American Express beats but heads lower...

American Express Co. (AXP). The company posted higher-than-expected quarterly net earnings as cardholders spent more, but expenses grew faster than revenue. The company said third-quarter net income rose to $1.2 billion, or $1.03 per share and total revenue, net of interest expenses, rose 9 percent to $7.57 billion.


AXP is down 1.05 to 45.08 in premarket trading.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals beats and raises...

Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN). The company posted a more than two-fold rise in net quarterly profit that also topped market estimates, helped by strong global sales of its genetic disorder drug, and raised its full-year view for the second time in less than a month. For the third quarter, the company reported a net income of $65.6 million, or 34 cents a share, compared with $27.9 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago. The company now sees 2011 earnings of $1.25-$1.28 excluding items, up from earlier outlook of $1.15-$1.20.

ALXN is up 4.00 to 70.03 in premarket trading.

ALXN is Investor's Business Daily's number 1 rated stock.

Good morning...

Stocks on Wednesday wiped out most of the prior day's gains after a glum report on the U.S. regional economies triggered broad selling in the last two hours of trade. Volume, however, was mixed.

For what looks to be a confirmed rally now in its second week, the number of stocks breaking out to new highs is still disappointing. The new highs list still lacks beef.

I'll be pointing out stocks that break out...we would like to see that number increase in the coming weeks.

Stocks take a day off...

Well...no rally in the final 30 minutes this time.

Dow -72
Nas -53
S&P -15 to 1209

Volume was light for most of the day.  We have October Options expiration of Friday.  It is not uncommon to get some selling on the Wednesday before options expiration as traders sell this months positions and roll into next month's.

Banks, commodities and oils were the main drags on the market today.

Stocks weaken as the day wears on...

After holding up well this morning, stocks have turned red this afternoon.  Big reversals have occured in the banks and oils, dragging the rest of stocks with them.

At 3:30 pm:

Dow -88
Nas -51
S&P -15 to 1210

Gold and silver are selling off as well.

Noon update...

Stocks are mixed, but holding up well at lunchtime. 

Dow +26
Nas -15
S&P +1

Banks are starting to slide, Oils are mixed, commodities getting hit hard.

Losers:

Apple (AAPL) -16.83 to 405.39
Amazon (AMZN) -6.77 to 237.17
CF Industries (CF) -2.71 to 145.90
Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) - 2.28 to 58.96

Gainers:

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) +42.14 to 424.90
Sears (SHLD) +1.38 to 75.82
Whole Foods (WFM) +2.46 to 71.69
Ulta Cosmetics (ULTA) +2.00 to 70.82
Apollo Group (APOL) +4.35 to 47.68

Best Buy hurt by falling TV prices...

Prices of flat-screen TVs are in free-fall and represent a "significant risk" to Q3 gross margins at Best Buy (BBY), prompting Citigroup analyst Kate McShane to repeat her Sell rating on the shares. "Near-term pressures including a weak product cycle and increasingly price conscious consumers will continue to weigh on the stock in the near term.”

No kidding...these TVs are really getting cheap.

Citigroup and Smith Barney face fraud charges...

The SEC will vote today on a proposed agreement with Citigroup (C +2.2%) to pay more than $200M to settle civil fraud charges related to its sale of a mortgage bond deal, WSJ reports. The SEC has been investigating whether Citigroup misled investors in the deal, a CDO created from other CDOs backed by subprime mortgages.

Citigroup owns the Smith Barney Brokerage firm.

DC is wealthiest Metro area...

Federal employees whose compensation averages $126,000 and a heavy concentration of lawyers helps Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metro area. The typical D.C.-area household earned $84,523 in 2010, vs. the national average $50,046. “There’s a gap that’s isolating Washington from the reality of the rest of the country... They just get more and more out of touch."

Yep - nothing like big government.

Whole Foods jumps on upgrade...

Whole Foods Market (WFM) jumps higher after catching an upgrade to Buy from Jefferies analyst Scott Mushkin on higher earnings expectations. He also raises his price target on shares to $90 from $68 - repping 24% upside potential.

WFM is one of my favorites.  It is currently up 3.54 to 72.77

Stocks looking good...

Considering that Apple is down 20 points, this market is holding up extremely well.

Dow +42
Nas -8 (primarily due to Apple)
S&P +4 to 1229


Banks are in full rally mode after Morgan Stanley earnings...Oils are improving as well.

Gold and Silver are down slightly, but seem to have a great deal of resilience in here.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Wednesday morning.


Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised target to $30 from $28 at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Hold at Canaccord.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Neutral at Lazard.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) Started as Buy at Citigroup.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) named Growth & Income stock of the day at Zacks.

Morgan Stanley beats estimates...

Morgan Stanley (MS). The bank swung to a $2.15 billion profit in the third quarter, helped by a large accounting gain, even as core revenue in trading, banking and wealth management operations fell. It earned $1.15 per common share, compared with a loss of 7 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.


MS had fallen to 11.58 three weeks ago on rumors that they had too much exposure to the falling Euro.  I guess that was a great opportunity to buy.  The stock is trading at around $17 premarket.

ISRG blows away estimates...

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG). The company reported a much higher-than-expected third-quarter profit on increased demand for its da Vinci surgical robots and a rise in procedures using the expensive systems. It posted a net profit of $122 million, or $3.05 per share and revenue for the quarter rose 30 percent to $447 million. July-September net income climbed to $46.3 million, or 41 cents a share, from $41 million, or 35 cents a share a year ago.


ISRG is up 25 to 408 premarket...

Intel raises forecast...

Intel Corp. (INTC). The company forecast quarterly revenue above Wall Street's expectations, defying concerns that tablets and a shaky economy are eating into demand for personal computers. Intel said revenue in the current quarter would be $14.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Intel said non-GAAP revenue in the third quarter was $14.3 billion.

Here is Intel's long term chart.  Note it is at a key resistance level...a break above 24 would be significant:

CSX meets expectations...

CSX Corp. (CSX). The railroad operator reported a higher quarterly profit in line with forecasts, and said volume was driven up by metals for auto-and energy sector products as well as forest products. Third-quarter net profit of $464 million, or 43 cents per share and revenue rose 11 percent to $2.96 billion.


You have to pay attention to what the transports say, as they give you good insight as to where our economic strengths are...

Cree hurt by increasing competition...

Cree Inc. (CREE). The LED maker reported a steep decline in first-quarter profit that missed Wall Street's expectations as stiff competition hurt pricing and kept inventories high and also forecast a tepid second quarter. Profit for the quarter fell by 78 percent to $12.8 million, or 11 cents per share, from $58 million, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

CREE is down 1.25 to 26.45 premarket.

Apple miss due to customers waiting for newest version...

Apple Inc. (AAPL). The company stunned Wall Street by reporting results that missed expectations for the first time in years, blaming rumors of the new iPhone for hurting demand in the September quarter. Net profit was $6.62 billion, or $7.05 a share.  Apparently, customers held off buying iPhones until the October launch of the latest version.

Stocks to watch today...

Several high profile earnings reports are out this morning, including Dow components Travelers (TRV) and and United Technologies (UTX) and Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley (MS).

We'll also get the latest numbers from Abbott Labs (ABT), Bank of New York Mellon (BK), BlackRock (BLK), PNC (PNC), and Freeport-McMoRan (FCX), among others.

American Express (AXP), eBay (EBAY), E*Trade (ETFC), Xilinx (XLNX), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), and Western Digital (WDC) are among the companies releasing quarterly numbers after today's closing bell.

Apple (AAPL) clearly leads our list of stocks to watch after posting its first quarterly earnings miss since 2004. Apple posted fiscal fourth quarter earnings of $7.05/share, 34 cents below estimates, with revenue also falling short.

Intel (INTC) shares jumped after hours, as the company posted record third quarter profits and gave an upbeat outlook for the fourth quarter.

Yahoo (YHOO) saw third quarter earnings fall 26%, but the stock rose after hours as Yahoo beat the Street's lowered expectations.

Also seeing bullish after-hours activity: Intuitive Surgical (ISRG), as its sales of robotic surgical equipment soared.

We'll also watch shares of JetBlue (JBLU), as chief financial officer Ed Barnes resigns.

Also on the watch list today: Dow component DuPont (DD) and Monsanto (MON), as DuPont sues Monsanto for alleged patent infringement regarding a process that helps genetically modified corn seeds germinate.

One stock we can't yet watch - but may be able to soon - is Groupon. Multiple reports say the daily deal company will launch its IPO roadshow next week, with an initial public offering likely to value the company at $11 - $12 billion.

Good Morning....

On Tuesday, stocks shook off modest early losses and closed with solid gains.  The S&P 500 added 2%, while the Nasdaq rose 1.6%.  Volume increased across the board from Monday's level, but remained below average.

The major indexes picked themselves off their session lows about 10 a.m. ET as an index of homebuilder sentiment topped expectations, though it still signaled pessimism.

