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

• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) reported that Q4 revenue soared despite the recession.
• Baidu Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) posted strong annual revenue, but at a slowing growth rate.
• Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) easily topped Q4 earnings expectations, lifting shares up.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Q4 earnings beat expectations and it increased its dividend.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) shares jumped after it reported higher earnings in Q4.
• Digital River Inc. (NASDAQ: DRIV) shares soared on better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue.
• Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) reported dismal results due to a huge good will write down.
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) posted a greater-than-expected Q4 net loss and announced job cuts.
• Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) exceeded Q1 earnings expectations due to the popularity of SPAM.

While there are signs of a thawing of the credit crisis, the fact remains that getting financing for deals is no easy feat. Along those lines, HTLH Corp. (NASDAQ: HLTH) and WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) announced this week that they are terminating their $2.31 billion merger deal.

Interestingly enough, HLTH already has an 84% stake in WebMD. In other words, HLTH had lots of leverage in the proposed transaction.

But, of course, it wasn't enough.

There is some good news, though; that is, by not having to take on debt, HLTH and WebMD will have some flexibility in buying other companies. With the recent plunge in equities, there are certainly many compelling bargains.

However, HLTH still has some issues. The company has to manage $650 million in long-term debt (WebMD, on the other hand, has $340 million in the bank and has no long-term debt). What's more, the company is having trouble with the sale of its Porex division. So, to make up for things, HLTH plans to buy back up to 50 million shares for $9.20 a piece.

Based on the news, HLTH shares fell 13% to $7.96 and WebMD's shares spiked 26% to $19.10.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

The Associated Press reports that CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) is buying CNet Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: CNET) for $1.75 billion. This $11.50 a share deal is a 45% premium over Wednesday's closing price

CNet's Web sites include News.com, TV.com, Mp3.com, MySimon and GameSpot. And CBS expects to use CNet to tap into the Internet advertising market. This deal raises the question of whether any CBS competitors will decide to get into the game of buying Internet content companies.

Here are three possible targets:

• TheStreet.com (NASDAQ: TSCM) - This provider of business, investment and ratings content has $65 million in sales and a market cap of $236 million.
• TechTarget (NASDAQ: TTGT) - This provider of online content for buyers and sellers of corporate information technology (IT) products has $95 million in sales and a $531 million market cap.
• WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) - This provider health information services to consumers, physicians and other healthcare professionals, employers and health plans has $332 million in sales and it's market capitalization is $1.7 billion

I think traditional media companies buying Internet ones could become a trend. It would only take two more such deals to make it one.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Citigroup upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company's Q3 results underlined the strength of exploration and production growth prospects versus peers.
  
• Friedman Billings raised its rating on HLTH Corporation (NASDAQ: HLTH) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's proposal to merge into WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) for a combination of cash and stock.
  
• The firm also added shares of Aflac (NYSE: AFL) to its Top Picks List, as they believe Aflac is the only high quality, defensive growth story in the Life Insurance sector.
  
• CIBC upgraded shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer following the Q3 upside and set a $230 target on the stock.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Town Sports (NASDAQ: CLUB) to Neutral from Sell on valuation as they believe the downside risk is now priced into the stock.

• Credit Suisse upgraded Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

According to The New York Times, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are "working up their plans to improve the nation's health care." The companies plan to combine search, the medical community's vast knowledge about disease and personal health records to better serve people with health issues.

While the companies are up against a medical systems known for its bureaucracy, they appear to believe that they can bring in large numbers of new users and medical advertisers as well. The Times writes that a recent Harris poll showed that 51% of adults consulted the internet for health information.

Both companies believe that patients would be happier if they had more control over their health records and decisions about illnesses.

All of this ignores the question of whether people will trust big software and internet companies to be stewards of their records, and whether they will trust information from companies that are simply trying to make money off a new line of business.

Online health care is already a crowded industry. Companies including WebMD and Healthline already provide medical information and patient services. The Center for the Study of Disease Control and National Institutes for Health have heavily visited websites. And, they are not-for-profit government agencies that most consumers would probably view as more trustworthy and software monopolies.

Microsoft Health may seem like a good idea, but will anyone trust it?

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St. G

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Weekday Trader" section said that Bankrate Inc (NASDAQ: RATE), Answers Corporation (NASDAQ: ANSW), WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) and The Knot Inc (NASDAQ: KNOT) may be the next preferred takeover targets for Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT).
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Brad Tierney is interested in Dow Jones and Company (NYSE: DJ), which in talks with News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) Rupert Murdoch for a possible $5B sale.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a person close to the deal, Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) will acquire the Orange Netherlands unit of France Telecom for about EUR1.3B, and simultaneously sell Ya.com for EUR320M to them.
• The Financial Times reported that three separate research teams showed the embryonic stem cells can be created by reprogramming some of the genes in adult mice skin cells, without creating an embryo. The news will be well-received by opponents of embryonic stem cell research, but scientists said it is too early to tell if the technique can be used with human cells.

• The Herald Sun reported that a new $237B Chinese state-owned investment fund may be interested in acquiring natural resources company BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP), according to Bell Potter research chief Peter Quinton.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair started the online health information portal, WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) with an Outperform rating. The firm believes WebMD is positioned to benefit from various trends in the industry, including the increasing use of the Internet for information and patients' assuming more responsibility for their health care decisions.

• Pacific Growth initiated United Therapeutics Corp (NASDAQ: UTHR) with a Neutral rating. The firm sees potential revenue risk from patient switching and reduced new patient starts in response to reports about higher incidence of serious Gram negative infections resulting in a Dear Doctor letter being sent to all IV-Remodulin prescribers in September 2006.

• Soleil Securities started Genuine Parts Co (NYSE: GPC) with a Buy rating and $65 target, noting that Genuine has the highest yield in the auto sector.

• Nollenberger doesn't see a catalyst for double-digit growth in Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ: LRCX) for the next 12-18 months and initiated the company with a Neutral rating and $40 target.

• ConAgra Foods Inc (NYSE: CAG) was initiated with a Hold rating at AG Edwards on valuation.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Following the FCC comments, Bear Stearns upgraded Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) to Peer Perform from Underperform after yesterday's sell-off; as they believe investors can now focus on the company's strong fundamentals.

• Wachovia upgraded Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) to Outperform from Market Perform after the company rejected the Dolan family's $30 a share offer.

• Citigroup upgraded Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) to Buy from Hold with a $64 target, believing that the December quarter miss is priced into shares and investors will begin to focus on upcoming catalysts, including a strong March release slate.

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) to Overweight from Neutral and added the retailer to their Focus List, citing expectations of margin expansion and earnings growth.

• Citigroup also upgraded shares of WebMD Health Holdings (NASDAQ: WBMD) to Hold from Cell, with a $46 target. The upgrade was made to reflect the company's stronger than expected fourth-quarter results and more positive outlook for 2007.

Online health is certainly a hot market.  Look at WebMD. During the last quarter, sales increased 48% to $50.1 million. In fact, the stock is up about 50% this year (the market cap is about $2.5 billion).

Well, rumors are swirling that Google wants a piece of the action – that is, according to a recent blog post at VC Ratings.

The new Google property has a name:  Google Health Scrapbook. Again, Google is using its super-smart software engineers to design a sophisticated database – in this case, it involves a system of doctors, insurers, patients and so on. Basically, you will now have a Web-based medical record, in which you can change providers, update information, and even pay bills.

No doubt, the health care industry is enormous and extremely complex (it's a trillion dollar business in the US).  Thus, it makes sense for Google to partner.

And, that's apparently what the company is doing, with players like Intuit, AllScripts, and yes, WebMD.