I first discussed United Parcel Service (UPS) here on April 7, 2009, at a price of $51.28, and shares continue to head north. I obviously still like the business model at this stage.

UPS's 2011 revenue should increase 8% to 10%, after a probable 10% to 13% increase in 2010. UPS is benefiting from increased demand stemming from the strengthening U.S. and global recoveries and there will be better quarters are ahead. Look for increased pricing power, in some delivery segments, and higher volumes.

I'd also raise the sell/stop loss to $54 from $48 at this stage.

Friday's fourth-quarter GDP numbers offered more evidence that the economy is picking up steam, but one of the biggest obstacles to the recovery remains the stubbornly high unemployment rate. We'll find out whether there's been any movement on that front when employment data for January comes out this week. The Challenger Job-Cut report and ADP employment data are due Wednesday, and the government's unemployment rate on Friday. Another mild increase in jobs is expected, in line with the three-month average, but not enough to significantly reduce the unemployment rate.

Also look for the ISM manufacturing and nonmanufacturing indexes this week, as well as the Chicago PMI and the New York NAPM index. And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak to the National Press Club on Thursday.

If you took advantage of United Parcel Service's (UPS) summer correction to add to your position, you made the right move. UPS, which I first wrote about here on April 7, 2009, at a price of $51.28, accelerated out of a trough anear $55 to retest $70 this fall. And I obviously still like the shares.

UPS's 2011 revenue should increase 8% to 10%, after a 10% to 13% increase in 2010. Without question, the worst is over for the delivery business and better quarters are ahead: increased pricing power, in some delivery segments, and higher volumes are likely as the U.S. and global economic expansions continue.

Delivery firm UPS (UPS) has announced third-quarter earnings and upped its full-year 2010 earnings. For the quarter, the dean of delivery earned 93 cents per share on an adjusted basis, topping the consensus estimate by a nickel. These results also easily trumped last year's third-quarter earnings of 55 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased 9% to $12.19 billion.

UPS's earnings received a boost from higher prices, but also benefited by a 3.6% rise in the average number of packages shipped per day. The main benefit of this increase stemmed from an increase of 4% in revenue per package. International average daily shipping volume increased 13%, led by Asia, which saw an increase of 30% in volume. A majority of this international increase came from shipments of electronics from Asia.

FedEx (FDX), a package delivery service operating in the same industry as United Parcel Service (UPS), is experiencing something of a disconnect between its earnings report and its stock performance. I'm writing this early in the trading session, so things could change later on, but my screen is currently showing a quote of $80.77 for FedEx, which means the equity is down 2.7%. Volume should be robust by the end of the day.

According to this article, the company made $1.33 per share. This was more than double the adjusted profit that was reported in the year-ago frame, and it was a penny better than analyst projections. What gives?

You would think with the Dow falling nearly 400 points Thursday that all the news would be doom and gloom. But it appears one analyst still sees strength in the underlying economy that could provide some hope for Wall Street.

David Ross, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus, upgraded two bellwether stocks Thursday morning: United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx (FDX).

Ross upgraded both stocks from a hold to a buy, citing improved operating efficiencies and the likelihood of a continued economic recovery.

UPS (UPS - option chain) shares are rising today after the company preliminary earnings last night, posting an adjusted first-quarter profit of 71 cents per share, which topped analysts' forecasts of 58 cents per share. UPS also lifted its full-year EPS forecast to a range of $3.05 to $3.30, up from a previous range of $2.70 to $3.05. Analysts had forecast full-year EPS of $2.95. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on UPS.

UPS opened this morning at $68.50. So far today the stock has hit a low of $68.38 and a high of $69.74. As of 12:05, UPS is trading at $69.07 up $3.62 (5.5%). The chart for UPS looks bullish and S&P gives UPS a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

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

• Aol Inc. (AOL) reported a better-than-expected Q4 profit and said its revenue also topped estimates.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (BKC) higher Q2 earnings topped analysts' estimates but same-store sales fell.
• Clorox Co. (CLX) higher Q2 earnings beat expectations and it lifted its full-year earnings guidance.
• Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) Q4 earnings more than doubled and beat Wall Street expectations, but shares fell.
• Gap Inc. (GPS) shares jumped after it forecast earnings above analysts' expectations, boosted by January sales.