Stocks added to their gains in the late afternoon on a report by the U.K.'s Guardian newspaper that France and Germany had agreed to boost the euro zone rescue fund.

However, a Dow Jones report after the market's close raised questions about the Guardian's story.

During the regular session, the main indexes tested key technical levels and passed, at least for now.

The S&P 500 briefly fell below 1200, but recovered.

Apple misses on earnings and revenues....

Apple reported third-quarter earnings of $7.05 a share, on revenue of $28.3 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected Apple to earn $7.22 a share on revenue of $29.5 billion.

Apple has not missed earnings forecasts since the second quarter of 2002, according to FactSet data.

The stock is down to 402 after hours, after closing at 422.24.

iPhone sales came in at 17.07 million, compared with forecasts of 20 million — maybe the most disappointing number.

More to come tomorrow…

Stocks nervous in last five minutes...

Looks like a little nervousness in the last five minutes as stocks settle off their highs.

Dow +179
Nas +42
S&P +24 to 1225

Pretty solid day ahead of Apple earnings which should affect the market overnight.

Stocks explode to the upside...

Stocks jumped in late afternoon trading on reports that France and Germany have agreed to boost a rescue fund as part of an effort to stem the European debt crisis. 

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 234 points, or 2 percent, to 11,631 at 3:50 p.m. Eastern. The Dow added more than 100 points within minutes after the report.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index is up 28 points, or 2.4 percent, to 1,229. The Nasdaq composite is up 48 points, or 1.8 percent, to 2,663.

Dow moves higher despite selloff in IBM...

IBM is currently down 8.37 to 178.30

IBM's is the highest weighted stock in the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average.  It carries 12.39% of the weight, since it is the highest priced of the 30 stocks.

In spite of this the Dow is up 119 points right now...without IBM we would be up nearly 200 points.

Starbucks going Blonde...

Starbucks Corp (SBUX) is going "Blonde," expanding its coffee lineup with its lightest roast to date in a move aimed at wooing more customers and capturing a bigger share of the U.S. coffee market.

The world's biggest coffee company is known for its dark roasts, which have prompted some critics to say the chain's coffee tastes burned. The new, lighter roast unveiled on Tuesday is milder in body and acidity than Starbucks' traditional coffees and the company expects it to appeal to a broad audience.

Mass-market competitors McDonald's Corp (MCD) and Dunkin' Donuts (DNKN) offer milder brewed coffees and in recent years have added lattes, mochas and other sorts of "fancy" espresso drinks popularized by Starbucks.

"We think this is a big opportunity," Jeff Hansberry, president of channel development for Starbucks, told Reuters. 

According to Starbucks research, more than 40 percent of U.S. coffee drinkers -- or about 54 million consumers -- prefer a lighter roast coffee.

Additionally, nearly 71 percent of all packaged coffee sales in the grocery aisle are either light or medium roasted coffee.

Check out the Banks...

Here are some of the banks that are leading the market today:

Bank of America (BAC) +0.41 to 6.43
Morgan Stanley (MS) +0.61 to 15.85
JP Morgan (JPM) +1.34 to 32.37
Goldman Sachs (GS) +1.93 to 98.87
State Street Bank (STT) +2.20 to 36.07
Citigroup (C) +1.39 to 29.32

Stocks having a nice day...

After an early selloff, stocks have staged a nice comeback.  Banks are leading the way on the heels of the Bank of America eanings before the bell.

Dow +79
Nas +15
S&P +12 to 1213

Earnings due tomorrow morning...

Notables reporting before the bell tomorrow:

Morgan Stanley (MS) +0.63 to 15.88
American Airlines (AMR) +0.05 to 2.81
United Technologies (UTX) +1.78 to 73.91
Blackrock (BLK) +2.58 to 153.51
Abbott Labs (ABT) -0.06 to 51.97

Earnings after the bell today...

Companies reporting today and how they are trading ahead of those earnings:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) -2.14 to 417.88
Sonic Restaurants (SONC) +0.05 to 7.17
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -5.15 to 382.85
Cree Inc. (CREE) +0.33 to 26.94
Juniper Networks (JNPR) +0.62 to 21.02
CSX Corp. (CSX) +0.60 to 20.99

Are you ready for McTV???

Coming soon to a McDonald's (MCD +0.4%) near you: McTV replete with HD in-house programming from the McDonald's channel. The company aims to grab its captive audience waiting in line for their burger and fries with niche shows, news, features, and 8 minutes of advertising per hour. McTV will launch in California initially.

What's going on with Pizza???

