Check out how hard it is to figure out how well the economy is progressing, based on the earnings of consumer goods companies.

Toymaker Hasbro had a stellar fourth quarter, handily beating Wall Street’s expert forecasts, and said it expected its streak to continue in 2010. Hasbro got a lift from toys tied in with the hit “Transformers” movie and is expected to get even more help from characters such as Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird under a 10-year deal signed last month with the Sesame Workshop.

On the other hand, drugstore chain CVS Caremark also reported better than expected profits ,but its sales fell short of Wall Street. Still, CVS did much better at its stores open at least a year than rival Walgreen, which posted back to back sales drops in December and January.

Also in the basket:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. jewelry chain Zale Corp <ZLC.N> must win back the love of its shoppers this Valentine’s Day to stay afloat, but may not have the resources to do so.

Zale, the largest North American jewelry store chain with about 1,900 stores, missed out on the sector’s fledgling recovery over the holiday season and has been trying the patience of suppliers and creditors alike.

It is heading into the critical Valentine’s cycle just after it purged several top executives, including its CEO, and is facing serious concerns about its financial health.

“It’s more important from a perception standpoint than a cash standpoint that they have a good Valentine’s Day,” said Michael O’Hara, an expert in jewelry restructurings and founder of Consensus Advisors in Boston.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The chief executive of book publisher Macmillan said on Thursday his company is still in talks with online retailer Amazon.com Inc over the pricing of its books, even as Hachette Book Group vowed to protect its authors through a new model for prices.

Publisher Hachette said it would transition to a “agency model” for the sale of its e-books, but provided few details and did not name Amazon. Analysts define the model as one that transfers the retail pricing power to the publisher and gives a fixed cut to retailers.

Amazon has come under fire from a number of publishers for the low prices it charges for e-books to spur demand for its electronic reader Kindle, hoping to fend off new rivals such as Apple Inc that are set to join the e-books fray with their own devices.

Publishers fear that low e-book prices will cannibalize sales of its higher margin hardcover books.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (Reuters) – The chief executive of book publisher Macmillan said on Thursday his company is still in talks with online retailer Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> over the pricing of its books, even as Hachette Book Group vowed to protect its authors through a new model for prices.

Publisher Hachette said it would transition to a “agency model” for the sale of its e-books, but provided few details and did not name Amazon. Analysts define the model as one that transfers the retail pricing power to the publisher and gives a fixed cut to retailers.

Amazon has come under fire from a number of publishers for the low prices it charges for e-books to spur demand for its electronic reader Kindle, hoping to fend off new rivals such as Apple Inc <AAPL.O> that are set to join the e-books fray with their own devices.

Publishers fear that low e-book prices will cannibalize sales of its higher margin hardcover books.

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – New York steakhouse Smith & Wollensky has come to the rescue of Wall Street bankers trying to cope with the shock of receiving their multimillion-dollar bonuses in shares rather than cash.

Smith & Wollensky took out a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday offering to trade steaks for diners’ stock certificates, touting the plan as a way to inject the bonuses into New York City’s economy.

Despite that generosity, the restaurant is not making it easy for diners to exchange a stake for a steak. The fine print says prospective steak-eaters must present original stock certificates, which few people have in their possession anymore.

It said that St. James LLC, the partnership which owns the restaurant, will decide what the shares are worth based on current share prices.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York steakhouse chain Smith & Wollensky has come to the rescue of Wall Street bankers trying to cope with the shock of receiving their multimillion-dollar bonuses in shares rather than cash.

The steakhouse chain took out a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday offering to trade steaks for diners’ stock certificates, touting the plan as a way to inject the bonuses into New York City’s economy.

Despite Smith & Wollensky’s generosity, the restaurant is not making it easy for diners to exchange a stake for a steak. The fine print says prospective steak-eaters must present original stock certificates, which few people have in their possession anymore.

It said that asset management company St. James LLC will decide what the shares are worth based on current share prices.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York steakhouse chain Smith & Wollensky has come to the rescue of Wall Street bankers trying to cope with the shock of receiving their multimillion-dollar bonuses in shares rather than cash.

The steakhouse chain took out a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday offering to trade steaks for diners’ stock certificates, touting the plan as a way to inject the bonuses into New York City’s economy.

Despite Smith & Wollensky’s generosity, the restaurant is not making it easy for diners to exchange a stake for a steak. The fine print says prospective steak-eaters must present original stock certificates, which few people have in their possession anymore.

It said that asset management company St. James LLC will decide what the shares are worth based on current share prices.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Ronald Burkle is seeking permission from Barnes & Noble Inc <BKS.N> to nearly double his stake in the bookseller and become its largest shareholder without triggering a poison pill designed to avert a hostile takeover.

Barnes & Noble, the top bricks-and-mortar U.S. bookstore chain, said in a filing on Monday that Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies LLC sent a letter to its board on January 28 seeking permission to raise its stake to up to 37 percent without tripping the pill’s provisions, which go into effect once any investor exceeds 20 percent ownership.

Barnes & Noble shares rose $3.19, or 17.7 percent, to $21.19 in after hours trading. The company declined to comment beyond the filing and Yucaipa did not respond to requests for comment.

Barnes & Noble has been struggling with falling sales as more book buying migrates online to companies such as Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>. Last month, the chain reported that sales at its stores open at least a year fell 5.4 percent in December.

NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Ronald Burkle is seeking permission from Barnes & Noble Inc <BKS.N> to nearly double his stake in the bookseller and become its largest shareholder without triggering a poison pill designed to avert a hostile takeover.

Barnes & Noble, the top bricks-and-mortar U.S. bookstore chain, said in a filing on Monday that Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies LLC sent a letter to its board on Jan. 28 seeking permission to raise its stake to up to 37 percent without tripping the pill’s provisions, which go into effect once any investor exceeds 20 percent ownership.

Barnes & Noble shares rose $3.19, or 17.7 percent, to $21.19 in after hours trading. The company declined to comment beyond the filing and Yucaipa did not respond to requests for comment.

Barnes & Noble has been struggling with falling sales as more book buying migrates online to companies such as Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O>. Last month, the chain reported that sales at its stores open at least a year fell 5.4 percent in December.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Off-price retailer TJX Cos Inc has capitalized on the woes of its higher-end rivals in the past year by snapping up tons of their unsold merchandise and winning a new contingent of shoppers.

But that success to some degree means that TJX relies on the miscalculations of its competitors and could be short-lived if full price chains cut back too far on orders and limit the amount of excess supply, analysts say.

The presence of fancier brands at TJX stores, which include the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains, is also drawing it into more direct competition with the likes of Saks Inc and Macy’s Inc, whose upscale Bloomingdale’s chain is set to open its own off-price outlets later in 2010.

“We are actually seeing better vendors and more product than ever that is pretty high quality at T.J. Maxx,” said Laura Champine, a Cowen & Co analyst.