Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) surprised shareholders today with a 79 percent surge in fiscal third-quarter net income after sevearl of its segments reported record revenue, according an 8-K filing with the SEC. The financial services firm is one of the few banks not hit hard by subprime mortgage and credit issues.

"Given the difficult environment of the third quarter, many of our businesses were challenged," said Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "But overall, the quality of our franchise produced strong results as clients continue to look to us for advice and execution. The strength of our client relationships, the diversity of our businesses, and the talent and teamwork of our people continue to drive our performance."

Goldman Sachs now ranks first in worldwide announced mergers and acquisitions with its financial advisory segment reporting net revenues 64 percent higher than its previous record. Meanwhile, its brokerage business generated record commissions along with its fixed income, currency, and commodities trading segment.

The good news comes after three of Goldman Sachs' investment funds were hit last month with major trouble due to their quantitative trading system, including its flagship Global Alpha fund. As a result, the company announced that it would inject $3 billion into the troubled funds in order to preserve liquidity and help them weather the storm.

Clearly, the concerns about the credit crunch and hedge fund blow-ups were overdone when it came to Goldman Sachs. Given the strong insider buying across the financial sector, perhaps these problems aren't as great as investors had been expecting. Regardless, GS and other investment banks are definitely stocks worth watching!

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The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) moved down marginally today after reporting April sales 2.2 percent lower on weakness in all of its print media groups. Ad revenues dropped 3.6 percent from $203.4 million to $196 million while total revenues dropped from $303.2 million to $203.4 million. Analysts and investors continue to attribute the drop to an overall decline in the print advertising market as more and more users turn to online sources for their news and information.

This thesis is confirmed when we look at the company's internet sales, which climbed 15.6 percent in all three groups. Moreover, it's About.com segment saw its ad revenues soar 26.6% to $187.1 million. It is worth noting, however, that even these growth rates are much lower than other large web properties. The NYT has the 11th largest presence on the web and if it does not quickly act to extract more revenue and greater growth figures, it may fall behind in that arena too.

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Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) shares added more than 3% earlier this week after the company announced first-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates. The company attributed the performance to net profits which more than doubled due to high oil and gas prices coupled with flat operational costs.

Transocean's conference call today addressed concerns that their drilling operations are a cyclical business and rig rentals will fall in a year or two along with the stock. A company officer reassured shareholders, saying that there is so much demand for deep water drilling that the current cycle will last well beyond 2010.

The conference call also noted that recent deep water rig rentals from other companies soared to over $500,000 per day - a number well  below what RIG is charging. Obviously, any rise in Transoceans' rates would provide a direct boost to their bottom line. The reality is that oil demand is going up every year while it continues to be a scarce resource.

Meanwhile, the company's fundamentals continue to be attractive. The current P/E to growth (PEG) ratio stands at just 0.46, meaning the stock is extremely undervalued given its growth prospects. The company's forward P/E of 8x also suggests it is undervalued. Combined, these are all factors that make RIG a safe bet in the oil industry for the next few years.

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RadioShack (NYSE:RSH) reported first quarter earnings earlier this week that more than doubled analyst estimates causing shares in the company to rise more than 10% already this week.

The strong report comes despite negative stories out of Barron's and the Wall Street Journal along with a parody in The Onion. So, why is everyone wrong about this company? Well, RSH has recently been restructuring itself by selling off its under-performing stores.

The result has obviously been declining sales, which caused the bearish sentiment we've seen in many financial publications. What many people fair to recognize is RadioShack's gross margins, which have increased from 48% to 52% while its earnings moved from $0.14 to $0.29 per share last year.

The strategy is one that was pioneered by Sears Holdings (NYSE:SHLD) when it moved from $15 to $190 per share during its turnaround. If RadioShack follows the same road, it is likely that analysts will continue to remain bearish on the stock while its same store sales continue to sink. However, investors who are willing to weather this storm and realize the bottom-line improvements will see blue skies. These factors make RSH a stock worth watching closely over the next few quarters!

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Google Inc. (NDAQ:GOOG) reported first-quarter profits that surged on increased advertising revenue from its search segment, which continues to outperform rivals Yahoo and Microsoft. Total revenues rose 63% as the company announced its plans to expand into new products and types of advertising. This has resulted in increased spending, however, which rose from $336.6 billion in the fourth quarter to $596.9 billion in the first quarter of this year. Moreover, shareholders will have to deal with the $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick earlier this month, although Google believes this will immediately begin adding to their bottom line.

In an interview CEO Eric Schmidt speculated that Google's growing efforts to broker advertisements that appear in newspapers, radio, and television would become a significant portion of their overall revenues starting in 2008. Many analysts have suggested that Google needs such a boost in order to sustain its momentum, as the company's rate of growth continues to slow. This quarter's 63% growth compares to 67% in the fourth quarter and 79% in the first quarter of 2006. But for now, the company's continued dominance in the search market (controlling 55.8% of all search queries) continues to keep investors happy. The question is: just how long?

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