When you write about Apple (AAPL), you inevitably hear from some naive person informing you that, "You just don't get it; Apple is different."

There are certainly many things about Apple that are very different, but in the context of the "you just don't get it" crowd, it is absolutely not. The same was said about Google (GOOG) only a short while ago, Xerox (XRX) three decades ago and Winchester -- now part of Olin Corp. (OLN) -- rifles 125 years ago.

Humble copier company Xerox (XRX) is suddenly the toast of Wall Street. In addition to a bullish Barron's feature earlier this week, the stock garnered a rush of attention from optimistic options players Thursday. Although the security has yet to establish a firm foothold in double-digit territory, it seems that hopes are running pretty high for Xerox.

On Thursday, call volume on XRX surged to 28 times the norm, with roughly 103,000 contracts crossing the tape. Most of the volume was focused on the January 2011 series of options, as one trader closed out a block of 35,000 January 7.50 calls and exchanged them for 35,000 contracts of the January 9 call. By rolling these calls up to a higher strike, the speculator is indicating that he expects additional upside from XRX during the intermediate term.

Over the weekend, Barron's published a very favorable cover story on Xerox (XRX), noting that the company is branching out to "recast" itself as a service company. The article points out that Xerox has seen steady increases in earnings, which have repeatedly topped the Street's expectations. In fact, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns went as far as to say that "Shareholders clearly love us because we can deliver predictable earnings growth."

The article also notes that the Street is a bit behind as far as coming to terms with how Xerox's new businesses will perform. This leads some to believe that the shares could trade at a "reasonable 8.6x estimated earnings for the year ahead." Yes, 8.6 times the estimated earnings in the coming year. The article also states that although Xerox stock is trading "well below" its five-year price-earnings ratio of 13x, a move to 12x would result in a "jump of at least 50%." So, just a move toward the five-year P/E ratio could result in a 50% jump -- good numbers, but let's take a look at XRX's technical performance to see what technical hurdles lie in the road.

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

• Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) lower Q1 earnings were better than expected but it lowered its full-year outlook.
• McDonald's Corp. (MCD) solid Q1 numbers were driven by its value menu, McCafe, and strength overseas.
• Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) topped Q1 earnings expectations and cash from operations rose, but shares declined.
• Netflix Inc. (NFLX) shares were lifted after its strong Q1 earnings beat consensus estimates.
• PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) fell short of Q1 revenue estimates but beat earnings per share expectations by a penny.

Copier-and-printer firm Xerox (XRX) released first-quarter results Friday morning, topping the consensus estimate despite posting a loss of four cents per share.

The results were pulled lower by one-time charges related to layoffs and the company's acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services. Excluding one-time costs, Xerox earned 18 cents per share, a nickel better than the Street expected. Revenue increased 33% compared to a year ago, coming in at $4.7 billion. The revenue increase is credited to the addition of Affiliated's business outsourcing segment.

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

• American Express Co. (AXP) doubled its bottom line in Q4 while its provisions for losses fell.
• Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) warned of weakness in Q4 and lowered its guidance, sending shares lower.
• Coach Inc. (COH) better-than-expected Q2 earnings were accompanied by sales growth, but shares fell.
• Comerica Inc. (CMA) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 loss, sending shares to a 52-week high.
• CSX Corp. (CSX) posted Q4 earnings that topped estimates but its revenue fell short of expectations.

It's been a busy week in the equities market. Earnings reports are coming fast and furious. I thought I would catch up on a few companies with a brief look at their numbers.

First up is an entity from the consumer products sector. Kimberly-Clark (KMB), a colleague of Procter & Gamble (PG), issued fourth-quarter data on Friday. Sales increased over 8%, with a better currency environment helping things out. Organic sales powered up almost 3%, driven in part by higher prices. Per-share profit went up over 15% to $1.17.

Out of the chute this morning, the S&P/Case-Shiller index rose 1.2% in July and gave the market a nice uptick for a while. Then came the report from the Conference Board that its consumer confidence index for September fell to 53.1 from 54.5 in August. What was worse is that economists had estimated a rise to 57 for the month. The soft confidence number is almost certainly due to people worried about losing their jobs. Right now, it could be that traders are waiting for Friday's unemployment report before jumping one way or the other. The negative news won out and the indexes traded down most of the day.

The numbers:

Dow

S&P 500

Nasdaq

Traders had on their rally caps today, and the DJIA moved as high as 9,823 as it renewed its ascent toward 10,000. The index moved back down a bit at the end of the day as traders got lazy during a session in which most of the news came before the bell.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) and Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) both announced deals today that pumped some air into the M&A business. Financial shares are mostly moving higher because increased M&A activity generally means more fees for financial services companies. Trading volume was light, mostly due to the Yom Kippur holiday today.

