In last week’s Buy, Sell or Hold I recommended Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW), based on three factors:

On Wednesday, leading stocks started to sell off, but you wouldn’t know it from the action in the indexes. The selling continued Thursday, and it hit the indexes as well. And then on Friday, the indexes were up (led by financial and energy stocks) while leading stocks were down again. It was pretty much a carbon copy of Wednesday — while the indexes were up, the big money was selling the leaders.

When it comes to the U.S. stock market right now, the story continues to be about earnings. And this week will be no exception.

On Feb. 5, we knocked the ball out of the park with our recommendation on Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN). After getting pummeled by the worst recession since 1930, it’s heartening to see that at these valuations, and with the massive disequilibrium that’s affecting so many market sectors, we can rewarded much more than during normal times.

Facing near extinction at the hands of Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and increasingly popular pay-per-view movies, Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) announced that it would team with on-demand television powerhouse Tivo Inc. (TIVO) to sell and rent movies via digital video recorders (DVRs).

A few nights ago, I was watching an interview with Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) on “The Daily Show.”

If you still look at Amazon Inc. (AMZN) as just an Internet retailing giant, you’re not just missing the point – you are also missing one of the really great long-term profit plays in the market today.

Is Washington replacing New York – and more specifically, Wall Street – as the city that drives America?

Job Claims Hit 42-Year High; Dodd’s Vengeance; Durable Goods Orders Slowing Slide; 3Com Profit Down but Stock Up; Amazon Profit Up 9%; Crude Prices Down as Inventories Build; Kodak Paints Unflattering Picture

Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) has declared that the holiday season was its “best ever”. But despite its cost advantages over bricks and mortar retailers, Adam Lass says the company will struggle to profit during this recession. Amazon’s earnings report on Friday could reveal the troubles that lie ahead. And that means a chance for quick profits with short selling or put options.