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Movado (NYSE: MOV) is a watchmaker. It distributes timepieces based on various brands such as Lacoste and Coach (NYSE: COH). And its stock is on the rise today. During early afternoon trading, Movado is up by over 8% on very good volume. As can be expected, an earnings report is behind the excitement.

Now, to be certain, the stats weren't great. Movado is still reeling from the harsh economic times. Sales declined 33% in Q1, and there was a loss per share of $0.37. That compared very unfavorably to a profit of $0.05 per share in the year-ago period. Also, the gross margin slipped significantly.

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

• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Q1 profit blew away estimates, sending shares soaring.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) topped analysts expectations and offered conservative guidance.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reported better-than-expected results but warned that if faced challenges.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) topped Q3 profit estimates and announced the start of quarterly dividends.
• Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL) widened is net loss in Q1 but still beat low Wall Street estimates.

Coach (NYSE: COH - option chain) shares are headed higher today after the company reported a third-quarter adjusted profit of 38 cents per share this morning, above analysts' estimates of 36 cents per share. However, the even bigger news is that the company announced it will begin paying a quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents per share on June 29. That is a pretty bold statement in this environment. 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 COH.

COH opened this morning at $20.18. So far today the stock has hit a low of $20.76 and a high of $21.62. As of 11:20, COH is trading at $20.76, up 2.53 (13.9%). The chart for COH looks bullish and S&P gives COH a positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking.

In this era of the 'frugal consumer' -- characterized by stagnant median incomes, difficult labor market conditions, and an uncertain economic recovery timetable -- most investors agree the retail sector is best avoid.

But there are exceptions to the rule for investors who can tolerate moderate risk, and Coach (NYSE: COH) is one.

Movado Group (NYSE: MOV), maker of watches, reported numbers for the fourth quarter. Really bad numbers. Net sales dropped over 32%. For the bottom line, there was a net loss of $0.42 per share on an adjusted basis. In last year's Q4, Movado generated adjusted income of $0.40 per share. That is one hell of a drop. Furthermore, the market wasn't even close to anticipating this ugly performance. According to this source, analysts thought that the company would only bleed about $0.02 per share.

You know, I haven't worn a watch in a long time. Maybe a lot of people are thinking like me, that they don't really need watches since we have so much access to clocks via cell phones and other devices (I don't own a cell phone, but I'm content to simply seek out a clock if I'm out and about). Of course, I'm being a little facetious here. Movado is merely suffering through a bad economy. And it's perhaps in need of some better management. The company sells timepieces based on licensed brands such as Coach (NYSE: COH) and Tommy Hilfiger. Consumers are apparently satisfied with purchasing cheap, non-branded watches. Can't blame them.

Analyst upgrades:

• HSBC upgraded Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Overweight from Neutral as it believes the risk of immediate nationalization has been removed.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded DTS Inc (NASDAQ: DTSI) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect accretion from the Neural acquisition and its expectation the company can generate strong cash flow during the downturn. The firm raised its target to $18.
  
• Cowen upgraded Coach (NYSE: COH) to Outperform from Neutral citing the recent sell-off in shares.
  
• BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• First Horizon (NYSE: FHN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Spartech (NYSE: SEH) was raised to Hold from Underweight at KeyBanc.

Investors in luxury leather goods maker Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) saw their shares tumble earlier this week when the company announced that profit fell 14% in its second fiscal quarter.

Coach earned 67 cents per share for the quarter compared to earnings of 69 cents per share in the year-ago quarter, and sales fell 1.8% to $960.3 million. Gross margin narrowed to 72.1% from 75.4% last year.

Like many other companies, Coach did not provide guidance for the balance of the fiscal year, signifying its lack of visibility going forward. But the company did try to assure investors by pointing to its nearly debt-free balance sheet and large cash position. Shares fell by as much as 15% during trading on Wednesday, but rallied to halve that loss later in the day.

In order to "protect our brand identity," CEO Lew Frankfort said the company resisted discounting during the holiday season. It paid a steep price to do so, because other retailers' heavy discounts hurt traffic at Coach's stores and in department stores.

