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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares rose after it reaffirmed its full-year earnings and sales outlook.
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) will have low double-digit EPS growth, predicts one analyst.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a decline in earnings but a small rise in sales, sending shares lower.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and higher revenue.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high after topping analysts' Q2 earnings expectations.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year guidance.

Late Friday, Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) cut its 2009 earnings guidance due to "lower than forecasted potash sales volumes" stemming from "slow demand and limited restocking by fertilizer distributors around the world." The fertilizer company now forecasts earnings between $3.25 and $3.75 per share, down from an earlier forecast of $4 to $5 per share. The company also expects third-quarter, per-share earnings to hit at the low end of its determined range between 80 cents and $1.20. The consensus estimate calls for 93 cents per share.

POT had been a stellar performer, hitting a high in the $120 region earlier this year. However, the stock is now in the process of bouncing between the $84 level and its 20-week moving average. The current situation is currently better than the way 2008 ended.

Three stocks that deserve special call-out, in my view, for those investors who can tolerate moderate risk, due to their favorable risk/return.

Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX). The global recovery appears to be underway, and with it demand for key commodities, such as copper, will increase. And Freeport, the world's second largest producer of copper, is poised to capitalize. Sell/Stop Loss if you were to buy shares in FCX: $32.

"Investing in the fertilizer business may not sound sexy, but the dynamics and fundamentals of the food business will turn it into one of the most profitable sectors you could find.," explains global expert Tony Sagami.

In his The Asia Stock Alert he suggests, "Every farmer needs to use fertilizer -- and the most used and most important fertilizer is potash. And Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is set to make a bundle supplying potash to the world."

"There are approximately 6.6 billion people on our planet today, but that number is expected to grow to 8.2 billion by 2030. That's a lot of mouths to feed. Plus, the amount of food each mouth is eating is also increasing.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says even stocks without exposure to that country will probably be on sale today.

If China has pulled back 20%, do we have to pull back 20%, even though they were up 80% and we are up 9%? Are we so in lock step now that when China catches a cold, we are the ones with pneumonia?

I don't think so. It's such an easy story to stretch out, though you can see that our Freeports (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take) and our Exxons (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) can get hammered.

Today was one of those days that was going to start out soft, but a key analyst upgrade saved the day. There was actually no early economic data, and traders are putting on their pre-earnings trades. Here is a quick look at the earnings previews for this week's key technology stocks and for this week's key financial stocks.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,313.92 +167.40 (2.05%)
S&P 500 901.05 +21.92 (2.49%)
Nasdaq 1,793.21 +37.18 (2.12%)

Top Analyst Calls

The University of Michigan has reported that its preliminary consumer sentiment report for July was atrocious. This was also probably the last day ahead of earnings season where traders could expect it to be quiet ahead of next week's earnings season flurry.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,123.69 -59.48 (-0.73%)
S&P 500 877.40 -5.28 (-0.60%)
Nasdaq 1,753.38 +0.83 (0.05%)

Goldman Sachs Upgrades/Downgrades

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

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) beat earnings expectations but revenue was hurt by currency effects.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) strong Q1 results beat estimates but same-store sales fell.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) lower Q1 earnings and strong sales both topped expectations.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) higher Q4 earnings were in line with expectations, and shares slipped.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Q4 results were higher, but it warned of continuing challenges.
• Hennes & Mauritz (OTC: HMRZF) reported strong Q2 numbers, though same-stores sales slipped.

The market was lower most of the day after the Commerce Department reported that consumers were saving a lot more than they were spending. Frankly, after yesterday's big gains today could have sold off much more and there would have been little concern.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,433.78 -38.62 (-0.46%)
S&P 500 918.48 -1.78 (-0.19%)
Nasdaq 1,838.22 +8.68 (0.47%)

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) is under fire today after the firm lowered its second-quarter earnings outlook. Late Thursday, POT said it now expects earnings per share of 70 cents, compared to its prior outlook of $1.10 to $1.50 per share.

The company chalked up its slashed guidance to "substantially lower than forecasted potash sales volumes due to deferral of purchases by customers around the world and lower realized prices for phosphate fertilizers."

POT's full second-quarter results will be reported on July 23. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for a profit of 81 cents per share, on average.

The fertilizer sector is one sector that investors who can tolerate moderate risk should not pass up.

I'm Reiterating a Buy recommendation for Potash (NYSE: POT), re-established with a Buy recommendation here on March 31, 2009, and for Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), re-established here on April 3, 2009; and adding a Buy recommendation for Agrium (NYSE: AGU).

Agricultural entity Monsanto (NYSE: MON) reported Q2 numbers on Thursday. While some metrics were down, I came away from the earnings release thinking that the company is probably a good long-term holding. Short-term could be a different story, though, as the stock has had a run-up recently.

Sales increased 8% in the second quarter, but profits on a dollar basis decreased 3%. On an adjusted basis, however, net income beat Wall Street's expectations. Analysts were looking for $2.07 per share. Monsanto delivered $2.16 per share. Excellent.

It's a market than can frustrate -- and humble -- institutional investors and individual investors alike. Moreover, perhaps the most memorable dimension to the bear market that began in October 2007 will be its ability to take down the stocks of companies with demonstrated business models, and Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) is one.

Potash remains one of the preeminent fertilizer companies in the world, producing three critical, primary plant nutrients and phosphate animal feed ingredients, for both developed and developing world markets. It is the largest producer in the world of its namesake, potash, which accounted for 43% of revenue in 2008.

In a recession, most professionals suggest that investors take a defensive posture.

That theory states that buying stocks with great balance sheets and stable cash flow is a way to withstand the downdraft of a bear market. If you own stocks of companies with products that consumers have to buy, you can expect to beat the market performance-wise.

Again, this bear market has been different in many ways. Even the most defensive stocks are losing value in a big way. None of it makes sense.

Despite the recent rally, this has been the most difficult period for investors since the Great Depression, and many trying to time a bottom in this market have been burned.

And the reality is that we are still not out of the woods. So is it time to give up?

Not at all!

There are companies operating in this environment that are actually growing their business despite the recession. And these stocks should hold their own in this bear market, even if we retest the recent lows.