Today's numbers:

Dow 9,789.44 +124.25 (1.29%)
S&P 500 1,062.88 +18.50 (1.77%)
Nasdaq 2,130.74 +39.82 (1.90%)

In the global tech industry, the services business has become a strategic asset. Last week, Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) agreed to shell out a whopping $3.9 billion for Perot Systems (NYSE: PER).

Now, there's another biggie deal: Xerox (NASDAQ: XRX) has agreed to pay $6.4 billion for Affiliated Computers Services (NASDAQ: ACS). Just like Dell, Xerox's core hardware business is undergoing lots of pressure. So why not expand into something else?

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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) reported better-than-expected Q1 results due to cost cutting.
• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) received several upgrades ahead of its Q4 report on the demise of Circuit City.
• Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) crushed analyst's expectations for Q4 as same-store sales rose.
• China Direct Industries Inc. (NASDAQ: CDII) Q4 earnings prospects resulted in an analyst's dowgrade.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings and lifted its 2009 guidance.
• Energy Conversion Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) was downgraded after it lowered its guidance.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) fell short of Q3 earnings and revenue expectations due to economic conditions.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) shares to Buy from Hold on valuation following the company's Q4 results and outlook. The firm maintains a $25 target on the stock.
  
• Goldman upgraded Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and expectations for 2010 earnings growth.
• Roth upgraded Maxwell Tech (NASDAQ: MXWL) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q4 results to reflect strong ultracapacitor sales growth and gross margin improvement. The firm maintains a $12 target on the stock.
• Nara Bancorp (NASDAQ: NARA) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
• Cubic (NYSE: CUB) was upgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Terex (NYSE: TEX) was lifted to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

U.S. stocks are poised to open lower as investors were spooked by bearish economic data from the U.K. that showed the economy there is in its worst shape since 1980 when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Concerns continue to linger about the U.S. economy and the potential nationalization of banks.

Markets may be bolstered by the in-line earnings report from General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE). Chief Executive Jeff Immelt reaffirmed the company's commitment to a "AAA" rating and its dividend. Investors were skeptical that either would be maintained. The conglomerate's results overall were poor.

Profit from continuing operations fell 43% to $3.87 billion, or 36 cents per share. Revenue fell 4.8% to $46.2 billion. Bloomberg News notes that GE shares traded at their lowest level since 1996 as investors worried about the impact of the economic slowdown on the company, in particular GE Finance.

Other stocks that may move include Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), which reported better-than-expected earnings allaying concerns that decliniing advertising spendnig would hurt the world's largest search engine. Whether the company will continue to weather the storm well remains to be seen. Google has been cutting costs as well, recently eliminating some recruiter postions and closing offices.

The litany of job cut announcements continue. Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) plans to cut 1,100 over the next two years. after reporting worse-than-expected earnings. Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: PLA) is firing an unspecified number of workers to cut costs. There is no word if this move includes founder Hugh Hefner's former girlfriends from "The Girls Next Door." Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) reported disappointing results after taking a big writedown for layoffs.

This week's rough week is not going to get any easier.

I think it's fair to say that there's much trepidation about the earnings season that picks up steam this week. And for better or worse, numbers from the big financials have begun to roll in. Last week we saw profit sink for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and significant losses from Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) to be among those financials reporting fourth-quarter earnings growth this week. They anticipate that Bank of New York will post a profit of $0.70 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago and $0.72 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected come to $3.8 billion, about the same as it was a year ago. Bank of New York has fallen short of earnings estimates in two of the past five quarters, by as much as 11.1%. For the full year, analysts are looking for $2.78 per share (+5.8%) on $14.8 billion (+4.2%). The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy BK, and the long-term EPS growth rate forecast is 10.7%. Shares are 48.7% lower than a year ago. Other financials expected to report quarterly earnings growth this week include SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB).

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

• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) saw lower Q3 results in the tough retail envirnoment.
• Analog Devices Inc. (NYSE: ADI) Q4 profit surged but it lowered its Q1 forecast due to slowing orders.
• Borders Group Inc. (NYSE: BGP) had dismal Q3 results and said it had ceased its quest to sell itself.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) solid Q1 results beat estimates but shares fell despite a market rally.
• Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) fell short of Q4 profit expectations and guidance was below estimates.
• Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) had a bigger-than-expected Q3 profit and raised its full-year outlook.
• D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) reported a wider Q4 loss as home sales revenue declined by 50%.
• Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) posted strong Q4 numbers that didn't quite match the preliminary results.
• Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) had strong results and an optimistic forecast despite economic conditions.
• Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) lowered its fiscal 2009 forecast and warned of further restructuring.
• Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Q3 earnings declined but topped expectations, and it announced staff reductions.
• Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE: WMG) Q4 earnings beat expectations though revenues fell slightly.
• Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) forecast a full-year profit in line with estimates and said it is confident in its liquidity.

Upcoming earnings releases include Sears (NASDAQ: SHLD), Staples (NASDAQ: SPLS), Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), Del Monte Foods (NYSE: DLM), Guess (NYSE: GES), Novell (NASDAQ: NOVL), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.