SodaStream International (NASDAQ:SODA): Shares of SodaStream are sliding, despite a strong revenue beat and solid earnings reports. EPS of $0.68 passed projections by $0.04, while revenue of $117.6 million beat by a healthy $4.49 million. The raised guidance is seen as low-balling by some, offering a strong buying opportunity as the company sets up for another beat for the second quarter.

DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV): DirecTV’s earnings call was largely centered around sports, and the network’s strategy in relation to them. ”Just because you ask for triple the fees doesn’t mean you’ll receive triple the fees,”  said CEO Mike White, when discussing the renewal of the contract with the NFL for the firm’s NFL Sunday Ticket programming, and striking a carriage deal for the new Time Warner Cable (NYSE:TWC) L.A. Dodgers network.

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT): Bankers are urging U.S. Federal regulators to ban Wal-Mart from offering some specific financial services, including opening banking services of its own. The company already issues a prepaid credit card, called Bluebird, but major banks and firms are pushing against the retailer’s efforts to branch out into broader financial services.

Zillow (NASDAQ:Z): Shares of Zillow are tanking, following a lackluster earnings report where -$0.11 missed estimates by $0.08, although revenue just beat expectations (while growing 71 percent year -over-year). Goldman Sachs issued a resounding downgrade, and PAA research, which has typically been a bull on Zillow shares, failed to identify positive catalysts moving forward, and shut down it’s long position in the company.

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Cornerstone OnDemand (NASDAQ:CSOD): Northland Securities conducted checks to conclude that Cornerstone’s contract win rates are improving and it did not have any “deal slippage” last quarter. According to Northland, Cornerstone has signed a fairly large deal with a global media and entertainment company. It maintained an Outperform rating.

Zillow (NASDAQ:Z): Pacific Crest has said that first-quarter subscriber base should exceed expectations for Zillow. The research firm surveyed 125,000 agent profiles and found that the company had more subscribers than expected in the quarter. Consequently, it said it expects higher-than-expected Q1 revenue. The firm kept a $60 price target and an Outperform rating on the shares.

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Regardless, upgrades and downgrades move stocks in the short-term. They fall into our CHEAT SHEET framework category ‘C = Catalyst for a Stock?s Movement’. Here are catalysts you must know today:

Zillow (NASDAQ:Z): RBC Capital Mkts initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Outperform and a price target of $60.

LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD): RBC Capital Mkts initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Sector Perform and a price target of $190.

Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW): Ascendiant Capital Markets initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Buy and a price target of $41.

Diageo plc (NYSE:DEO): Stifel initiated coverage of this company with a rating of Buy.

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At 1:00 p.m.: DJIA: -0.15%, S&P 500: -0.29%, NASDAQ: +0.09%.

Here are three stories moving markets on Monday afternoon:

1) Friday is March 1, the deadline for the self-imposed and destructive spending cuts that Congress gave itself a few months ago as part of the fiscal cliff arrangement. The closer the deadline gets, the more inevitable it seems. Some Congressional leaders seem resigned to the reality that America will shoot itself in the foot and deliver a self-inflicted wound designed to be so bad that both parties would work together to avoid it.

Of course, if Congress can do anything, it’s that it can manifest an eleventh-hour solution out of thin air. But, as evidenced by the fiscal cliff tax agreement, that type of deal making is unsatisfying for all parties involved, and often results in short-term patches to major problems, instead of the long-term fixes that are necessary… (Read more.)

2) The United States debt and deficit situation is a train wreck that Americans don’t want to watch but can’t look away from. It’s common knowledge that if you spend more than you make, you’re barreling down the road to bankruptcy. Running a deficit is a symptom of fiscal irresponsibility, and the U.S. has a bad habit that’s proven tremendously hard to break.

But you can’t fix problems by ignoring them, and policymakers and market participants have been forced to address the debt and deficit situation. Economists have spent a considerable amount of time trying to shed light on the situation, and a new line of economic research on sovereign debt tipping points, born out of the European crises and immediately relevant to the U.S., offers a perspective… (Read more.)

3) According to Zillow, an online housing-market information marketplace, nearly two million Americans resurfaced from being underwater on their mortgages last year. Due to low inventory levels and centrally-planned lower interest rates, rising home prices have been one of the main factors in reducing negative equity levels across the nation. On average, Zillow reports that home values increased 5.9 percent in 2012, with some hard-hit regions showing even stronger appreciation… (Read more.)

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According to a recent report by Zillow, an online housing-market database, almost two million people resurfaced from being underwater on their mortgage last year. In the fourth quarter of 2012, the national negative equity rate fell to 27.5 percent of all homeowners, compared to 28.2 percent in the previous quarter and 31.1 percent a year earlier.

