We are tracking and previewing earnings reports due in shares of Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM); Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX); Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL); Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG); and Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN).  We have included estimates from Thomson Reuters and added color in on each.

Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) is set to report Friday morning and estimates are $0.67 EPS and $653.36 million in sales.  This one has been a bit difficult for many investors to predict since the reorganization last year but shares have recovered some 15% since October.

Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) is due to report and estimates are $0.69 EPS and $1.2 billion in sales.  For just how relevant this one is, it is not even 10% of the size of P&G when it comes to revenues. This one remains expensive in valuation and its dividend yield is about 3.3%.

Estee Lauder Companies (NYSE: EL) is still close to a 52-week high, so investors need to watch closely here.  Estimates are $1.01 EPS and $2.75 billion in sales. That is a lot of beauty products. Unfortunately, this one has a dividend yield of less than 1%.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) Is expected to report $1.90 EPS on $1.16 billion in sales.  Keep in mind that REITs are FFO rather than EPS.  The stock trades at a premium to peers for its premium shopping mall properties.  The dividend yield here is only about 2.6% and shares hit a new year and all-time high on Thursday.

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) is expected to report $0.34 EPS on $8.3 billion in sales.  Next quarter  estimates are $0.45 EPS and $8.5 billion in sales.  At $18.60, its 52-week range is $15.60 to $21.06 and its dividend yield does not even hit 1% currently.

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JON C. OGG

Closing bell. The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 207 points to 12,043.19 (1.75%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 58 points (2.2%) to 2,697.97, and the S&P 500 rose 1.87% or more than 23 points to 1,261.10.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades. There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) started at ‘overweight’ at Barclays. Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO), Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX), and Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) were cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) were started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Market reacts to earnings. Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO) is up about 25%, at $33.95; Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) is up nearly 25%, at $26.18; Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 40%, at $2.66; K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is down more than -33%, at $3.09; and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is down about -13%, at $48.73.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up 140%, at $39.74 after posting a new 52-week high of $40.15 earlier today. The company reported that an experimental prostate cancer drug reduced death risk by 37%.

Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (NASDAQ: SNSTA) is up nearly 41%, at $30.65 after posting a new 52-week high of $31.06. The company has agreed to be acquired for $31/share by an affiliate of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT).

SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up about 29%, at 39.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $40 earlier today. Sonosite is reported to have hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the company and talks are already in progress with potential buyers, including Samsung Electronics.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down more than -37%, at $6.53 after setting a new 52-week low of $6.52 earlier today. The company today reiterated its forecast for only modest sales of its Provenge anti-cancer drug.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is down nearly -20%, at $59.51. The company reported slowing sales in Europe, a region where the company had pinned its hopes for growth.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down about -14%, at $1.75. The company is seeking additional financing and has been unable to get its largest customer and majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to commit to the financing.

Stay tuned for Friday. The G-20 summit opened today and will continue meeting tomorrow and over the weekend. Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) releases its October report on US online job demand. We have noted the following event (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll data for October

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Paul Ausick

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
CNH Global N.V. (NYSE: CNH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) cut to Underperform ar Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) downgraded at Raymond James and Morgan Keegan.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Wyndam Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) has been removed from CreditWatch with negative implications at Standard & Poor’s and Ratings Watch Negative at Fitch Ratings. S&P and Fitch also affirmed ‘BBB+’ ratings on the company’s credit and maintained a stable outlook. Clorox recently beat back an unsolicited offer of $80/share from Carl Icahn, which had pushed the agencies to put negative watches on the company’s credit.

Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) subsidiary HD Supply Inc. received an upgrade on two senior secured term loans by Moody’s from ‘Baa1′ to ‘A3′. The two loans total $933 million, with $73 million due in 2012 and $870 million due in 2014. The upgrade resulted from a recent upgrade by Moody’s of Home Depot’s senior unsecured rating from ‘Baa1′ to ‘A3′. Because Home Depot guarantees HD Supply’s debt, the loans are treated as if they were made to Home Depot.