Domino's Pizza (DPZ) tacks on a 2.3% gain after beating estimates with its Q3 report. Net income rose 33% year over year for the quarter, led by strong international sales. Revenue for stores open at least a year climbed 3% Y/Y in the U.S. and 8.1% globally.  Dominoes is hitting new highs.

Pizza Inn (PZZI) is hitting new highs as well.

S&P downgrades Italian banks...

S&P downgrades 24 out of 43 Italian banks it covers as conditions "continue to deteriorate. We do not believe that this difficult operating environment is transitory or that it will be easily reversed."

eBay ups Pay Pal expectations...

eBay Inc. (EBAY). CEO of the company, John Donahoe, increased a key forecast for the company's PayPal payments business during an Internet industry conference on Monday. Donahoe said total payment volume, or TPV, transmitted by mobile devices through PayPal's system will be more than $3.5 billion in 2011, during a discussion on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.


We talked about this last week...PayPal is the money maker here...

Chesapeake downgraded at JP Morgan...

Chesapeake Energy (CHK -4.8%) is downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan, skeptical about CHK meeting its projected price of $12K-$16K/acre for a joint venture sale of about 30% of its Utica shale in Ohio. Over the longer term, caution comes from uncertainty about CHK’s ability to fund its spending.

11 am update....

Stocks are mixed but looking much better as the morning moves along. 

Dow +5
Nas +1
S&P +3 to 1204


Banks are currently the strongest group as it looks like traders were surprised by Bank of America's earnings.  Not sure those earnings were as strong as they made it look...so we could see some profit taking later today in the group.


Right now BAC is up 0.34 to 6.37

Crocs gets pounded...

Crocs Inc (CROX). The shoemaker lowered its outlook for the first time in three years as it faces softening sales at its stores, amid a weak economy in Europe and shaky consumer confidence in the United States. The company expects July-September earnings of 31-33 cents a share, down from its previous forecast of 40 cents a share. It also projected revenue of $273.0-$275.0 million, compared with its prior outlook of $280 million.


CROX is down 10.19 to 16.46

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Tuesday morning.


Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Buy at Societe Generale.

CareFusion Corporation (NYSE: CFN) Started as Market Perform at BMO.

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) Started as Outperform with $60 target at Credit Suisse.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) cut estimates and cut target to $45 from $50 at Credit Suisse’ Maintained Sell at Argus.

Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Monday call).

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Started as Buy at Stern Agee; Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.

Lulelemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Started as Neutral at Macquarie.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.

Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) Cut to Hold at Argus.

QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Hold at Societe Generale.

UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform at Macquarie; Started as Outperform at FBR.

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

VMware gets mixed reaction...

VMware Inc (VMW). The business software maker on Monday posted quarterly profit ahead of market estimates, helped by growth in the Asia Pacific market, and it forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analysts' expectations. VMware forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $1.03 billion to $1.06 billion. Net income for the third quarter more than doubled to $177.5 million, or 41 cents a share, from $84.6 million, or 20 cents a share, a year ago.

VMW is currently up 0.05 to 89.55

Last night, the stock was down 10 at one point.

IBM sells off on earnings...

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM). The company's quarterly results failed to impress investors used to a stellar showing from Big Blue, adding to concerns about lackluster corporate IT spending. On Monday, it raised its full-year diluted earnings forecast to at least $13.35 per share, from its prior estimate of at least $13.25. IBM reported a third-quarter profit, excluding items, of $3.28 per share, up 15 percent year over year and above expectations of $3.22.


IBM is currently down 8.65 to 177.95

EMC earnings well received...so far...

EMC Corp (EMC). The corporate storage equipment maker reported a 28 percent jump in third- quarter profit as corporations invested in new equipment and hardware to expand their data centers. Net income rose to $606 million, or 27 cents per share, from $473 million, or 22 cents, a year earlier.


EMC is currently up 0.73 to 23.41

Bank of America reports earnings...

Bank of America Corp. (BAC). The bank reported higher third-quarter profits due to an accounting gain and a pretax gain on asset sales. Net income applicable to common shareholders was $5.9 billion, or 56 cents a share, compared with a loss of $7.6 billion, or 77 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier, when the bank took a $10.4 billion accounting charge.


BAC is currently up 0.30 to 6.33

Earnings today...

Earnings season hits the accelerator pedal this morning, with financials particularly in focus.


Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC) will both be out with quarterly numbers, and investors will also get a look at the latest results from Dow components Coca-Cola (KO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) as well as Harley-Davidson (HOG), State Street (STT), and UnitedHealth (UNH).

