If, as outlined in December, you took advantage of Tyson Foods' (TSN) dip to about $14.40, you made the correct move. First discussed here on May 11, 2009, at a price of $12.35, Tyson has moved north this winter, but with volatility, to about $19, and I still like the shares here.

In 2011, Tyson's revenue should increase about 3-4%, as food demand rises in-sync with the U.S. and global economic expansions. Chicken and beef margins should widen. Modest pricing power also will continue.

Tyson Foods (TSN) is on the front line of food inflation. While the Federal Reserve holds that inflation is just 2%, Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson said that "domestic food inflation will likely overtake U.S. government forecasts as crop and animal feed prices continue to rise," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last week, Tyson reported a profit of $298 million for the quarter to Jan. 1, compared with $160 million a year ago. Per share earnings rose to 78 cents from 42 cents. Revenue was up 15% to $7.6 billion.

Analyst Upgrades

• Boeing (BA) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Alcoa (AA) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• BP (BP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• Office Depot (ODP) and Staples (SPLS) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• ON Semiconductor (ONNN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Kennametal (KMT) and Polyone (POL) to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Airgas (ARG) to outperform from market perform at William Blair.
• EchoStar (SATS) to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.

Food producer Tyson Foods (TSN), first discussed here on May 11, 2009, at a price of $12.35, finally appears to have found some traction, and I obviously still like the shares at this stage.

The shares of Tyson downtrended in bear-hug fashion for much of 2010, walking down to about $15 from $20. However, since then the shares found support at $15 and have since popped back up above $17, including a nice move above the key, 50-day moving average.

Among the quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for the earnings results from Tyson Foods (TSN). The Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer reported on its sustainability efforts and also was named McDonalds' (MCD) supplier of the year during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to have doubled from a year ago to 56 cents per share.

Tyson is also expected to post revenue of $7.8 billion for the three months that ended in September, which is 7.4% more than in the same period of fiscal 2009. And the consensus estimate for the full year calls for earnings of $2.08 per share (+87.0%) and revenue of $28.7 billion (+7.3%). Tyson's earnings have been better than expected in recent quarters, beating consensus estimates by as much as 24 cents per share.

Goldman Sachs recently initiated its coverage of Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) by placing the stock on its Conviction Sell List, but I think this meat producer may have gotten a raw deal.

Monday morning, Tyson Foods reported its results for the fiscal third quarter of $242 million, or 65 cents per share, up approximately 86% from the same period last year. The company reported strong sales of $7.44 billion and said it expects demand to increase further next year.

Though the earnings season is winding down, and the coming week includes the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., plenty of reports are still due out. And analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters don't seem to be expecting too many turkeys among this week's bunch.

Leading U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), which has just named a new chief executive officer and a new chief operating officer, is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $0.26 per share, up from $0.14 in the same period of last year. But revenue is expected to total $6.9 billion, or 4.3% less than a year ago. The full-year forecast is for a profit of $0.25 per share (-16.7) on $26.4 billion (-3.9%) in sales. This dividend payer has offered upside surprises in the past two quarters, topping estimates by 11 cents per share in the third quarter.

Even though eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe, some Americans and international consumers will still avoid pork, due to the H1N1 flu.

That would typically hurt protein food producers, but Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) has alternatives, namely chicken, which is a major reason I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Tyson Foods, first recommended on May 11, 2009, at a price of $12.35.

Canadian banks are scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight this week, with third-quarter reports coming from Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), and Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD). While Canadian banks on the whole held up better than their U.S. counterparts during the financial crisis, these five are expected to report that their earnings are still declining in the most recent quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for EPS for these banks to have fallen from 15% to 25% from a year ago. Their long-term EPS growth forecast is for between 10% and 12%, which is in the same range as U.S. rivals JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), but better than Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C). Earnings multiples for these Canadian banks are 10x to 12x, but none of them have a First Call consensus recommendation is to buy. The Motley Fool, though, considers TD as a value stock and RY a stock poised to pop. All of them are trading much closer to their 52-week highs than lows, and shares of all are up more than 100% since March lows.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported better-than-expected Q2 results, sending shares higher.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) said it swung to a Q2 profit despite a dearth of leveraged buyouts.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Q2 earnings declined but still topped estimates, sending shares higher.
• Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) reported stellar Q2 results driven by its the popularity of RedBox.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) posted solid Q4 earnings but said revenues were flat due to currency effects.
• Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) lower Q2 earnings beat expectations by a penny but revenue fell short.

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) really improved its fortunes in Q3. Last year at this time, Tyson earned 3 cents per share. This year, the food company, famous for its chicken brand, made 35 cents per share. Sales actually dipped a little under 3%, but management is diligently fighting the good fight when it comes to efficiencies. Both costs of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses went down.

According to Bloomberg, the adjusted income of 33 cents per share simply blazed past Wall Street's expectations. The call was for 22 cents per share. You've got to like that. Higher prices for poultry helped the quarter.