HCA Inc. (NYSE: HCA) has received a ‘B3′ rating from Moody’s on up to $500 million in senior unsecured debt due in 2018. HCA filed a preliminary prospectus for the notes with the SEC stating that proceeds from the sale may be used to buy Colorado Health Service’s portion of a joint venture in the Denver area. HCA has already agreed to purchase the stake for $1.45 billion. No interest rate or principal amount has been set for the junk-rated bonds.

Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE: GCI) received a lowered outlook at S&P from ‘positive’ to ‘stable’. All other ratings were affirmed, including the ‘BB’ rating on corporate credit. S&P noted that the outlook downgrade follows from the agency’s determination that any potential outlook upgrade is more than a year in the future. Because Gannett derives 60% of its revenue from the troubled newspaper business, S&P believes that the company’s prospects for growth are dim.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) received an ‘A’ rating from S&P on its newly extended $528 million senior unsecured debentures due in 2042. The amount represents privately offered exchanges that were accepted by September 23rd. ADM announced pricing last week on its public debt exchange offer, expiring October 5th. The total amount of debt included in the offer is $1.49 billion.

Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX) received ratings from both S&P and Fitch on $500 million in senior unsecured notes due 2022. S&P assigned a rating of ‘BBB-’ to the notes, which will be senior to the company’s existing senior subordinated notes but junior to all obligations at Newfield subsidiaries. Currently there is no outstanding debt at any Newfield subsidiary. Fitch assigned a ‘BB+’ rating to the notes. Proceeds from the sale of the notes will be used to repay a portion of the company’s outstanding $845 million on its revolving credit facility. S&P maintained a ‘stable’ outlook, while Fitch maintained a ‘positive’ outlook’.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) ratings of ‘BBB’ on senior unsecured debt and the company’s overall issuer default ratings were affirmed by Fitch today. The company’s $800 million revolving credit facility  due 2016 also received a ‘BBB’ rating and secured term loans due 2019 and 2020 received ‘BBB+’ ratings. Southwest has no borrowings outstanding against its revolving credit facility.

AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), parent of American Airlines, was assigned a rating of ‘Baa3′ by Moody’s on the company’s pass-through certificates which will be used to purchase equipment notes issued by American Airlines to re-finance 43 airplanes, of which 27 are currently financed under other trust certificates and 12 are used as collateral for other third-party loans. The remaining 4 airplanes are unencumbered. The corporate family rating for American is ‘Caa1′ with a negative outlook.

Paul Ausick

Now that Icahn has fled his efforts in Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) and jettisoned his Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: LGF) efforts, Icahn has some spare time and some spare cash to slosh back into another activist effort.

There is no easy solution here, not even for Carl Icahn.  R-I-M is Canadian outfit.  Despite its massive sell-off this year, R-I-M still has a market value of $12 billion.  Lions Gate is worth less than $1 billion and Clorox is worth nearly $9 billion.  Moving up the food chain in size gets harder and harder to do.

If there is truth here, Mr. Icahn might want to consider the case where he got stuck in Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO).  He was not able to force a buyout there.

The rumor is that Carl Icahn has made an approach of some sort to the troubled company.  He does have the success of Motorola to trump as a winning card, but R-I-M has such troubles that you wonder if anyone (even a new CEO) could make a real difference here.

The rumor could be a buyout, but more likely it would be a rumor to push the company into acting faster, with new leadership, and with a more aggressive nature.  It could end up being a very painful situation to simply acquire a company when it is losing this much market share this rapidly.

RIM is up nearly 6% at $22.95.

JON C. OGG

24/7 Wall St. has evaluated the following consumer products companies: Church & Dwight Company, Inc. (NYSE: CHD); Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX); Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL); Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE: KMB); and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG).

What is amazing here is that these valuations in many cases are not representative of traditional “value” when it comes to price to earnings ratios, book value, or even in return on equity.  Still, there are some solid dividends and if you want a sector that is likely to withstand a hard economy better than other risky sectors it is this consumer products sector.

Church & Dwight Company, Inc. (NYSE: CHD) recently traded at $42.64 and its market cap is $6 billion.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $30.54 to $44.09. The current value is trading at a price-to-book ratio of about 3 to 1.  Its forward price earnings multiple is 15.2 and its return on equity is 14.95%.  The consumer products company currently pays a dividend yield of 1.6% to investors.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $43.11, implying an upside of about 2% to the most recent price. If there is one company which performed throughout the malaise it is C&D.  It has brands like Trojan, Arm & Hammer, Nair, Oxi Clean, XTRA and more.

Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) recently traded at $68.91 and its market cap is $9 billion.  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $59.08 to $74.83.  Its forward price earnings multiple is 15.6.  The consumer products company currently pays a dividend yield of 3.5% to investors.  Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $69.92, implying roughly 1.5% upside to the most recent price.  Clorox is currently difficult to evaluate because of the Carl Icahn offer and intrusion to move the company to seek a higher buyer.  As such, we are leaving this one as is, but some of its brands are Clorox, Burt’s Bees, Glad, Kingsford charcoal, Hidden Valley, Pine-Sol and more.

The market’s faith that there could be more interest in Clorox has disappeared. Shares fell as low as $64 in early August. That was after the firm announced its results for the most recent fiscal quarter. The company reported 4% sales growth and 20% growth in diluted earnings per share from continuing operations in the fourth quarter. Its forecast for the upcoming year was disappointing.

If Icahn cannot sell his shares at more than $70, the investment will begin to look like those he made in Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF), Blockbuster, and Motorola, before the handset and mobile equipment firm was split into two pieces. Icahn recently sold his stake in Lions Gate for $7 a share, which is about what he paid for his position. Icahn’s decision to buy Motorola, which he did in 2007, has not paid off. He held his shares for most of that period. Blockbuster declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy nearly two years ago.

Icahn’s recent track record is an example of how a large institutional investor can lose his touch. It may be that he has taken on too many investments and cannot focus on the complexities of all of them at once. Or, he may have just become a below average investor.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The Federal Reserve tells Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) it must review its foreclosure records. (Reuters)

Experts cut expectations of unemployment in August to a gain of only 75,000 jobs. (Reuters)

A new hurricane headed for the Gulf of Mexico could disrupt oil production and refineries. (Reuters)

Starz to take its content off Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX); shares of the movie rental firm may fall 7%. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) says it will add jobs in California if the state backs down on its e-commerce sales tax. (Reuters)

Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) launches a mobile app store. (Reuters)

U.S. regulators tell Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to plan on future deterioration of its business. (WSJ)

A judge rejects a $1.3 billion verdict SAP (NYSE: SAP) must pay Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) for theft of information. (WSJ)

Factory orders fall across the globe. (WSJ)

Michael Arrington to leave as the editor of TechCrunch. (WSJ)

Turmoil at Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) as customers leave the troubled tech firm. (WSJ)

Samsung to move ahead with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-powered wireless devices. (WSJ)

The government wants owners of all 104 commercial nuclear reactors to review disaster plans. (WSJ)

Greece says it will miss budget deficit goals because of a drop in GDP. (WSJ)

Ireland says it may need deeper budget cuts to help its economy. (WSJ)

The head of Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN) steps down. (WSJ)

Mosaid Technologies to take over 2,000 patents owned by Nokia (NYSE: NOK). (WSJ)

The U.S. to sue a number of large banks because of “misrepresentations” of the value of mortgage-backed securities. (NYT)

Banks that own Greek bonds push for a new bailout to be completed. (NYT)

T-Mobile loses customers as it waits for a deal with AT&T (NYSE: T) to close. (NYT)

Solar companies in the EU and U.S. seldom have a cost advantage over China rivals. (NYT)

White House budget estimates lower forecasts for the size of the national deficit. (FT)

Economists want the ECB to cut rates. (Bloomberg)

Carl Icahn believes consumer products companies will pay a higher valuation for Clorox (NYSE: CLX) than Wall St. gives to their own firms. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

In the Clorox deal, Icahn would like to initiate a competitive auction for Clorox with potential buyers like Proctor & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (NYSE: CL), Kimberley-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB), and Japanese giant Kao Corp. Clorox’s board has already rejected Icahn’s latest move, a so-called ‘back-stop’ offer which is predicated on Icahn’s success in replacing the 11 current directors. If he manages to do that, and is still unable to find a buyer for Clorox, Icahn will buy the company himself for $78/share in cash and debt. Clorox has not yet scheduled its 2011 annual meeting, putting off the vote Icahn seeks to replace the company’s directors.

