Last week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) led off the coming parade of earnings from the big banks when it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, though its revenue fell short of estimates.

Plenty more earnings from the financial sector are due out this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate fourth-quarter earnings growth from American Express Co. (AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK), SLM Corp. (SLM) and US Bancorp (USB).

The Street.com's Jim Cramer says that he's making it his mission in 2010 to call out people in the media who provide no value.

Have you ever noticed that with every good housing report there are endless caveats:

1. Prices are still down year over year.

2. The home tax credit of $8,000 moved the house, and that will go away.

3. Home mortgages are artificially low because of the Fed.

4. Banks have more foreclosures on their balance sheets than before.

5. Foreclosures continue to occur.

6. Everything will slip back to imbalance when the credit goes away.

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

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Q3 earnings beat by a penny but sales fell short of expectations; shares fell.
• AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) reported a Q3 net loss and plunging revenue but also raised $4 billion in cash.
• BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) topped Q3 earnings expectations but said bad-loan provisions nearly doubled.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) missed estimates and posted a Q3 loss due to delays for a couple of jet products.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) shares rose after it reported better-than-expected Q3 numbers.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) posted a better-than-expected Q3 profit but sales fell short, and shares fell.

BB&T (NYSE: BBT - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company reported third-quarter earnings this morning, posting a profit of $152 million or 23 cents per share. While this beat the expected profit of 22 cents per share, the stock is declining in early trading as investors appear concerned about BBT's $709 million in bad loan provisions during the quarter, which is nearly double the total of the year-ago period. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BBT.

This morning, BBT opened at $27.38. So far today the stock has hit a high of $27.45 and a low of $26.79. As of 11:30, BBT is trading at $26.95, down $1.30 (-4.6%). The chart for BBT looks bullish and S&P gives BBT a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

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.

BB&T (NYSE: BBT - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced that their deal to acquire Colonial BancGroup will not hurt BB&T's earnings due to a loss-sharing agreement with the FDIC. According to reports, the worst that could happen for BBT is a loss on $500M. 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 BBT.

BBT opened this morning at $27.11. So far today the stock has hit a low of $27.47 and a high of $26.89. As of 11:20, BBT is trading at $27.47 up $1.04 (3.9%). The chart for BBT looks neutral and S&P gives BBT a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Earlier today, Colonial BancGroup (NYSE: CNB) fell nearly 12% to 41 cents per share before trading was halted pending a news announcement. As it turns out, the troubled bank is being taken into receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), while BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) will acquire all of CNB's branches and deposits.

The announcement comes on the heels of a report in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order to freeze $1 billion of Colonial BancGroup's assets. The decision comes after Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) filed suit against CNB, seeking to protect its rights as trustee to $1 billion of loans received from Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE). U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan ruled in Bank of America's favor, citing his concern that Colonial "is on the brink of collapse."

This morning, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected announce that some banks will be allowed to repay the money lent to them under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Some of the banks expected to receive approval are Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), State Street (NYSE: STT) and U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB). All of these banks have expressed interest in repaying the government.

What is interesting is that there will be yet another Czar joining the White House, a "Repayment Czar," (what is the deal with the media's fascination with Russian royalty?) or as the administration will call the position, the "Special Master for Compensation."

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded BB&T (NYSE: BBT) to Market Perform from Underperform as it believes downside risk has been reduced following the company's capital raise. The firm raised its target price to $23 from $15.
  
• Janney Montgomery upgraded FEI Company (NASDAQ: FEIC) to Buy from Neutral on expectations margins will improve and various country stimulus packages will provide benefits in 2010. The firm has a $31 target on the stock.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) to Buy from Hold as it believes automotive headwinds are priced in and the company's long-term fundamentals are intact. The firm raised its target price to $25 from $19.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
  
• J.B. Hunt (NYSE: JBHT) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
  
• Roper Industries (NYSE: ROP) was upgraded at Oppenheimer to Outperform from Perform.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says he's a bit wary of both, but the pricing here is sound.

At least they knocked them down to where the shorts have to get in on the deals to cover. That's what I am thinking about BB&T (NYSE: BBT) (Cramer's Take) and Ford (NYSE: F) (Cramer's Take).

Both deals were widely telegraphed, so the shorts were able to really do a number on them. But I think because they were widely telegraphed and they had time to tell the story, both BB&T and Ford have real buyers even on the huge size of these deals --- Ford, especially -- which could make the shorts have to do some scrambling initially.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they expect the company to benefit from higher natural gas prices in 2010. The firm has a $34 target on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Energy Conversion (NASDAQ: ENER) to Hold from Sell on valuation is it finds the risk/reward balanced at current levels. The firm raised its target price to $16 from $13.
• Jefferies upgraded Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ: LCUT) to Buy from Underperform to reflect reduced liquidity concerns and an improved outlook for Global Direct Sellers. The firm raised its target price to $4 from $2.
• American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight and to Outperform from Netural at Credit Suisse.
• STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we should closely monitor the situation as more banks raise capital with equity.

What really did happen Friday? I keep thinking about this because, surely, if you saw how well the Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) (Cramer's Take) deals behaved, didn't you, as a bank player, have to presume that there would be and will be more offerings?

If Wells Fargo went up 6, isn't it reasonable to presume that Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) (Cramer's Take), KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) (Cramer's Take), Capital One (NYSE: COF) (Cramer's Take), BB&T (NYSE: BBT) (Cramer's Take) and no doubt all of the others, would do the same? Who wouldn't take advantage of this? Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) (Cramer's Take)? Suntrust (NYSE: STI) (Cramer's Take)?

Why did they rally so much?

Earlier this morning, BB&T (NYSE: BBT) announced that it will cut the size of its dividend as part of its plan to repay all stock and warrants that were invested in the company through TARP. BBT said that a 15-cent dividend will be paid on common stock in the third quarter -- 68% lower than the company's current 47-cent dividend.

BBT declare: "In addition to our current earnings, while superior to our peers, are not likely to justify our 47-cent dividend in the near term." The company said that the board decided to make the dividend cut thanks to "the risk and uncertainty associated with being a TARP participant." This reduced dividend will be paid on August 3 to shareholders of record as of July 10.

The stress tests seem to show that most financials are actually quite healthy.

The market's bullishness gets harder and harder to fight. Now we learn that banks that people were telling me should be shorted aggressively on every lift are actually able to handle things quite fine, thank you very much.

I was concerned about the late moves BB&T (NYSE: BBT) (Cramer's Take) made in real estate at the top, but either the examiners aren't concerned or things have gotten better. I have always been a fan of Capital One (NYSE: COF) (Cramer's Take) and used to own it for Action Alerts PLUS until I got worried about the economy, but it looks like its credit losses are actually holding up rather well and it needs no new capital.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we need some order -- we need some banks to survive.

Is there a writer out there who thinks more liberal mark-to-market isn't the greatest sin the regulators could ever pull off? Is there one? Today I see stories about how perfuming balance sheets is a terrible idea and reckless. I see stories about how liberal mark-to-market will confound the Treasury's public/private partnership. I see stories about how crummy bankers and corrupt pols browbeat the Financial Accounting Standards Board into giving away the store.