Markets close at highs...

Dow +275 to 11414
Nas +75 to 2548
S&P +33 to 1198

Not a bad day.  It would be nice to see a follow thru tomorrow.

Update on Amazon's new website...

Amazon's (AMZN) new website design "screams tablet," says PCWorld's Brennon Slattery. A sneak peek of the site shows a search bar tailored for a touchscreen, clickable icons, cleaner white borders and a paradigm shift towards services - instead of products. He writes that Amazon is set to provide an "eco-system" similar to Apple's (AAPL) lifestyle suite of products.

With 20 minutes left in the day...

Dow + 246
Nas +69
S&P +29


Yesterday we saw plenty of action in the last 20 minutes of trading...let's see if we get the same today.

Mastercard and Visa shoot back toward previous highs...

Mastercard (MA) is up 13.82 to 336.82

Visa (V) is up 2.16 to 88.02

Fifth Third lauches campus/debit card...

Fifth Third Bank has launched its first campus card program, which debuts at Cedarville University.

The "cedarville1card" — a combined campus identification and debit card for students, faculty and staff — allows cardholders to use their campus ID for ATM and pin-based debit card transactions on and off campus. The program is the university’s first campus card program.

Not sure what benefit this is, but I like the name of the card!!!

Looking for a bargain stock...

Acme Packet (APKT) stock is currently trading around $50 a share.  On July 21, the company released its latest earnings and at the time raised its revenue outlook for 2011 for the second time this year. After forecasting $300 million in February, the company increased the outlook to a range of $310 million and $315 million in April; on July 21 the company raised the forecast to between $315 million and $320 million.

The company also increased its earnings-per-share outlook for 2011 to a range of $1.14 to $1.18, up from a range of $1.10 to $1.15.

The stock was near $65 when that earnings report was released.  Today the stock is climbing, up 4.69 to 50.49.  The chart below shows alot more room to move on the upside:

At 3:00 pm....

Stocks are broadly higher.  Gold is lower.

Dow +259
Nas +72
S&P +32 to 1197

S&P sits just below key resistance level at 1200.

Is it Gadhafi or Kadaffi??? Where is this guy???

Tripoli's military commander said Wednesday that Moammar Gadhafi is cornered and the days before he is captured or killed are numbered, but another senior defense official contended that Libya's new rulers have no idea where the fugitive former leader is.

The comments are the latest in a series of conflicting statements on the most pressing question still haunting the North African nation — where is Gadhafi?

The ousted leader, who ruled Libya for nearly 42 years, hasn't been seen in public for months, and has released only audio messages trying to rally his supporters and lash out at his opponents. He went to ground after opposition fighters swept into Tripoli on Aug. 21.

Universal Display on the move again...

Universal Display (PANL) looks like it wants to make another move higher.  It is currently up 2.35 to 53.06 today.

This is the company that signed a deal with Samsung to provide flat panel displays for their products for the next 3 years.

Of course...this happened in New Orleans...

A 14-year-old girl is wanted by New Orleans police for allegedly using an electroshock weapon to rob a high-school student. Lenika Vanburen threatened the student by turning a stun gun on and off, police said. Vanburen then took the student's smartphone.

Not a smart move...

GM gets two upgrades...

Two analyst approvals for General Motors (GM): Citigroup adds the stock to the firm's "Top Picks Live" list, and Morgan Stanley deems it "most likely to succeed" in another recession, thanks to its "fortress balance sheet" philosophy. Citi cites its vehicle density survey which suggests auto buyers may be showing a "surprising" level of resiliency in the weakening economy.

Let me guess:  These two firms were involved in the "new" IPO for GM last November.  Btw...that IPO was at $34.  The stock currently trades at 22.06

One more....Jazz Pharmaceutical

Here are a few stocks hitting New Highs....

Autozone



O'Reilly Automotive

Dollar General

Mako Surgical

Best Buy focuses on online sales...

Best Buy (BBY) plans to launch an online marketplace before the holiday shopping season to recapture sales the firm loses to online rivals eBay (EBAY) and Amazon (AMZN). The new platform is expected to allow third-party sellers like Buy.com to sell items in addition to the retailer's own merchandise.

At 1:15 pm....

Stocks moving higher as the day wears on.  Banks, Oil, Agriculture and Technology leading the way.

Dow +220
Nas +61
S&P +27 to 1192

Walter Energy takeout rumors...

Shares of Walter Energy (WLT) are soaring more than 20% this morning, fueled by a report that British miner Anglo American is weighing a takeover offer for the coal maker that would carry a hefty premium of at least 60%.

According to the London Times, Anglo American, which is headquartered in London and mines coal in Australia, South Africa and Colombia, already has financing lined up for the bid.

Anglo American is considering pulling the trigger on a $120-a-share for Birmingham, Ala.-based Walter Energy, which is a producer and exporter of metallurgical coal and other products, the paper reported. At $120, the bid would translate to a 60% premium on Walter Energy’s Tuesday closing price of $74.99.

