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

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) shares declined despite an earnings beat and a positive outlook
• Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reported that its Q4 loss widened more than expected by Wall Street.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) reported better-than-expected earnings but shares declined.
• Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) is seen as on-track to record double-digit earnings growth in 2010.
• Cree Inc. (CREE) strong earnings and revenue growth sent shares to a new 52-week high.

There was actually very little economic news. The news that Ben Bernanke is not a shoe-in for reconfirmation as head of the Federal Reserve caused some pause, while the bank-bashing from yesterday carried over in many names. Five IPOs did not even get the deserved attention despite the notion that this has not been seen in a long time. Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 10,163.38 -226.50 (-2.18%)
S&P 500 1,091.07 -25.41 (-2.28%)
Nasdaq 2,204.32 -61.38 (-2.71%)

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Chip-maker Intel (INTC), whose colleagues include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Texas Instruments (TXN), issued fourth-quarter data yesterday after the bell. Shareholders must have loved the growth rates. Revenues increased 28% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted net income on a dollar basis grew well over 200%. Adjusted per-share profit came in at 55 cents versus 15 cents in the comparable period.

As for expectations, Earnings.com says that the market was looking for 30 cents per share. Some coverage compared the 30-cent projection to the reported GAAP income number of 40 cents per share, instead of the non-GAAP number I mentioned above, which would make the earnings beat not as impressive. I usually deal with non-GAAP figures, but either way, Intel has gone above estimates in significant fashion.

Intel (INTC), the famous chip maker whose major competitors include Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Microsoft (MSFT) and Texas Instruments (TXN), started the new year off on a great footing. According to Eric Buscemi's roundup Monday, the company received an upgrade from Baird which gave it a price target of $26. Intel closed on Monday at $20.88.

This should end up being a good call. When I covered Intel's third quarter earnings back in October, I noted the improvement in the fundamentals. I also mentioned the nice price action at the time, and suggested investors consider selling into the strength. The stock did retreat after that, but for those holding for the long term, it didn't much matter. The shares eventually rebounded and are currently not too far from their 52-week high that was made in reaction to the quarterly report.

Monday morning, Intel (INTC) confirmed that it will delay the introduction of its stand-alone graphics chip, which is named Larrabee. The processor was supposed to be released in the 2009-2010 time frame, but this will not happen as the company has "fallen behind" on the work.

Intel spokesman Nick Knupffer would not give any reasons for the delay, but added that "our first Larrabee will not be launched as a standalone discrete graphics chip. ... Rather it will be used as a software development platform."

The markets were higher before the economic data came to ruin the party. CPI came in higher than PPI on the inflation front, but there was a real disappointment in housing starts considering that many were expecting gains there. Oil inventory contractions across the board failed to boost that market considerably. A late day rally looked like a positive close was in the cards, but the buying action was only so much.

Here were today's closing levels:

Dow 10,426.31 -11.11 (-0.11%)
S&P 500 1,109.79 -0.53 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,193.14 -10.64 (-0.48%)

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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) soared to a new annual high Thursday morning after the chipmaker settled its antitrust case against rival Intel (INTC). Under the terms of the agreement, Intel will shell out $1.25 billion to AMD, and will abide by a new set of rules for conducting business. The pact also includes a renewed cross-license agreement between the two chip titans.

In prepared comments, AMD CEO Dirk Meyer called the settlement a game-changer. "We are optimistic that it will usher a new era for our industry," he said. "We recognize that it will take time for people to understand how the operating conditions in the processor business have changed. But make no mistake -- they have changed."

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

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) higher Q3 earnings topped expectations but revenue was in line.
• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) posted better-than-expected Q3 results, but shares sold off.
• Allegheny Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ATI) was downgraded on concerns about its Q4 guidance.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) shares fell after it posted a deeper-than-expected quarterly loss.
• Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) fell victim to profit taking despite reporting better-than-expected earnings.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) better-than-expected Q3 earnings sent shares higher, despite a decline in revenue.

You've heard of the Monday blues, right? Monday is a depressing day, while Friday is supposed to be the best day of the week. Unfortunately, that's not the case with chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD). The stock closed down over 7% on extremely high volume.

According to Reuters coverage, AMD, which issued results yesterday after the bell, beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. In fact, the bottom line was particularly impressive. AMD lost 18 cents per share. The belief was that the company would lose as much as 42 cents per share.

Today's earnings were deemed a disappointment despite some bottom-line comfort here. A weaker University of Michigan Consumer Survey report kept the DJIA muted, and whether we'd close above or under the 10,000 mark was something that wasn't known until the final hour of trading.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,996.21 -66.73 (-0.66%)
S&P 500 1,087.71 -8.85 (-0.81%)
Nasdaq 2,156.80 -16.49 (-0.76%)

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The chip sector is pretty hot. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) reported a respectable quarter this week, and the stock is near a 52-week high. Also close to their highs of the year are Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD).

Well, you can add Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) to the list. The company, an expert on programmable logic, reported an earnings-beating quarter yesterday after the bell, according to Reuters. Xilinx made 23 cents per share in Q2, a penny ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue likewise was slightly ahead of the projections.

Chip maker Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) had some embarrassing emails published today by the European Union that show the company may have been strong arming its customers into buying its products over competing chip makers.

The emails were part of the evidence that led to a record EU fine set against the company last May of $1.45 billion, when it was determined that the company had used strong-arm sales tactics in its competition with Advanced Micro Designs (NYSE: AMD).

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the spike in stock prices warrants no buying until prices go lower.

I read a scary book this weekend: the S&P chart book. It was frightening because there weren't more than a handful charts that aren't overextended, and many stocks have reached levels that I didn't like when their companies were doing well. Chart after chart in every business, but especially retail and industrial, have moved up so much that you have to feel like a chump to come in at these levels.

There are almost no stocks with growth prospects that have accidentally high yields anymore. Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) (Cramer's Take) and Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) (Cramer's Take) were the only two that I saw that seemed remotely appealing, and maybe Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) (Cramer's Take).

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Advanced Micro (NYSE: AMD) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $5.50 from $4.25 citing valuation and expectations for the company's competitive position and gross margins to improve.
• Barclays upgraded American Express (NYSE: AXP) to Overweight from Equal Weight citing long-term earnings growth as the company benefits from declining charge-offs and credit costs. The firm has a $38 target on the stock.
• JPMorgan upgraded Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Overweight from Neutral and raised its target to $22 from $19 citing the FTC approval for the acquisition of Jacobs Ranch mine and valuation.
• Bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Ashland (NYSE: ASH) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Today's market news was dominated by two events. The first is that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported earnings a bit better than expected and had a forecast that was a bit better than expected, to. Traders were left to ponder whether this means a modest return of the consumer or whether Wal-Mart is just that much better than its competition.

The government coincidentally announced July retail sales which were helped by the automotive "clunkers" program. Most analysts were surprised that the figure dropped .1%. The two pieces of news made traders reflect on the reality that the recession may be ending but the collateral damage is not.

Because no day can go by without some news on housing, there was date from RealtyTrac that foreclosures rose 7% last month compared to June.

The day's unofficial numbers:

Dow 9,399.17 +37.56 (0.40%)
S&P 500 1,012.84 +7.03 (0.70%)
Nasdaq 2,009.35 +10.63 (0.53%)