The strong fourth-quarter results that United Parcel Service (UPS) reported earlier this week may have led to an analyst's upgrade, but its done little for the stock. Shares inched upward both Tuesday and Wednesday on relatively low volume, but UPS is still trading in the same $57.00 to $59.00 range in which it's spent most of the past three months.

Tuesday, the Atlanta-based shipper said net income rose to $757 million, or $0.75 per share, from $254 million, or $0.25, a year ago. That beat the consensus estimate by a penny per share. Revenue fell 2.5% to $12.4 billion but beat the Street's forecast of $12.3 billion.

Speedy delivery service United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) delivered a mixed bag of third-quarter results on Thursday.

The company reported earnings of 55 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by two cents per share. While these results were better than the consensus estimate, they are a far cry from the 96 cents per share earned in the same quarter a year ago.

Quarterly sales came in at $11.15 billion, short of the consensus estimate of $11.17 billion and last year's $13.1 billion.

As Trey Thoelcke observed in his earnings preview, FedEx (NYSE: FDX), a package shipper that competes with UPS (NYSE: UPS), is considered by many to be a bellwether of the economy. The company reported Q1 earnings on Thursday; what do the results say about the country's financial situation?

Well, to me, they say things are still rough. Revenues decreased 20%, operating margin declined, and earnings per share plummeted 53% to 58 cents. Yeah, I'd say we're still having problems.

The United States Postal Service has been heavily promoting it's flat rate deliveries based on the the size of the box instead of the weight in an attempt to retrieve some of the business that it has lost to Federal Express Corp (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service.(NYSE: UPS) over the years.

The increasing use of the internet has reduced snail-mail traffic, hurting USPS revenue, while the internet has increased the traffic of package delivery services as sites like Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) continue to expand their businesses and new enterprises and existing traditional companies expand their web presence.

Let's face it, all those things you heard about efficient markets over the years were hogwash. In the short term, markets are not efficient and as we have learned on too many occasions, not even rational. If everything was always priced just right you would not have winners and losers and everyone would live happily ever after. For some things the short term might be as long as five to ten years.

Three years ago I lost out on the purchase of a property close to my office when someone decided it was worth 40% more than I did. At the time I told the broker the buyer was nuts and would lose money, if not more. I remember the broker telling me that the property was worth what someone is willing to pay. That is not true, but far be it from me too convince a broker that just made a terrific deal for his client that people often pay more than something is worth. To make a long story short, the property is now in default and I am trying to buy the note from the bank that made a bad loan accepting a silly valuation.

FedEx (NYSE: FDX), the delivery company that competes with United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), issued its Q4 earnings report on Wednesday. At first glance, it's scary. On a GAAP basis, FedEx said it lost $2.82 per diluted share during the quarter. You say to yourself, "Man, has the recession gotten worse!" Then you take a breath and see that the loss is sourced back to goodwill charges related to the Kinko's and Watkins Motor Lines transactions. Therefore, adjusting for those elements, FedEx earned $0.64 per diluted share.

You feel a little better as a shareholder when you realize the loss has some accounting context surrounding it. The bad feelings return, however, just like a package that you forgot to put postage on, when you check the results achieved in the year-ago period. You find out that FedEx earned $1.45 per diluted share at that time. Is there any saving grace now?

FedEx (NYSE: FDX) did not have a great third quarter. According to estimates, the parcel service was supposed to do around $0.46 per share. FedEx delivered $0.31 per share. In the year-ago period, income was $1.26 per share. This is not a good comparison. Also, total revenue declined 14%. Talk about bleak statistics.