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Our partners at the CME Group (CME) gave us an insider’s look at their new modern day global command center at the CME headquarters in Chicago. In contrast to the former CME trading pits of shouting traders filling orders by fist pumping emotionally charged adrenaline, today’s technologically-driven trading floor brings peace among button clickers.

In this Wall St. Cheat Sheet Mobile Minute I interview Allan Schoenberg, Director of Corporate Communications, who discusses our partnership and the importance of financial social media. In the face of today’s horrid jobless claims number, he offers a glimmer of hope for hiring in the 2nd half of 2010 (at the CME) and advice for job seekers on the hunt:

Earnings: Q2 profits of $.17 vs. $.09 consensus and a net loss of $.02 in Q2 last year. Profits jumped back into positive territory relative to the same quarter last year.

Revenue: Increased 23% Year-over-Year at $1.20 Billion vs. $1.10 Billion consensus, beating analyst sales estimates and displaying their strongest revenue growth since 2007.

Brett White, CEO of CB Richard Ellis stated, “In the U.S., we saw a very strong pick up in property sales and leasing, reflecting recovering market conditions. Europe produced robust growth, fueled by the recovery of the property sales market in the larger economies, such as the U.K., Germany and France. Asia Pacific also sustained the strong top-line growth that first became evident there late last year.”

Comment: Shares of CB Richard Ellis (CBG) are trading up 3.76% following the company’s earnings release after-the-bell, trading at $15.99 per share, compared to today’s closing price of $15.41 per share.

As you can see above, CB Richard Ellis (CBG) shares are trading above both its 50-day and 200-day moving price averages. This month, the stock’s technical downtrend was broken to the upside, a good sign for investors looking to participate on the long side of CBG shares.

White went on to add, “We are mindful of concerns about the pace of economic recovery, but the rebound in commercial real estate activity is progressing.”

With the CBG global investment management business yielding 44% revenue growth Year-over-Year, it is evident the company is diversifying its focus to other countries and also reaping a higher growth rate in doing so. CBG stock has held support twice this month at the 200-day moving price average. As the stock trades up after-hours, it appears a solid base of support could bring more confident investors to the table after they catch wind of CBG’s stellar second quarter report.

Disclosure: No positions in the stocks mentioned.

Earnings: Q3 profits of $.27 vs. $.29 consensus and $.20 in Q3 last year. Profits jumped 35% Year-over-Year.

Revenue: Increased 9% Year-over-Year at $2.61 Billion vs. $2.55 Billion consensus, breezing by expectations.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks (SBUX) Chairman, President and CEO, said, “”I’m particularly pleased to report significant Q3 increases in store traffic…”

Comment: Shares of Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) are trading down over 2% following the company’s earnings release after-the-bell, trading at $24.55 per share, compared to today’s closing price of $25.17 per share.

As you can see above, Starbucks (SBUX) is trading between its 50-day and 200-day moving price averages, very indicative of a common trading zone in the current economic environment. SBUX proved to be picking up steam for comparable same stores sales with a 9% uptick and is seeing optimism for its distributed beverage line (i.e. mini double-shot espresso cans and other flavored drinks). Picking up shares of SBUX during the recession proved smart for any savvy investor as the stock has doubled in over a year’s time. Starbucks is planning to undergo an investment period of capital expenditures once again to kickstart future growth. Today, investors and traders were unhappy with the tighter outlook SBUX executives offered for the remainder of the year. However, if SBUX can continue to deliver on their new product mix and the success of their breakfast offering, you may want to consider SBUX shares on pullbacks as a way to ride a potentially positive earnings surprise down the road. In the meantime, grab an iced beverage as the summer continues to heat up…

For more detailed information on the Starbucks earnings release, visit here.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.

Disclosure: No holdings in SBUX, but adding a shot of espresso to finish out the day…

Earnings: Q2 profits of $1.02 vs. $1.03 consensus and $.88 in Q2 last year.

Revenue: Increased 5% Year-over-Year at $8.67 Billion vs. $8.7 Billion consensus.

Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO, said, “It is clear, however, that the state of the global economy remains uncertain in many regions, affected by ongoing deficit concerns in Europe, recent downward revisions to China’s economy and weakened consumer confidence. While this uncertainty weighs on us all, we remain resolute in our commitment to invest in our global operations and our brands for the long-term. Even during these challenging times, our brand equity is growing stronger around the world…Looking forward to the balance of the year, we remain cautious, yet confident in our ability to deliver our 2010 plan while continuing our efforts to achieve our 2020 Vision through consistent long-term profitable growth.”

Comment: Shares of Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) are up over 1% this morning following the company’s earnings release, trading at $54 per share, compared to yesterday’s closing price of $53.24 per share.

I wrote about Coca-Cola in February earlier this year in an article titled, ‘Battle of the Beverage Behemoths Coke vs. Pepsi,’ when the stock was trading at $53.79 per share. Fast forward to this morning, over 5 months later, and shares are just $.20 higher, yet Coca-Cola (KO) pays a 3.2% annual dividend. KO has always been a risk-averse, safe investor’s dream. The share price trades in a tight range in the $50′s and pays a dividend. Thus, the decision to enter KO shares is contingent up the proper timing of entry. As you can note in the chart above, KO shares are trading above its 50-day moving average and slightly below its 200-day moving average. If KO shares can climb above its 200-day moving average solidly and hold there, I would see such a technical move as a confident reinforcement to consider adding Coca-Cola shares to your safe portfolio.

For more detailed information on the Coca-Cola earnings release, visit here.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.

Disclosure: No holdings in KO.

Over 30% of the companies reporting this earnings season have missed on revenue expectations, just about the same percentage of companies that reported for all of the first quarter this year. It’s important to look at both top-line (i.e. revenues) and bottom-line (i.e. earnings) during your earnings season assessment.

On the other side of the coin, only 20% of companies so far have missed earnings expectations. As a fluctuating environment plays out, here are two positive company stories from this morning:

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH):

Earnings: Q2 profits of $.99 vs. $.75 consensus and $.73 in Q2 last year.

Revenue: Increased 7% Year-over-Year at $23.26 Billion vs. $22.97 Billion consensus.

Raised Guidance: Analysts from FactSet were expecting full-year profits of $3.34 per share and UNH executives confidently upped their guidance to between $3.40-$3.60 per share for the full-year.

Comment: Shares of UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) are down around 1% following the company’s earnings release, trading at $30.59 per share.

As you can see above, UNH shares are trading above both its 200-day and 50-day price moving averages, a very healthy sign of technical support for the current share price. Today’s report was strong, with a view of better-than-expected guidance for the full-year. If UNH shares can clear the recent double top formation around $31.80, we could see an upside breakout on the company delivering better numbers going forward. Remain nimble if you are looking to enter a position soon.

Whirlpool Corp. (WHR): Cautious Optimism

Earnings: Q2 profits of $2.64 vs. $2.13 consensus and $1.04 in Q2 last year.

Revenue: Increased 8.8% Year-over-Year at $4.53 Billion vs. $4.48 Billion consensus.

Raised Guidance: Whirlpool now expects to deliver between $9-9.50 per share in profits compared to a previous estimate of between $8-8.50 per share.

Chairman and CEO Jeff M. Fettig said, “We expect the global economic environment will remain fragile, although we do expect demand to be positive, albeit at a slower rate than the first half of the year.”

Comment: Shares of Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) sold off around 2% today following the company’s earnings release, trading at $88.60.

After today’s earnings report, WHR is trading above its 200-day price moving average, but below its 50-day price moving average. With such a strong report out of WHR today, look for a cautious uptrend to possibly form based on the upside profit guidance for 2010. If Whirlpool can break back above $90 per share in the near-term, the company might add some upside safety to your portfolio with a roughly 2% dividend too.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.

Disclosure: No holdings in UNH or WHR.

Earnings: Q2 profits of $.78 vs. $2.08 consensus and $4.93 in Q2 last year. You must note, excluding the impact of the $600 million related to the U.K. bank payroll tax and the $550 million related to the SEC settlement, GS earnings per share were $2.75 vs. the $2.08 consensus.

Revenue: Decreased 35% Year-over-Year at $8.84 Billion vs. $8.94 Billion consensus. 