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

• Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) met Q1 profit estimates and lowered its guidance.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) stellar Q1 results easily topped analysts' expectations, sending shares higher.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) unimpressive Q2 results due to holiday sales were in line with expectations.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q4 profits were dragged down finance, consumer divisions.
• Harley-Davidson Inc. (NYSE: HOG) Q4 earnings tumbled on lower demand globally and domestically.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings but lower revenue.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) released its dismal Q2 results early and announced job cuts.
• Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) Q4 earnings more than doubled on higher prices.
• Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) fell after posting losses and guidance for more weakness ahead.
• Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) warned that it would post its biggest loss ever in full-year 2008.
• State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) earnings tumbled on charges but still topped analysts' estimates.
• UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) Q4 earnings were in line with estimates and it reaffirmed its outlook.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) modest Q4 earnings growth was in line with expectations.

For more highlights from this week, see eBay, Google, IBM, Southwest, UAL, AMR, Northern Trust and others

Okay, put your hand up if you like the idea of investing in retailers that base their shareholder value on fashion trends? Just as I thought. And while a lack of interest might be a contrarian indicator in some cases, I don't think it is in this case. Let's take Coach (NYSE: COH) as an example. The company reported Q2 earnings on Wednesday. As one might expect, they were weak and unattractive, the exact opposite of one of those Coach bags. Sales were down 2%, and earnings per diluted share were down 3% to $0.67, which this source says met expectations.

I'll give ample credit to Coach for meeting expectations. That's not easy to do given its business model, especially since Christmas was not kind to any of the malls across the country. There's not much Coach can do to thrive. The press release talks about keeping innovation strong, and about offering new collections, and about strong growth opportunities over in China. It's all meaningless. That previously cited source speaks of Coach's plans to cut prices and reduce expansion strategies. Coach is simply in defensive mode, it can do precious little to get traffic in its stores because consumers are reticent to spend. Actually, that last point will probably go down as one of the biggest understatements ever offered up in the history of financial commentary.

IBM (NYSE: IBM), the tech bellwether, reported quarterly results Tuesday after the close, surprising analyst with a 12% rise in profit. It also forecast 2009 earnings of at least $9.20 a share, compared to analyst expectations around $8.70 a share. Shares were up about 3.9% in premarket trading.

BHP Biliton (NYSE: BHP), the largest mining company in the world, said it would lay off 6% of its global workforce or 6,000 workers as a result of production cuts. Around 550 of them will be in the U.S. Shares declined nearly a percent in premarket trading.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC), the Swedish telecom equipment maker, announced a 31% profit drop and a 23% surge in sales. It also said it would cut 5,000 jobs in the attempt to save $1.2 billion in costs in 2009. Shares gained nearly 13.5% in premarket trading.

Many companies are due to report results on Wednesday: AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA), BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) and after the close, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY).

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) said it expects to earn $1.06 to $1.35 per share on sales from $9 billion to $10 billion in the first quarter, but analysts seem to expect more, estimating income of $1.39 per share on $9.74 billion in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters. Meanwhile, U.S. regulators are examining Apple's disclosures about Jobs' health problems to ensure investors weren't misled, according to Bloomberg sources. Shares gained about 1.3% in premarket trading.

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

• Apollo Group Inc. (NYSE: APOL) posted its third straight quarter of growth as enrollment soared.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) earnings prospects will pick up after the first quarter, predicts Jim Cramer.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) lowered its guidance due to slower traffic and sales during the holiday season.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) reaffirmed its revenue and earnings guidance and announced job cuts.
• Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was upgraded as Wall Street's Q4 and full-year estimates came down.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) failed to narrow its loss as much as expected but beat revenue estimates.
• Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) withdrew its guidance and said it was cutting its global workforce.
• Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) posted strong Q2 results that easily beat earnings expectations (is it a buy?).
• Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) 2009 outlook fell short of estimates but it predicted 2010 growth.
• Premier Exhibitions Inc. (NASDAQ: PRXI) worse-than-expected Q3 numbers resulted in an downgrade.
• Satyam Computer Sciences Ltd. (NYSE: SAY) admited that it had been inflating earnings for years.
• Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) was downgraded after preliminary results missed estimates.
• Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) now expects a loss in 2008 rather than the profit in its previous guidance.
• WD-40 Co. (NASDAQ: WDFC) topped Q1 expectations but also lowered its guidance, sending shares lower.

