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Stocks suffered a scary drop on Friday. It was fitting, in a sense, since it was the day before Halloween. In fact, as this Closing Bell piece noted, there were more tricks than treats to be had on Wall Street.

There are always equities bucking the trend, however. The Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) was one of them. Bullish buyers loved the beauty company's fiscal Q1 earnings release. As has been the case with many reports, the top line wasn't the fun part of the document: Estee Lauder saw a decrease of 2.7% for adjusted revenues. Here's the item of interest: net income after charges was 85 cents per share, more than three times what was made in the comparable frame.

Analyst upgrades:

• American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital, as the firm sees limited near-term downside in the stock. The firm raised its target price on the shares to $37 from $25.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) to Outperform from Sector Perform. Target to $44 from $34. UBS upgraded Nestle on expectations the company will begin returning cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised Dicks Sporting (NYSE:DKS) to Neutral from Underweight following positive channel checks and raised its target on the shares to $28 from $18.
  
• Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Pali Capital.
  
• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was raised to Buy from Hold by Natixis.
  
• Sunpower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.
• China Automotive (NASDAQ:CAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merriman.

Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) closed at $37.64. EL is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on August 13. EL August 35 straddle is priced at $3.50, September 35 straddle is at $4.50. EL September option implied volatility of 44 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement after EPS.

Patterson Companies (NASDAQ: PDCO) closed at $25.46. PDCO, a distributor of dental and veterinarian products, is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on August 20. August option implied volatility is at 53, September is at 37; verses its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement after EPS.

Options Update: Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $22 from $16 citing the renegotiated royalty agreement with Samsung.
• Goldman also upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Buy from Sell and raised their target to $27 from $11 citing strong operating leverage as RevPAR recovers.
• KeyBanc upgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to Hold from Underweight citing a recent improvement in freight demand.
• J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded to buy from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
• Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold.

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

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Q1 results beat expectations and raised its guidance.
• Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) shares surged after the it reported strong Q1 earnings.
• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) just missed swinging to a loss due to to hefty investment losses.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) surprised with a net loss in Q1 as revenue and cash flow declined.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) shares fell after it reported disappointing results for the quarter.

Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL - option chain) shares are higher today after the company reported a third-quarter profit of $27.2 million, or 14 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, EL earned 16 cents per share, easily beating analysts' estimates of 5 cents per share. 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 EL.

EL opened this morning at $32.89. So far today the stock has hit a low of $32.57 and as of 11:35 is right at its high of $35.15, up $4.02 (12.9%). The chart for EL looks neutral and S&P gives EL a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Revlon (NYSE: REV), a beauty company that counts Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) and The Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) as colleagues, reported Q1 earnings earlier in the week. I have to admit, I have been bearish on this company for a long time. I still am. I just don't think this stock is a sound place for your portfolio dollars, even though the company did post a much more beauteous profit picture.

Sales decreased a little, but if you exclude currency effects, they rose a weak 3.8%. More impressively, Revlon said that it earned $0.25 per share. That's compared to a net loss of $0.05 per share in the year-ago period. Okay, I concede, that was a pretty good performance. It was partly driven by lower interest expenses and a benefit derived from the repurchase of some senior notes. Free cash flow also saw a gain.

Just as foreclosures account for a record share of the real estate market, foreclosed companies are also one of the few areas of activity in the private equity space.

Sun Capital Partners took Stila Cosmetics private back in 2006, but defaulted on loans from Wachovia and CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) -- leading those lenders to foreclose on the company.

Now Stila has been sold to New York private equity firm Patriarch Partners for an undisclosed sum sure to be considerably lower than what Sun Capital paid when it bought the brand from Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL), which originally purchased the company from founder Jeanine Lobell back in 1999.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) shares to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent sell-off as they believe weakening fundamentals have been factored into estimates and that Blue Nile should benefit from the recent softening of diamond prices. The firm raised its target price to $30 from $20.
  
• Baird upgraded AmSurg (NASDAQ: AMSG) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation, potential upside from in-line results, good visibility, and FCF yield.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded DryShips (NASDAQ: DRYS) to Perform from Underperform on valuation following the recent weakness and believes the company is at least halfway through its $500M equity offering.
• UAL Corp (NASDAQ: UAUA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Mylan (NASDAQ: MYL) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  
• Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was lifted at Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold.

We are at the start of a new and historic presidency. Americans tend to be optimistic and like to look forward to a better future. But before we get too far down the road, let's take one last look in the rear-view mirror.

How many times have we looked at the outgoing president and remarked at how fast the office aged him? How gray, old and tired he looks.

The presidency is a tough job. Living through this stock market seems equally tough.

Sure, Presidents' Day is supposed to celebrate two of the United States' greatest leaders, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but that's not what usually happens on the holiday.

What comes to mind when you think of Presidents Day?

Sadly, after Washington and Lincoln, it's mattress sales or furniture bargains. (Car sales are off the radar this year, for obvious reasons.) Not very dignified, but that's just the way it goes.

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

• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) reported that its Q4 profit tripled but it fell short of estimates.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) met earnings estimates but it is getting more pressure from Carl Icahn.
• BP (NYSE: BP) surprised Wall Street with a multibillion dollar Q4 loss due to lower oil prices.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) beat Q2 estimates but warned that incoming orders have declined.
• Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) reaffirmed its previous Q4 guidance, which pleased investors.
• Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL) topped Q2 earings estimates and it announced job cuts.
• Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) Q4 earnings fell on higher claim expenses and lower investment income.
• JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) adjusted earnings were in line with estimates but revenue fell.

Amazingly, this week is about to end with stock markets logging gains. Not grim earnings, not glum retail sales, not dismal car sales, nor even weaker-than-expected jobs report seemed able to put a dent in investors' hopes the stimulus bill would pass.

And it's not even the Dow stocks that are leading the advances. As of noon today, the Dow was up about 3% for the week, while the S&P 500 gained about 4.5% and the Nasdaq composite soared some 7%. If you're sorry you didn't take part of this rally, and think perhaps there's more to come after the Senate finally approves the stimulus plan, then BloggingStocks contributors have some ideas for long-term holdings, as well as a few warnings:

Unlike a certain former governor of Illinois, I'm not afraid to admit it when I'm wrong. So, when I noticed that makeup maven Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) was trading significantly lower today in the wake of its latest earnings report, I decided to take a fresh look at the stock. Was my bullish endorsement back in December completely wrong-headed, or is today's drop just a blip on the charts?

First, let's sum up the quarterly results. EL banked a second-quarter profit of 80 cents per share on $2.04 billion in revenue. The profit number exceeded analysts' expectations by three cents per share, while revenue matched consensus estimates. However, the company warned that third-quarter net sales are expected to drop 2% to 4%, and it announced plans to cut its headcount by 2,000 employees over the next two years -- roughly 6% of its workforce.

Elizabeth Arden's (NASDAQ: RDEN) stock has been shellacked in the last couple of days, continuing a decline that began shortly after it reached a 52-week high of $21.79 in September 2008. RDEN has reached a nine-year low in price at $5.95.

The recent action in the stock should come as no surprise. With retail sales continuing to sour and mall traffic becoming more like Sunday services attendance on a beautiful summer day, it could hardly come as news that Elizabeth Arden would issue a negative earnings alert ahead of the company's second-quarter release of financial results scheduled for Friday.

Cosmetics and fragrances are some of the most discretionary of purchases with the widest range of price points. Consumers have the option of purchasing a less expensive brand or delaying the purchase until a better time. As a result, cosmetic products have reached a historically peak inventory level.

For Elizabeth Arden, those inventory numbers are further evidence of the earnings stress facing the company.