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO stated, “The market environment became more difficult during the second quarter and, as a result, client activity across our businesses declined.”

Comment: Shares of GS (NYSE: GS) sold off 3% this morning following the company’s earnings release, trading at $141.15, compared to yesterday’s closing price of $145.68 per share.

Before the SEC allegations and charges, Goldman Sachs was trading above $180 per share, as you can see in April on the chart above. After today’s earnings report, GS is now trading just a little bit above the 50-day moving average price. If the 50-day moving average can hold as support in the near-term, GS shares could possibly hold firm in the current price zone. Keep in mind, the SEC charge is now behind GS and after a huge decline in year-over-year revenue, the banking powerhouse will be motivated more than ever to execute and achieve a solid 2nd half of 2010.

Can Goldman Sachs recover quickly? Remember, Goldman Sachs employees are working around the clock, like one of our top 3 traders under 30, and they will not take declines or failure easy. When you see price support developing for Goldman Sachs shares, consider it a small window of buying opportunity for the profiteering powerhouse.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.

Disclosure: No holdings in GS.

Earnings: Q2 profits of $.62 vs. $.62 consensus and $.20 in Q2 last year.

Revenue: $3.50 Billion vs. $3.52 Billion consensus, missing revenue expectations.

Rich Templeton, TXN chairman, president and chief executive officer stated, “We delivered our highest-ever quarterly operating profit,” also responding to the top-line weaker number, “we expect to grow revenue again in the third quarter.”

Comment: Shares of Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) sold off after-the-bell  following the company’s earnings release. TXN shares closed the day at $25.55, but after-hours traders were pricing shares at $24 per share, or a 6% decline.

As you can see on the chart above, shares have been range bound between $22-$28 per share this year.  The hard sell-off after the closing day places the TXN share price below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages on the chart above. A downward trend is still in tact since the end of April, so tread with caution before entering and watch for the more recent lows in the $22 price areas hold as support for future momentum again.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.

Disclosure: No holdings in TXN.

This morning, three bellwether blue chip heavyweight companies reported second quarter earnings that left investors mixed pre-market. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and General Electric (NYSE:GE) all surpassed reduced analyst earnings estimates for the second quarter, but with lower top-line revenue figures.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) earned $.27 cents per share, compared to the consensus analyst expectation of $.22 cents per share, beating estimates by $.05 per share. However, for the 6 months ended June 30th, total revenue was down over 10%. BAC stated second quarter revenue was $29.2 Billion versus the expected $29.6 Billion by analysts, or a miss of $400 million.

CEO Brian Moynihan said Bank of America’s “credit quality improved even faster than we expected.”

A positive note to keep in mind despite the BAC revenue slowdown is Bank of America was one of the largest recipients of government bailout money, however BAC repaid the entire $45 billion investment issued by the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in December 2009.

BAC is currently trading at $14.39 per share:

Citigroup (NYSE:C) delivered $.09 cents per share, compared to the consensus analyst expectation of $.05 cents per share, beating estimates by $.04 per share. Revenue for Citigroup was $22.1 Billion, worse than the expected $22.4 Billion, a miss of $300 million.

CEO Vikram Pandit said, “”While the market environment lowered revenues in securities and banking, credit improved for the fourth consecutive quarter.”

C is currently trading at $4.02 per share:

General Electric (NYSE: GE) reported second quarter earnings of $.30 cents per share, beating consensus analyst estimates by $.03 cent per share. Additionally, GE beat revenue expectations by $140 million delivering $37.44 Billion for the second quarter. Although, revenue slowed 4.3% year-over-year — a sign of slowdown for conglomerate.

CEO of Genereal Electric Jeff Immelt said the “higher income and lower losses at GE Capital were particularly encouraging,” adding “GE’s economic environment continues to improve,” He said he plans to “grow earnings and dividends in 2011 and beyond”.

GE is currently trading at $14.71 per share:

Disclosure: Author has no position in the companies mentioned.

The Wall St. Cheat Sheet Premium Newsletter has delivered 15 out of 16 winning picks since inception in November 2008. Let the Hoffman Brothers give you their best investing and trading ideas: click here now for your free trial.