Due to low inventory levels and centrally-planned lower interest rates, rising home prices have been one of the main factors in reducing negative equity levels across the nation. On average, Zillow reports that home values increased 5.9 percent in 2012, with some hard-hit regions showing even stronger appreciation.

For example, Phoenix homeowners enjoyed a 22.5 percent surge in home prices last year, which led to a reduction of 17.4 percent in negative equity rates. Las Vegas witnessed a decline of 11.1 percent in underwater homeowners.

“Freed from negative equity, homeowners will have more flexibility, and some will likely choose to list their home for sale, helping to ease inventory constraints and moderating sometimes dramatic, demand-driven price increases in some markets,” explains Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “But negative equity is still very high, and millions of homeowners have a very long way to go to get back above water, even with current robust levels of home value appreciation in most areas. As a result, negative equity will remain a major factor in the market for the foreseeable future.”

Although the underwater situation is showing modest signs of buoyancy, there are still 13.8 million homeowners who owe more than their home is worth.

Looking ahead, Zillow expects the negative equity rate among all homeowners with a mortgage to fall to at least 25.5 percent by the fourth quarter, freeing nearly one million additional homeowners nationwide. Among the largest metro areas, the majority of these expected freed homeowners will come from Los Angeles, Riverside, Phoenix, Sacramento, and Dallas-Forth Worth. Over the next year, Zillow estimates a 3.3 percent  rise in home values.

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Trulia’s core services provide pricing and listing data, and information on the communities that homes are listen in. Much like a social network, the larger and more engaged its community is, the better. Trulia reported its fourth-quarter and full-year results last week, and showed that monthly unique visitors to its website grew 50 percent, year over year, to 23.6 million.

What’s more, total subscribers grew 45 percent, year over year, to 24,443 at the end of the quarter. Average revenue per subscriber grew 46 percent to $172 for the same period. All this translated into quarterly revenue of $20.6 million, a 75 percent year-over-year increase. Full-year revenue increased 77 percent to $68.1 million.

The downside is that Trulia is still operating at a loss, but negative earnings shrank from $0.30 in the year-ago period to $0.06 in the most-recent quarter. What the results say loud and clear is that the company is heading in the right direction. Shares climbed more than 41 percent over last week’s five-day period, even as its major competitor, Zillow, posted strong earnings of its own…

Zillow is slightly more established than Trulia, and boasts a market cap that’s about 50 percent higher. Zillow’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results showed a 73 percent year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue to $34.3 million, while full-year revenue increased 77 percent to $116.9 million, the same annual growth rate as Trulia.

Average monthly unique visitors to Zillow’s website increased 47 percent year over year to 34.5 million in the fourth quarter. The company reported 29,473 premier agent subscribers at the end of the quarter, an 87 percent year-over-year increase. Average revenue per subscriber increased 3 percent to $267.

Basic diluted earnings fell by 1 cent to $0.02 per share, largely due to an increase in depreciation and amortization expenses and share-based compensation related to three acquisitions in the fourth quarter.

Again, the results were strong, and provided strong evidence that the real-estate information market place has developed a feasible business model. Shares rallied more than 23 percent over last week’s five-day trading period. Looking ahead, several major housing market reports could affect the long-term performance of Zillow and Trulia…

On Tuesday, the National Association of Home Builders will issue its housing market index report for February. The consensus expectation is for the index to increase one point to 48, indicating that home builders still view conditions as more bad than good. A reading above 50 would indicate the opposite.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will report housing starts data for January. The consensus estimate is for a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 914,000 units. This is a decrease from December’s annualized pace of 954,000 units, but it’s important to remember that housing starts rebounded more than expected in December. Expectations were for an annualized paced of 910,000 units.

On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors will report existing home sales data. Home sales surged 4.8 percent in November, but dropped 1.0 percent in December to 4.94 million. However, they were still up 12.8 percent year-over-year. Estimates for January are calling for another slight decrease to 4.9 million.

Taken together, these indicators will paint a fairly robust picture of the current state of the housing market. If they come in strong, real estate information marketplaces like Zillow and Trulia could continue to attract investor attention, especially following their strong earnings.

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After Tuesday’s closing bell, the Florida-based company reported net income of $0.30 million (zero cents per share), down nearly 98 percent from $14 million a year earlier. Revenue for the fourth quarter came in at $93.2 million, compared to $113.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The results were a miss on the top and bottom line. Adjusted earnings were 6 cents per share in the quarter, down from 19 cents per share a year earlier. In comparison, analysts were expecting adjusting earnings of 11 cents per share on revenue of $106.3 million.

Bankrate provides a wide variety of information in regards to mortgage rates, auto loans, debt management, deposit rates and home equity decisions. However, other companies have also entered this industry, especially with home mortgages…

Companies such as Tree.com (NASDAQ:TREE), Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) and Trulia (NYSE:TRLA) all provide similar services in some capacity. As the chart below shows, Bankrate was already underperforming competitors before the quarterly results, when looking over the past year.

