Bright and early Friday morning, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Toyota Motor (TM) has asked ABC News, a division of Disney (DIS), to issue a public retraction and formal apology for last month's "irresponsible broadcast" that reportedly showed how electronic problems led to unintended acceleration for Toyota vehicles.

Toyota believes ABC used footage that created "the false and misleading impression with viewers of a dangerous and uncontrolled acceleration" when dealing with a Toyota Avalon sedan. According to the article, Toyota contends that "ABC News chose fear-mongering over public service." ABC stated that it has received the letter and that its lawyers are reviewing it and preparing a response.

Do you remember when MySpace was all the rage? Of course you do. Then came Facebook; then came Twitter. Something else will come along, too. Unfortunately, though, News Corp. (NWS) committed itself to MySpace by buying it back in 2005. What a mistake that was.

I'm sure everyone knows about the growth problems at the social-networking site. This recent article at Reuters discusses them. Morale at the company appears to be waning. Unique visitors aren't what they used to be. An ad agreement with Google (GOOG) is about to expire; any new transaction on that front may not be as valuable now that MySpace has been relegated to not-as-cool-as-it-used-to-be status.

The Walt Disney Company's (DIS) Alice in Wonderland was number one at the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row. Excellent, especially for shareholders. Disney needs Alice to do some massive numbers to prove to Hollywood, as well as Wall Street, that changes in its film division are here: changes for the better, ones that will increase economic value.

According to Box Office Mojo, Alice grossed over $60 million. Coming in second was Green Zone, from General Electric Corporation's (GE) Universal. Make that a distant second. Zone pulled in approximately $14 million. As some have said, this was a very weak opening for a Matt Damon project.

We all have our watch lists. I'm no different. Here are four companies that I monitor almost every single day, and a brief opinion on each of them.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI): I sold this one back in January. Some believe I was wrong to do so. I definitely comprehend the sentiment, because really, this is the best publisher in the sector. Compared to Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), Activision Blizzard has an enviable pipeline. Unfortunately, the video-game industry isn't firing on all cylinders; check out the most recent monthly-sales report, and you'll see what I mean. In addition, the company's Guitar Hero franchise isn't the fad it once was. I do want to get in on the stock again, though; lately, the price seems to be perking up. I'm not ready to send in the buy order just yet. I'm waiting for further strength to materialize in the shares.

IMAX (IMAX) issued its Q4 report yesterday after the bell. The stock was slightly weak ahead of the earnings release (it ended the session down 1%), and it didn't react too much in the after-hours session once the news hit the wires. I'm not sure, though, if traders should give up on the stock just yet.

On an adjusted basis, the company behind the big, theatrical 3D format made 20 cents per diluted share. In the previous year's similar quarter, a loss of 22 cents per diluted share was booked. Awesome improvement. As for the analysts, they simply couldn't keep up with the momentum. According to Earnings.com, they were expecting something closer to 6 cents for the income figure.

Disney's (DIS) Alice in Wonderland was the number-one picture over the three-day weekend. No surprise, necessarily, as the rank wasn't the true question mark. The question, in my mind at least, was exactly how much the film would take in during its debut. Would it go beyond expectations? Would it capture the top spot with a paltry $45 million?

I believe it's safe to say Alice came through for the Mouse. According to early estimates at Box Office Mojo, the project took in $116 million from domestic multiplexes. Brooklyn's Finest, distributed by Liberty Capital Group's (LCAPA) Overture Films, placed second with $13 million -- not that great, but the budget was only $25 million on this one, so we'll have to see if word of mouth brings the grosses up to a financially appropriate level (besides, The Wrap indicated that it only cost Overture maybe less than $3 million for the rights).

I haven't been bullish on Disney's (DIS) stock for quite a while. I own a long-term position, but I haven't added to it for years (I do, however, allow the annual dividend payout, too small that it is, to be reinvested). I'm waiting for the day when the shares finally break through $40. Disney hasn't seen $40 since, well, I don't even want to think how far back that price level goes.

