CVS Caremark (CVS), whose competitors include Rite Aid (RAD) and Walgreen (WAG), was up during the early-afternoon session. At the time of this writing, the shares were higher by $1.34, or 4.4%. At a price of $31.94, they were trading well below the 52-week high of $38.27.

The one-year chart is...interesting. I'm not sure an investor could look at it and confidently say with certainty where the stock is heading from here. However, for those who were already considering the company, they can at least be confident that they'd be buying lower instead of higher.

"Investing in conservative stocks to build or rebuild the core of your portfolio makes sense right now; investors should buy companies that have a long history of steady earnings and dividend growth, through good times and tough times," says J. Royden Ward.

The editor of the specialty newsletter, Cabot Benjamin Graham Value Letter, explains, "The obvious benefit of adhering to a disciplined system of value investing like ours is that you build long-term profits and, ideally, financial independence.

Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) may have reported a narrower loss this morning, but you know what? I'm still not going to buy it. As I write this, the stock is up almost 7% on great volume. The quote? $1.08. Yep, it's one of those low-priced equities.

The one-year chart relates a tale of volatility and risk. Nothing more than a vehicle for gambling, if you ask me. Wall Street players who buy Rite Aid are betting on a turnaround. I really don't see the pharmacy chain being worth the trouble right now on that count. Sure, you could invest in the concern and be surprised by a positive change in fortunes down the road, but what if that positive change doesn't occur? Well, the answer is, you'd incur opportunity costs for having capital tied up in a less-than-acceptable fundamental thesis.

Walgreen Company (WAG) stock is in need of a prescription against the bad reaction it's experiencing after issuing its fiscal third-quarter report. At the time of this writing, shares of the pharmacy chain were down over 6% to $28.26. That's not too far off from the 52-week low of $27.89.

Here's the kind of chart that can mess you up. On the one hand, you might look at it and conclude that now may be the time to buy since the stock was doing so well before; you would believe you were buying low with the intent of selling high, as they say. On the other hand, it's a confusing mess, as it doesn't give you any sense of where the equity may be heading. Hey, going by charts alone is never advisable, as technical interpretation will never be a perfect science (some might argue it isn't science at all).

I first wrote about Walgreen (WAG) here on February 17, 2009, at a price of $25.46, and shares of drug store chain giant have totally misbehaved in the past three months, which has raised some caution flags.

Walgreen dipped below $30 on a spat with CVS Caremark (CVS) over reimbursements for drug prescriptions, which, thankfully, was resolved this week, Reuters reported. Terms were not disclosed.

Walgreen Co. (WAG - option chain) shares rose Friday after the company said it signed a new agreement with CVS Caremark (CVS) that will allow Walgreen to continue participating in CVS's pharmacy benefit management network. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 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 WAG.

WAG opened at $31.01. In morning trading, the stock hit a low of $30.18 and a high of $31.38. As of 12:00, WAG was trading at $30.37 up 1.10 (3.8%). The chart for WAG looks bullish and S&P gives WAG a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Analyst Upgrades

• Barclays upgraded GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to overweight from equal weight and said investor concerns regarding Advair and Avandia are overdone.
• Leerink upgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to outperform from market perform, citing management's pipeline execution. Shares were also upgraded at Citigroup this morning to buy from hold.
• Goldman upgraded Medco Health (MHS) to buy from neutral and raised its price target on shares to $76 from $67. The firm cites valuation and expectations that earnings will accelerate in 2H10 driven by a stronger generic outlook.
• U.S. Steel (X) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
• Blyth (BTH) was upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• IPC The Hospitalist Co. (IPCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

CVS Caremark (CVS) has received notice from Walgreen (WAG) that the latter would not participate as a provider in any new prescription drug plans awarded to CVS's pharmacy benefit manager after June 7.

Walgreen feels that it's no longer "in the best interests of its customers, pharmacists and shareholders to grow its future business" with CVS. Any current CVS plans in which Walgreen is already a service provider will not be impacted.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Home Properties (HME) to outperform from market perform. The firm thinks that rental rate in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic are poised to increase, while Home Properties provides relatively cheap access to these markets.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded VeriSign (VRSN) to buy from hold after the company sold its authentication business to Symantec (SYMC). The firm upped its target for VRSN shares to $35 from $25.
• Macquarie upgraded Nexen (NXY) to outperform from neutral following the company's divestiture of its noncore heavy-oil properties in Western Canada.
• UPS (UPS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• Dell (DELL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Standpoint Research.
• Emerson Electric (EMR) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.

CVS Caremark (CVS), a drugstore chain that competes with Rite-Aid Corporation (RAD), Walgreen Company (WAG), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), is acting in a boring way this afternoon. My screen shows, at the time of this writing, the stock down 44 cents, or 1.2%, to $36.64.

That's not too bad for the kind of trading session we're having. I bet CVS would have been up today following its Q1 report had the market action been different. But the tape is the tape, you can do nothing about that. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the company made, on an adjusted basis, 60 cents per share, which was two pennies ahead of estimates.

Rite Aid (RAD) continues to be a stock that I want to avoid. I know it's risen a lot over the last year, but such price action doesn't sway me in this case.

You've got to be careful when a company reports a loss, even if that loss is narrower than what was reported in the comparable period. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Rite Aid lost 24 cents per share. Last year at this time, the red ink came out to $2.67 per share. Yes, this is a vast improvement; same thing happened in the third quarter back in December of last year.

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

• Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) reported that Q1 revenue was up but earnings declined sharply, and it offered guidance.
• Best Buy Inc. (BBY) shares rallied after it topped Q4 earnings expectations and offered encouraging guidance.
• Brinker International Inc. (EAT) raised its outlook for fiscal 2010 and also increased its quarterly dividend.
• China Automotive Systems Inc. (CAAS) reported that its revenue had doubled and it beat earnings expectations.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) Q3 earnings matched estimates and revenue was flat, and it reaffirmed its outlook.
• Finish Line Inc. (FINL) shares rallied after it reported that Q4 earnings came in better than analysts' expected.

Now that health care reform is a done deal, with the ink from President Obama's signature yesterday still drying, it's time to talk about how to profit from the new legislation.

I know many parts of the legislation may not sit well with some of you -- whether it be the taxes on dividends used to pay for reforms or the general idea of Uncle Sam getting deeper into entitlement spending even as businesses are generally reducing their debt loads. But what's done is done and there's no use grousing about it. As investors, it's not our job to judge how good or bad the news is but only to judge how to cash in.

Walgreen Company (WAG), a drugstore entity whose major competitors are CVS Caremark (CVS), Rite Aid (RAD), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), reported second-quarter data earlier today; they weren't too thrilling, to be completely honest.

On a reported basis, net income increased three pennies to 68 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, earnings came out to 70 cents per share (this would be after adding back the two pennies dedicated to restructuring charges). Estimates called for 71 cents per share. Poor Walgreen just couldn't keep up with the analysts this time around.

U.S. stock were mixed Tuesday morning as investors awaited data on the housing market -- one the remaining weakest segment in the economy , which has been having the most problems recovering.

On Monday, U.S. stocks closed higher as Wall Street digested the the passage of a sweeping U.S. health care reform bill late Sunday. Healthcare stocks performed well despite the initial negative reaction as perhaps the end of months of uncertainty gave the sector the much needed stability.