On Wednesday, shares of Bankrate fell even further by plunging more than 19 percent to reach a fresh 52-week low below $10. In comparison, Bankrate has a 52-week high of nearly $26. The company approved a $70 million share repurchase program, but it is obviously failing to alleviate concerns. Interestingly, shares of Trulia and Zillow spiked more than 26 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

While it certainly appears that competitors are attracting investors away from Bankrate, there are also fundamental concerns about the future. Looking forward, Bankrate expects revenue to be flat for 2013, against $457.2 million in revenue last year. On average, analysts were expecting revenue of nearly $500 million in 2013.

Trying to remain upbeat about the situation, Thomas R. Evans, president and chief executive officer, says the recent dismal fourth quarter should serve as a bottom. He explains, “In insurance, the strategic transition to higher quality, high-margin leads is moving even more aggressively forward, and with our deep cuts of poor performing traffic behind us in Q4, is now on-track in many of our key criteria, such as agent sign ups and retention. That’s why we see Q4 as the bottoming out of that transition curve that we’ve discussed in the last two quarters. Encouragingly, in credit cards, we’re beginning to see the increased marketing activity across our portfolio of card issuers after a period of marketplace caution.”

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After conducting a survey, Wells Fargo believes that tobacco industry trends are improving. The industry is benefiting from accelerating pricing, easing competition, and tobacco stock valuations are attractive, according to the firm. Wells maintains Outperform ratings on Altria Group Inc., Lorillard (NYSE:LO), Philip Morris (NYSE:PM), and a Market Perform rating on Reynolds (NYSE:RAI).

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG):  Current price $70.58

UBS expects Procter & Gamble Co. to have a strong quarter, relative to guidance, and sees an upward bias for shares, however, they expect the company to underperform peers on a number of metrics. The firm maintains their Neutral rating and $66 price target.

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AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFSI): Current price $33.10

William Blair believes now is a good time to buy commercial insurance stocks, with the sector coming out of a cyclical trough. The firm expects earnings to rebound quicker than usual and highlights AmTrust Financial Services Inc., Argo Group (NASDAQ:AGII), and AIG (NYSE:AIG) as their top picks in the sector.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP): Current price $48.95

After Check Point reported a lower than expected fourth revenue, Pacific Crest believes the company’s product revenue is set to rebound in 2013. The firm maintains an Outperform rating on the stock.

Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ:Z): Current price $36.01

After conducting checks, Pacific Crest reported that nearly all agents are sticking with Zillow Inc., during its model transition. The firm continues to believe that the transition will boost the company’s monetization over the longer term and they maintain an Outperform rating.

The National Association of Realtors announced on Thursday that existing home sales in the United States jumped 5.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million units, topping the median forecast of 4.87 million units in a Reuters poll. It was the fastest pace since November 2009 and higher than the downwardly revised 4.76 million in October. The annual rate of sales are also 14.5 percent higher than the 4.40 million unit rate seen in November 2011.

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Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says, “Momentum continues to build in the housing market from growing jobs and a bursting out of household formation. With lower rental vacancy rates and rising rents, combined with still historically favorable affordability conditions, more people are buying homes. Areas impacted by hurricane Sandy show storm-related disruptions but overall activity in the Northeast is up, offset by gains in unaffected areas.”

Helping to boost prices and confidence in the housing market, the country’s total inventory of existing homes for sale fell 3.8 percent to 2.03 million units, representing a 4.8 month supply at the current sales pace. It is the lowest housing supply since September 2005. Meanwhile, raw unsold inventory reached its worst level since December 2001. Interest rates also aided the housing market. According to Freddie Mac, the national average rate for a conventional fixed-rate 30-year mortgage declined to a record low 3.35 percent in November, compared to nearly 4.0 percent in the same period last year.

The NAR also reports that the national median existing-home price for all housing types increased 10.1 percent to $180,600, compared to November 2011. It is the ninth consecutive monthly year-over-year price gain. Meanwhile, a separate report from real estate research firm Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) shows that home values gained 5.2 percent compared with last November, the largest annual gain since August 2006. Of the 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, 25 logged monthly home value gains.

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USG Corp. (NYSE:USG): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Buy. Cramer previously ranked this stock a Buy on October 31, 2012. The stock’s 52-week high is $28.21, and its 52-week low is $8.20.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Buy. Cramer previously ranked this stock a Buy on October 12, 2012. The stock’s 52-week high is $36.60, and its 52-week low is $25.18.

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Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE:WY): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Buy. Cramer previously ranked this stock a Buy on September 20, 2012. The stock’s 52-week high is $28.82, and its 52-week low is $16.26.

Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z): Jim Cramer ranked this stock a Sell. The stock’s 52-week high is $46.86, and its 52-week low is $21.22.

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