WLT is currently up 21 to 96.01...if this story is true, we are looking at another 24 points from here...

Free Breakfast at Chick-fil-A......

The restaurant chain is offering menu items such as the Chicken Biscuit, the Spicy Chicken Biscuit, the Chicken Breakfast Burrito, and the Multigrain Oatmeal, among five other breakfast items in the promotion.

Customers must visit Chick-fil-aForBreakfast.com to sign up for a pick-up time slot between 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., as well as select a location and which breakfast menu item they want.

Have fun waiting in those lines...

At 10:00 am...

Dow +165 to 11303
Nas +43 to 2517
S&P +20 to 1185

Key level to watch on the S&P is 1200.

Gold Gaps Lower....

Looking at the GLD (Gold ETF), it tried to make new highs yesterday, but closed below the previous high made on August 22.  We need to keep an eye on this one, as Gold has represented the fearful flight to safety trade.  Note the gap lower on the far right.  Here is the chart:

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of this Wednesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen having an impact from Wall Street research calls.


Abaxis, Inc. (ABAX) maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) Reiterated Buy with $19 target at Argus.

The Blackstone Group (BX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.

Career Education Corp. (CECO) maintained Buy but cut target to $21 from $28 at Argus.

Dover Corporation (DOV) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Humana, Inc. (HUM) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) Started as Hold at Kaufman Bros.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

NASDAQ OMX Group (NDAQ) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

RF Micro Devices Inc. (RFMD) Started as Underperform with $5.50 target at BofA/ML.

Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) Started as Buy with $25 target at BofA/ML.

Tim Hortons Inc. (THI) Reiterated Buy with $56 target at BofA/ML.

TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. (TQNT) Started as Underperform with $6.75 target at BofA/ML.

Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (WYN) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

BP may have a huge find in the Gulf...

BP says it may have landed a giant deepwater oil find in the Gulf of Mexico in a previously untested part of its Mad Dog field. Total hydrocarbons could top 4B barrels of oil equivalent, according to initial reports. BP owns a 60.5% stake in Mad Dog, and minority owners include BHP Billiton (BHP) at 23.9% and Chevron (CVX) with 15.6%.

SEC finally investigating Leveraged ETF's....

It's about time.  I've been preaching this for years.  It all has to do with getting rid of the Uptick Rule, which allowed these toxic ETF's to exist...and led to the existence of high frequency trading firms.

Maybe this is the beginning of the end for these things.

Bank of America may need more capital...

Despite a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffet and the $3 billion sale of half its stake in China Construction Bank, there is talk that Bank of America may need to sell off Merrill Lynch to further reinforce its capital base. However, BAC is up nearly 3% pre-market after announcing a management shake-up, including the departure of two senior executives and the appointment of co-COOs.

Groupon "forced" to cancel IPO...

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, Groupon has received questions from SEC regarding a leaked memo by CEO, Andrew Mason. As a result the company is cancelling its roadshow and reevaluating its IPO timing.

Something tells me this window will not be open long...

Urban Outfitters sales fall...

Urban Outfitters (URBN) reports in a 10-Q filing comparable store sales fell 3.3% for the six months ending July 31 due to a decrease in transactions, lower units per transaction and lower average unit sales prices. Shares -8.1% premarket.

Yahoo interested in selling itself...

The WSJ reports Carol Bartz was fired after an independent study found Yahoo (YHOO) to be underperforming. Perhaps more interestingly, a source claims Yahoo is now "open to selling itself to the right bidder." A number of companies and investment firms reportedly have shown interest in Yahoo's assets.

Of course we have heard this for years.

Verifone beats and raises...

VeriFone Systems Inc. (PAY). The credit card swipe machine maker posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year outlook as it ropes in more customers for mobile payment technologies. The company expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 49-50 cents per share on sales of $395-$400 million. Third-quarter net income rose to $26.3 million, or 28 cents a share, from $18.5 million, or 21 cents a share, last year.

Verifone is up 5% premarket to 36.52

Yahoo fires CEO....

Yahoo Inc. (YHOO). The company Chairman Roy Bostock fired CEO Carol Bartz over the phone on Tuesday, ending a tumultuous tenure marked by stagnation and a rift with Chinese partner Alibaba. CFO Tim Morse will step in as interim CEO, and the company will search for a permanent leader to spearhead a battle in online advertising and content with rivals Google Inc (GOOG) and Facebook.

Here is the long term chart on Yahoo going back to 2003:
 

Futures higher...

U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a higher open this morning, following the late day comeback yesterday,  The Dow managed to close 100 points lower yesterday on heavy volume, however that was a nice improvement from the earlier 307 point loss. 

There is some relief in the Euro zone as a German court rejects challenges to the country's participation in bailouts for Greece.