This past week has been fascinating for the Mouse's investors. The media business was upgraded. There's been interesting activity going on in the company's options, as Schaeffer's Investment Research indicates. And the stock hit a fresh 52-week high of $33.22 on Friday; in fact, it closed at the 52-week high, right before the weekend, no less.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded Boeing (BA) to neutral from sell, citing increased delivery forecasts. The firm raised its target to $68 from $50.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Meredith Corp. (MDP) to buy from hold to reflect improving broadcasting and magazine advertising fundamentals. The firm raised its target for shares to $40 from $36.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Transatlantic (TRH) to market perform from underperform after the annual statutory data was published. The firm raised its target for shares to $51 from $4.
• Disney (DIS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Royal Caribbean (RCL) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• FedEx (FDX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) reported a much-improved fourth quarter yesterday after the bell. Total revenue increased 17%. The bottom line recorded 48 cents per share in terms of income from continuing operations. This compares to a loss of $2.75 per share in the relevant period.

According to Reuters, the net income figure completely obliterated the analysts. The call was for 9 cents per share. I don't think there was any question that the theater chain was going to beat. As management stated in the release, the multiplex industry generated incredible business in Q4.

In its second weekend out in the domestic theatrical marketplace, Viacom's (VIA) Shutter Island thriller, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, demonstrated that it has some resilience. This is good news, considering the budget on the film is a healthy $80 million.

Island made $22.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The cumulative gross so far for the flick is better than $75 million. Viacom beat out Time Warner's (TWX) new entry Cop Out, directed by Kevin Smith, and horror picture The Crazies, a remake of a George Romero project from the early 1970s, which is distributed by Liberty Capital Group's (LCAPA) Overture Films.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA) continues to post evidence that its business model of building animated franchises should be a robust driver of solid shareholder value. It isn't without risk, of course; when you're dealing with Hollywood, failure scenarios are a constant threat. For now, though, the company's fourth-quarter results, released Tuesday after the bell, show a studio with future promise.

It's true that the quarter itself didn't show growth. Revenues took a modest dip, and earnings per share dropped 14% to 50 cents. However, estimates indicated a much more pessimistic outlook at 37 cents per share. And for the twelve-month period, growth actually was produced, as net income rose 10% to $1.73 per share.

CBS (CBS) posted Q4 figures Thursday after the bell. The broadcaster, which competes with Disney's (DIS) ABC, General Electric's (GE) NBC, and News Corp.'s (NWS) Fox, said it made 25 cents per share on an adjusted basis. The growth rate wasn't bad at 19%, but unfortunately, expectations were only met. I know, meeting expectations isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world, but let's remember how the analyst game operates: beating estimates is all that matters.

But meeting expectations wasn't the most disappointing part of the story -- far from it. Instead, the flat top line and the decline in cash flow were more relevant elements. Net cash from operations for all of 2009 was a little under $940 million. There was over $2.1 billion generated from operations in 2008.

Over the long Valentine's weekend, according to estimates from Box Office Mojo at the time of this writing, Time Warner's (TWX) Valentine's Day made over $50 million, good for number one. How appropriate, right?

News Corp.'s (NWS) Avatar dropped to fourth place. Last week, the film was in second place. I know it's been out for a while, and the lower rank is to be expected by this point no matter how much of a phenomenon it is, but I thought it would have made a stop at slot three before hitting the one below it. No huge deal, though, since it's already made tons of money.

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

• Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF) received an analyst's upgrade ahead of next week's Q4 earnings report.
• Acer Inc. reported its highest quarterly earnings in almost three years due in part to growth in shipments.
• Baidu Inc. (BIDU) swung to a better-than-expected Q4 profit, with strong revenue growth, and offered rosy guidance.
• Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) offered an upside surprise as well as full-year earnings above Wall Street estimates.
• Coinstar Inc. (CSTR) strong quarterly results and guidance, as well as litigation concerns, failed to inspire Wall Street.
• Coca-Cola Co. (KO) posted strong Q4 and full-year earnings results due to growth in emerging markets.

Viacom, Inc. (VIA) recorded a significant increase in per-share profit in the fourth quarter. On an adjusted basis, earnings from continuing businesses increased over 40% to $1.09 per share. The call on Wall Street was for only 88 cents per share.

Sure, that's a wide margin for the beat, but in many ways, the Viacom story is a precarious one to buy. There are two major divisions in this company: media networks and movies. Operating income at the former went up 3% in Q4, while profit at the latter increased over 250%. Viacom had a strong theatrical film slate in 2009, and it is reaping the financial windfall from that slate in the ancillary markets.