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.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $265 from $170, citing higher iPhone expectations, new partnerships, and likely upward revisions to Street estimates driven by gross margins.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm views a possible deal between end General Electric's (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal positively, as it thinks NBC will provide higher-margin growth for Comcast.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Michael Baker (AMEX: BKR) to Buy from Neutral after the company completed the sale of its Energy business. The firm raised its target on shares to $46 from $40.
• Jefferies assumed coverage of Endo Pharma (NASDAQ: ENDP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold. The firm cites valuation, a strong base business, and solid cash flow for the upgrade, and has a $30 target price on shares.
• Marten Transport (NASDAQ: MRTN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

"While I continue to avoid bank stocks and bank ETFs , I very much continue to recommend that you buy and own plenty of nicely high-yielding bank preferreds and bank minibonds for your retirement investing," says Neil George.

In his income-focused Stocks that Pay You, the advisors reviews his favorites among these lesser-known investment vehicles.

"Why invest in banks at all? Because -- as they continue to clean up and bolster their balance sheets -- banks are getting even better credit risks, which means that you'll be even more likely to get paid your high-yield dividends and interest payments.

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."

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says commodities don't tell the real story -- look at wages and prices of finished goods.

Commodity inflation is not real inflation. Commodity inflation is China- and speculation-driven inflation of imperfect commodities by fearful or greedy customers and traders.

Yet "inflation" is on everyone's lips as if the plummeting prices of cars and homes and wages don't even matter. You read about the not-even-nascent recoveries in countries like those in Eastern Europe or Mexico or Germany, and you have to wonder whether we need to be as fearful of the price of copper as we are. If you own GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take) bonds, you are not experiencing inflation, and believe me -- there are more GM bonds being bought than there is of the red metal.

With President Obama at the helm it seems as though the light might be shining on the economic horizon. If you're of this opinion then now might be a good time to invest some of your hard earned savings in the banking industry.

But what banking firm do you decide to go with? Rather than selecting just one bank, how about hedging your bets by investing in many diverse banks from all over the country? An exchange traded fund (ETF) is a great way to do just that. By investing in the ETF PowerShares Dynamic Banking (PJB) you get shares of several different banks. PJB seeks to replicate the Dynamic Banking Intellidex index and invests at least 90% of assets in common stocks that comprise that index. Among their holdings in the PJB ETF are BancFirst Corporation(NASDAQ GS: BANF) BancFirst's holding company, Capital Federal Financial(NASDAQ GS: CFFN) the holding company for Capitol Federal Savings Bank, and Northern Trust Corporation(NASDAQ GS: NTRS) Northern Trust Company's holding company.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we have more than enough good banks to lead us yet higher.

The issue isn't that there are six "bad" banks, it's there are 13 "good" banks. All we need is a plurality of good banks to merge the bad banks into. Anything that creates bigger, more streamlined banks is a win.

Giving PNC (NYSE: PNC) (Cramer's Take) or Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) (Cramer's Take) or JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) or U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) (Cramer's Take) some bad banks with some guarantees is terrific. Yes, it is true that Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) may need capital. But think of it like this: If you think the banking environment is actually going to get better, you might be willing to buy some sort of convertible bond from these companies that lets you capture equity upside.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says he'd sell the regionals, but this group is mired till housing sales tick up.

Is it SunTrust (NYSE: STI) (Cramer's Take)? Maybe it is Key (NYSE: KEY) (Cramer's Take)? How about Regions (NYSE: RF) (Cramer's Take)? Maybe Huntington (NASDAQ: HBAN) (Cramer's Take)? Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) (Cramer's Take)?

Oh, who cares? Frankly these are all small, nothing banks that you could short and probably do pretty well with, if you can borrow the shares. None of them is really important, and incredibly, all of them can easily be made delicious morsels for a JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) or a U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) (Cramer's Take) or a Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) without a lot of money spent by Treasury.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says a few calls Tuesday show the positives in this market.

So many conference calls, so little time to really assess what the heck was happening when it was happening. Nevertheless, a few calls pretty much defined the positive action, and they have to be highlighted.

First, the TD Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) (Cramer's Take) call showed you what I have been looking for: renewed interest in the stock market by retail people trying to make money off the wild swings and the exchange-traded funds. I am no fan of the ETFs, but I am a fan of new people in the game, and Ameritrade confirmed what I was thinking could be happening: actual interest in stocks at the new lower levels. It's a positive -- not a huge positive, but a positive nonetheless.

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.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says more banks will be nationalized, but what matters is that we have a few that won't be.

Noriel Roubini, the New York University professor intoxicated with his prescience and vision, comes out with the astounding view that "some" U.S. banks will be nationalized. Forget that we have had one of the largest rallies in history since the oracle of Greenwich Village spoke last.

What I think matters is that I don't know anyone who would disagree with him. It is obvious that more banks will be nationalized. What has mattered since the beginning of this crisis is that we have a few banks that are not going to be nationalized. Since the last time Roubini spoke, we have had about a 75% increase in the KBW Bank Index, which I regard as being breathing room to create some banks that will be able to absorb the banks that are faltering. If that is nationalization, so be it. The other banks may be not big enough to worry about and can be absorbed by the FDIC. If that is nationalization, so be it.

It is being reported today in the Business Journal that the safest bank in the United States is Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC).

According to Global Finance, which will publish its analysis, "World's 50 Safest Banks" in its April issue, international banks dominate the rankings, which show the effects of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and credit crisis brought on by large Wall Street players. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is the top-rated U.S. bank at No. 21. European banks now dominate the rankings, with only four U.S. banks among the listing.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the leaks will provide a momentary bump up, but this looks like another chance to sell.

Here we go again with the leaks, the patented Geithner leaks, and now Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is back with the good bank/bad bank scenario and getting private money involved in the process.

That's after he crammed down all of the private money that was in Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take). I guess he read the papers and realized that whatever he might have done with Citigroup directly contrasted with this now famous bear-market initiative -- that's right, the speech that we have declined 20% from when he gave us his "plan."

Apparently the markets think that U.S. risk of sovereign default is steadily creeping up. Hedge fund blogger Zero Hedge puts up the numbers here. According to the numbers from finance calculator company Markit, U.S. is a greater default risk than Japan or Germany, among others.

A default would destroy the U.S. economy and TARP recipients, in particular. The Piqqem Sentiment on major TARP holders is more or less neutral, although the bankruptcy of the U.S. Treasury might change that, no?