McDonald's Corporation (MCD) closed down 70 cents to $72.74. Overall option implied volatility of 19 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional near term price movement.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN) is hosting a mid-quarter update on September 9. Susquehanna lowered its rating to neutral from positive. September option implied volatility is at 29, December is at 33 is above its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX up 2.53 to 26.98, S&P 500 down 1.55%.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Noble Energy (NE) to outperform from market perform and raised its target to $85 from $78. The firm upgraded Noble based on Niobrara field potential and record-breaking reserve potential at the Leviathan prospect.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Raytheon (RTN) to outperform from market perform based on relative valuation, strong balance sheet and International sales exposure.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Cerner (CERN) to buy from hold based on valuation and EMR momentum. The firm raised its price target on shares to $86 from $80.
• Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) was upgraded to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• Cavium Networks (CAVM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• CSG Systems (CSGS) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Coca-Cola (KO) to overweight from neutral due to valuation and expectations that developed market volume should improve. The firm raised its target price for shares to $66.
• BB&T upgraded Nordson (NDSN) to buy from hold and has an $82 price target on the stock. The firm believes certain drivers of Nordson's Advanced Tech unit are becoming more secular vs. cyclical and that the company's EBIT margins can go higher.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to outperform from underperform, citing the positive announcements from the Famborough Air Show. The firm raised its price target to $37 from $21.
• Universal Health (UHS) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Mead Johnson (MJN) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Coventry Health (CVH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.

Texas Instruments (TXN) reported earnings Monday after the bell. Shares were punished in after-hours trading, falling over 5%. The market was disappointed, I presume, by the fact that there really wasn't too much of a surprise when it came to the bottom line.

The tech company announced earnings per share of 62 cents in the second quarter. Okay, that might have been simply in-line with expectations, as our earnings preview makes clear. But you've got to take note of the year-over-year growth as well.

For better or worse, the earnings crunch is on this week, with many companies scheduled to report their second quarter 2010 results. Here's a quick run down of what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting to see in the way of this week's earnings results, as well as a closer look at three of the week's biggest anticipated earnings gainers: American Express Co. (AXP), Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).

Analysts expect the following companies to have more than doubled their earnings per share from a year ago.

Intel (INTC), whose related companies include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN), did extremely well during the second quarter. You've got to like the stock at this point. It reacted very nicely in Tuesday's after-hours session following the release of the report, shooting higher by 7%.

The market has been crazy lately, but as Trey Thoelcke highlighted in his preview piece, Intel's stock is currently cheap relative to the industry average.

"SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology (MTK) has been one of our top ETF recommendations in recent months," says Nathan Slaughter, who reviews the exchange-traded fund along with some of its primary holdings.

The editor of The ETF Authority suggests, "The latest financials from some of the heaviest hitters in the field have reaffirmed our confidence in this sector of the market.

"For example, a few months ago, Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) was cheering spectacular +133% first quarter sales growth.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TXN), whose related competitors include Intel Corporation (INTC) and Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM), issued an update yesterday after the bell on its Q2 prospects. The release contained some improved guidance that I believe shareholders will appreciate. But is it enough to make one want to roll the dice on the business?

Net sales were previously expected to come in between $3.31 billion and $3.59 billion. Now, the lower end of the range has been increased to $3.45 billion. Earnings per share were supposed to hit between 56 cents and 64 cents. Again, the lower end was raised: management now believes 60 cents will be the minimum stat.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Baker Hughes (BHI) to hold from sell following the company's Q1 results.
• Auriga upgraded Canadian Solar (CSIQ) to buy from hold as it believes the company's negative preannouncement on April 20 removes a downside catalyst. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $21 from $25.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Post Properties (PPS) to hold from sell following the company's Q1 results. The firm upped its target for shares to $27 from $16.
• Wright Express (WXS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) coverage was assumed with a buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Elan (ELN) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.

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

• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) shares surged following stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings driven by DVD rentals.
• Humana Inc. (HUM) shares traded lower despite the report of better-than-expected earnings for Q1.
• IMAX Corp. (IMAX) reported strong Q1 results that easily topped consensus estimates, but shares declined.
• Kellogg Co. (K) topped Q1 earnings expectations and announced a share buyback program.
• Office Depot Inc. (ODP) Q1 earnings fell short of consensus estimates and same-store sales declined.

Texas Instruments (TXN), whose colleagues include Intel (INTC) and Qualcomm (QCOM), is one of those stocks I've been afraid to buy, but probably shouldn't be. When I discussed the chipmaker's fourth quarter, I was reluctant to issue a bullish call, even though I enjoyed the fundamental aspect to the story. Not long after that, the stock rose a few bucks.

I was looking for a margin of safety, but I guess it was already built into the shares. The one-year chart is looking mostly good. It's a little meandering, perhaps, but I guess that means you can take advantage of the dips.

By and large, earnings expectations remain high as earnings season rolls on this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect double-digit annual earnings growth from Avon (AVP), Kellogg (K) and Whirlpool (WHR) to Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), DuPont (DD) and Northrop Grumman (NOC).

Big Oil steps into the earnings spotlight this week as well. Wall Street is anticipating big profit growth from BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), which we look at more closely below, Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), as well as from Apache (APA) and Occidental (OXY). Even Hess (HES) is forecast to have swung to a profit from last year's net loss.

Intel (INTC), whose colleagues include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN), had a nice time during yesterday's after-hours trading. The company's stock was met with buying approval after the impressive first-quarter earnings report was posted. How should investors feel about the stock now?

Well, investors should feel pretty good, I believe. The price action has been encouraging. First, if you examine the one-year chart, you'll see that the stock has been trending higher. Admittedly, it's not the smoothest-looking uptrend, but overall, I think the chip maker is going to continue to climb higher. And the stock has certainly come a long way from the 52-week low.

"It was interesting to watch the pundits react to the iPad recently; even though none of them had used or even really understood the product, it seemed as though no one liked it following its first introduction," notes tech expert Paul McWilliams in his just-released review of the new tech device from Apple (AAPL).

In his Next Inning newsletter, he explains, "Of course, this was similar to how the pundits first reacted to the iPod when it was released. As the pundits trashed the iPad following its release, I reminded readers about the iPod story and predicted we would see the pundits about face and the stock price run up ahead of the product release."

National Semiconductor (NSM), a chip maker operating in the same sector as Texas Instruments (TXN), reported increases in both the top and bottom lines for the third quarter in a press release posted yesterday after the bell. Revenues jumped over 20%. Net income was 22 cents per share, much better than the comparable period's 9 cents per share.

That was certainly a large gain in profit. Now, let's check out what the analysts were thinking. According to Reuters, Wall Street was projecting only 18 cents per share. Management scores again.