For more earnings highlights, see Intel, Walmart, Chevron, Family Dollar, Monsanto and others

Upcoming earnings releases include Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA), Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), Linear Technologies (NASDAQ: LLTC) , Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX), Genentech (NYSE: DNA), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI), Sealy (NYSE: ZZ), Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

Unemployment came in at a much worse 7.2% headline number, but the loss of non-farm payrolls came in right in line at -524,000 this morning. This and this alone set the tone for the market today and everything else was just a footnote. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,599.18 -143.28 (-1.64%)
S&P 500 890.35 -19.38 (-2.13%)
Nasdaq 1,571.59 -45.42 (-2.81%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) was noted somewhat positively by Jim Cramer as one of his DJIA picks on CNBC's MAD MONEY last night. Be advised that he only wants people to buy on pullbacks rather than at the market. Shares pulled back and were down over 1% at the close.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) was down only about 1% late in teh day at $73.25. That is surprising since it said results would be significantly lower than its prior quarter.

Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) was another doozy today with shares down more than 12% at $18.28 late in the day. This was after an earnings warning and a zero-visibility implication when it said it would not offer forward guidance.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was the subject of more news than usual. It has about $2 billion in direct exposure to Lyondell Basell Industries in that bankruptcy issue. Then came late-day reports that Bob Rubin was out of the board of directors. And to add even more fuel to the fire, a report from CNBC's David Faber called Citi close to putting Smith Barney out of the company and into a joint venture with Morgan Stanley.

Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) shares were up almost another 40% at $6.18 on exponential volume late in the day.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) warned late Thursday of significantly lower fourth-quarter earnings than in the previous quarter. This isn't surprising as there has been a steep drop in energy prices from the record oil prices in the prior quarter. Chevron also said it experienced narrower refining margins, but didn't give any estimates.

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be naming a new CEO as soon as next week, according to The Wall Street Journal. Ex-Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz is the leading candidate. YHOO shares traded 3.7% higher in premarket action.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) reported total revenues for the fourth quarter ended November 30, 2008 were $919.0 million, down from $2.07 billion for the year-earlier quarter, and a net loss of $307.3 million, or $3.96 per diluted share. Analysts had expected a fourth-quarter loss -- excluding any charges -- of $1.23 a share. KBH shares were nearly 3% higher in premarket trade.

If you made a bet on the specialty retailers leading up to the first $600 taxpayer rebate stimulus package, you got hammered.

Talk about a government plan backfiring big time.

That $300 billion in checks that fell out of the sky from government helicopters back in the March to May timeframe didn't find its way to the malls at all.

Instead, people paid down credit card debt, and tuition, medical and other bills, leaving little for spending on non-essentials.

The result was a litany of store closings nationwide, with several old-line, brand-name retailers going out of business.

It's game over for names like Circuit City (OTC: CCTYQ), Cache (NASDAQ: CACH), Talbots (NYSE: TLB), J. Jill, Wickes Furniture, Levitz, Bombay, Linens 'n Things, Movie Gallery, Wilson Leather, KB Toys and The Sharper Image.

Traders that leveraged into darling names, like hedge fund idol Eddie Lampert's Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD), got smoked. Shares of SHLD were trading at $105 when the checks when out. Today the stock is around $40.

Even Costco (NASDAQ: COST) -- the obvious slam dunk, aside from Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) -- got slammed, falling from $75 to $45 following the so-called stimulus package.

The conventional wisdom -- based on past economic cycles -- is that luxury goods sales stay relatively strong in periods of weak consumer spending. After all, people who have a thousand bucks to spend on a purse are thought to be relatively immune to gas prices, the job market, and property values. Sure, their portfolios might take a hit, but they have enough money to buy bags and shoes.

Not so this time around, according to new data (subscription required) from Mastercard's SpendingPulse unit. For the first week of December, sales of luxury goods were down a mind boggling 34.5%.

So what happened? Part of the problem may be the expansion of the luxury goods market to middle-income consumers during good economic times as more people overextended themselves on Louis Vuitton bags they had no business buying. Now that their home values have plunged, their jobs are less stable than ever, and their credit limits have been lowered, they can't buy the stuff. The slick marketing that enticed Middle America into a category that used to be the province of socialites is sending sales sinking on the downside of the economy.

The question for investors in luxury goods companies like Coach (NYSE: COH) is how many of those aspirational consumers will come back once things turn around again.