' forecasts (which typically exclude one time items) were for 37 cents per share in the quarter.

The company's quarterly revenue jumped by a respectable 57% to $4.66 billion. For the period, the company benefited from strong gains from Organon, which came with sales of $1.3 billion. Anti-inflammatory Remicade sales also saw a growth of 36%, while allergy treatment Nasonex revenue saw a rise of 8%. Higher drug prices offset lower prescriptions in the U.S. Analysts, on average, expected Schering-Plough's revenue to be $4.52 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

Today marked the end of the first quarter of 2008, and the markets ended on an up-note today. The gains in the DJIA today were within a few points of closing up for the month of March 2008. The DJIA hasn't had a positive month since October 2007.

One of the premiere helping hands came from Hank Paulson's proposals that would regulate more players in the financial services industry ahead. Another note was that the Chicago Purchasing managers Index actually gained from 44.5 in February to 48.2 in March, also above the 47.3 estimates. Below are the unofficial closing levels for the DJIA:

• DJIA 12,262.89 (+46.49, +0.38%)
• NASDAQ 2,279.10 (+17.92, +0.79%)
• S&P500 1,322.69 (+7.47, +0.57%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.432% (-0.034%)
• Full 52-Week Lows

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) announced today that it plans to reorganize its consumer credit card business into two parts, Consumer Banking and Global Cards. Analysts doubt the move will eventually result in a spin-off of the unit. The regionalized restructuring will allow more localized control which should enable Citigroup to target international markets more effectively.

Shares of Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) and Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) were obliterated today after a major study cast doubt on the effectiveness of their cholesterol-fighting drugs Vytorin and Zetia.

Schering-Plough fell $5, nearly 26%, to $14.47 in early afternoon trading while Merck plunged $6.67, or 15%, to $37.84. As the New York Times and other media outlets noted, the news from the American College of Cardiology couldn't have been much worse for investors.

A scientific panel said the drugs failed to slow the growth of plaques in arteries associated with heart attacks and strokes. It also urged physicians and patients to "rely more heavily on older cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, which have proven benefits and can be cheaper," according to the Times.

For Schering-Plough, the results are potentially devastating because both drugs account for about 70% of the company's profit, according to analysts' cited by the paper. You have to wonder how much longer Schering-Plough can remain independent.

About the only winners from this mess are the media companies. Those annoying commercials for the drugs helped fatten their bottom lines during a period of uncertain consumer spending. If the companies have any hope of salvaging these products, they are going to need to open up their checkbooks and buy lots and lots of advertising.

Freelance journalist Jonathan Berr writes and edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the bad news is relentless, and people are discouraged.

Each day seems to be filled with so much disappointment. The American Axle (NYSE: AXL) (Cramer's Take) strike, for example, has now pretty much shut down General Motors (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take), and I see no signs that AXL can defeat the union. Given how heavily dependent the Midwest region is on GM for steady income, this one can only exacerbate the terrible real estate market and hence the terrible mortgage delinquencies that pockmark Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Or the loss of the Absolut brand for Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) (Cramer's Take). Fortune needed to win this one because its home improvement business is falling off a cliff. This was a vain attempt to diversify a division that has always helped the company in tough times.

Or the Vytorin studies, nothing new, as we knew that parts of the medical community doesn't approve of the drug, but the analysts had held out hope and we have and are going to see repeated downgrades of the stock. I am telling subscribers of Action Alerts PLUS that Schering (NYSE: SGP) (Cramer's Take) stock, at $16 -- where it is surely headed -- has now lost more than half its value, which reflects the pulling of the drug. As 50% of the company's earnings are reportedly from the drug, perhaps that's a fitting decline. I think SGP is worth a lot more because of the purchase of Oraganon. I have been very wrong. My solace: So many others have been, too.

Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) is recently at $15.80 in pre-open trading, below its close of $19.47.

A panel of cardiologists called on physicians to sharply curtail their use of cholesterol-lowering drugs Vytorin (combination of Merck's (NYSE: MRK) Zocor an SGP's Zetia) and Zetia after a clinical study showed the drugs didn't work better than less expensive statin drugs.

SGP April option implied volatility of 58 is above is 26-week average of 36 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

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

• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) first-quarter profits fell due to market conditions.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) lowered its earnings forecast on declining sales.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) posted unexciting second-quarter results, but shares rose anyway.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) posted solid results but fell short of expecations.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) beat expectations and annouced it first dividend in a decade.
• Denny's Corp. (NASDAQ: DENN) fourth-quarter results were dragged down by the sale of restaurants.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) posted a record loss and made a buyout offer to union employees.
• Hasbro Inc. (NYSE: HAS) post better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on popularity of the Transformers.
• Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter as restructuring continued.
• Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) missed earnings estimates despite strong revenue growth.
• Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) profit fell on losses from discontinued operations.
• Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: TAP) beat estimates as profits rose 75%.
• PolyOne Corp. (NYSE: POL) beat expectations and raised its guidance.
• Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) beat expectations, excluding a charge for acquistion costs.
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) posted a big loss on write-downs due to the subprime crisis.
• VNUS Medical Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: VNUS) beat expectations on strength overseas.
• World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) beat expectations despite weakness in its movie business.

Also, Jim Cramer defends his interest in GM after its record loss.

Upcoming results to watch for include Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX), Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM), JCPenney (NYSE: JCP), and Safeway (NYSE: SWY).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.