Dumping Lions Gate acknowledges that Icahn doesn’t believe the company is worth all the headaches. Icahn has long argued that Lions Gate should get out of the production business and instead focus on distribution of independent films. Lions Gate has lost money in three of the last four quarters, proving Icahn’s point to some degree. The $7/share price that Icahn will take for the shares is approximately what he paid for them.

There are some other weak spots in Icahn’s portfolio. Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) has been stumbling due to weak natural gas prices. Icahn and Seneca Capital own the company, which is mostly high-priced debt. The problem here is whether or not there is a taker for Dynegy. It’s struggles with debt and low prices will continue.

Another possible dump would be Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), and not because the stock is a particularly bad performer. The natural gas giant is just too big, at a market cap of nearly $21 billion, for Icahn to have much influence without making another big purchase of Chesapeake’s stock. The offer for Clorox could also force Icahn to raise some cash, if the deals breaks Icahn’s way.

Icahn also holds about 19% (about 60 million) of outstanding shares in Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI), which Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has offered to pay $40/share for.

Icahn also owns about 25% of Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MNTR), a relatively small computer software maker with a market cap of just under $2 billion. The company doesn’t look to be on either a growth path or a decline path. Neither is particularly good for Icahn over the short term.

Lions Gate’s shares are down more than -5% in the pre-market this morning, at $7.13, in a 52-week range of $5.69-$7.84. Clorox shares are down fractionally in the pre-market, at $70.50, in a 52-week range of $60.56-$75.44.

Paul Ausick

We have given previews using Thomson Reuters Consensus data, shown price ranges, trading ranges, shown a Thomson Reuters analyst consensus price target, and added in color on most companies.

MONDAY

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) has estimates of $0.15 EPS and $175.58 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.14 EPS and $173.62 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $3.09, the 52-week trading range is $2.62 to $4.36 and the consensus price target from analysts is $4.18.  Chimera is not going to be a market mover, but it will highlight some of the issues facing the leveraged MBS REIT players.  Will it be able to maintain what was recently tallied up as being nearly 17% on an annualized basis.  Per its REIT status, Chimera is required to distribute at least 90% of its REIT taxable income to shareholders.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) has estimates of $2.06 EPS and $9.32 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.97 EPS and $9.21 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $74.38, the 52-week trading range is $45.36 to $84.32 and the consensus price target from analysts is $88.22. Humana will follow three other healthcare insurers in earnings, and so far it is UnitedHealth which has hit highs and is so far winning the race this earnings season.

TUESDAY

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) has estimates of $0.85 EPS and $20.43 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.76 EPS and $18.33 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $30.74, the 52-week trading range is $26.50 to $38.02 and the consensus price target from analysts is $38.71. The saga continues for ADM.  With a $20 billion market cap this would still have to run 50% to challenge the old agriculture and energy highs seen in 2008.

Coach, Inc. (NYSE: COH) has estimates of $0.65 EPS and $1.01 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.69 EPS and $1.00 billion in revenues.  Shares are trading around $64.50, the 52-week trading range is $35.06 to $69.20 and the consensus price target from analysts is $67.52. Coach is one company that investors will use as a proxy for luxury or at least “above the middle of the pack” when it comes to previewing retail earnings that are about two weeks or three weeks out.  The purse and apparel accessories giant is actually worth a whopping $19 billion in market cap now.  Coach’s guidance could signal the trend of things to come in the higher-end and above the middle retail segment.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) has estimates of $0.18 EPS and $270.74 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.21 EPS and $320.2 million in revenues.  Shares are trading around $3.75, the 52-week trading range is $3.56 to $6.44 and the consensus price target from analysts is $6.25. DryShips does not run the market and it does not even really influence other shippers.  The Greek aspect cannot be helping matters, but it is now in the midst of an acquisition after having been a serial capital raising company.  The concerns actually have this one close to 52-week lows and it is not unusual to see massive volume spikes when DryShips has news.