The after-the-bell calendar is similarly crowded, with Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC), and Yahoo(YHOO) the highest profile names on the schedule.

Good Morning....

Stocks are opening under a little pressure this morning.  Overnight, France's AAA credit rating is still intact, but Moody's has warned the country of a possible negative outlook.


The agency says France needs to show commitment to financial reforms, and if not, it's possible the rating could be downgraded within two years.

This is causing the Euro to drop and is setting off a chain reaction of selling in Gold and Silver.

Stocks get pounded in last hour...

More volatility.  That's really all you can say.  No real reason to sell off, but that's traders did.

Dow -246
Nas -52
S&P -23 to 1200

Only good thing to say was that the S&P held up at 1200.

Lots of earnings due overnight, so maybe we'll find a reason to go up tomorrow.

Walgreens and Express Scripts may have a breakthrough...

Walgreen (WAG +3.5%) says it has offered terms to Express Scripts (ESRX -0.7%) that would allow it to continue serving the Defense Department's 6M-member Tricare program, despite a broader contract dispute between the two companies. Although the two sides remain "miles apart" in reaching a deal, a quiet arrangement may hint at a future breakthrough.

Earnings due on Tuesday morning...

Here are a few notable stocks due to report earnings tomorrow before the open:

United Healthcare (UNH) -0.03 to 47.19
Goldman Sachs (GS) -0.48 to 96.21
Checkpoint Software (CHKP) -0.60 to 58.29
Coca-Cola (KO) -0.49 to 67.35
Johnson and Johnson (JNJ) -0.66 to 64.06
Bank of America (BAC) -0.12 to 6.08
EMC Corp. (EMC) -0.52 to 22.57
Harley Davidson (HOG) -0.58 to 37.29

Earnings after the bell today...

Here is how a few notable stocks are trading ahead of their earnings to be released after the close today:

IBM -4.07 ot 186.53
VMWare (VMW) -3.62 to 89.38
Lincare Holdings (LNCR) -0.67 to 21.58
Steel Dynamics (STLD) -0.65 to 10.77

1 pm Update...

Stocks are selling off in the wake a many analyst downgrades this morning. 

Dow -196
Nas -49
S&P -19 to 1205

Weakness in banks, commodities, technology and metals are leading the market lower.

The Volatility Index (VIX) is staring to spike again.  It is currently +4.07 to 32.31

Remember the Vix had spiked up to 46 during the last selloff.

Haliburton beats estimates...but stock sells off...

Halliburton Co. (HAL). The oilfield services company reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, as more drillers tapped its expertise in extracting oil and gas from U.S. shale rock. Net profit climbed to $683 million, or 74 cents per share, from $544 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.


HAL is currently down 2.66 to 34.80

Stocks open lower...

Stocks are having a weak open here as it appears to be some disappointment that no positive news came out of Europe over the weekend.

Dow -86
Nas -17
S&P -9 to 1214

Main pockets of weakness are in Banks, Agriculture and Technology.  Gold is flat, Silver is down for the first time in several sessions.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

These are some of the top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls this Monday morning.

American Capital Agency (NASDAQ: AGNC) Cut to Market Perform at JMP Securities.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Outperform with $500 target at Credit Suisse.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) Started as Hold at Argus.

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE: FDO) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Reiterated Buy with $40 target at Argus.

Kirkland’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: KIRK) Cut to Underperform as bear of the day at Zacks.

Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC) Added to the U.S. 1 List at BofA/ML.

Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) Reiterated Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) Cut to Sell at Canaccord Genuity

Anadarko settles with BP...

In the oil industry, Anadarko Petroleum (APC) will pay BP (BP) $4 billion in a settlement over Gulf Oil spill cleanup costs. That's seen as less than half the amount it might have had to pay had the case gone to court. As part of the agreement, Anadarko will no longer pursue allegations of gross negligence against BP.

Kinder Morgan Buys El Paso...

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI). The company struck a $21 billion deal to buy rival El Paso Corp (EP), combining the two largest natural gas pipeline operators in North America in a huge bet on the fast-growing market for that fuel. The cash and stock deal announced on Sunday values El Paso at a 37 percent premium to its Friday market value.

IBD's Top 10 Stocks...

Here are Investor's Business Daily's Top 10 Stocks...

1. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN)
2. Lulumon Athletica (LULU)
3. Ulta Salon & Cosmetics (ULTA)
4. Apple Inc. (AAPL)
5. Herbalife (HLF)
6. First Cash Financial (FCFS)
7. Perrigo (PRGO)
8. Mastercard (MA)
9. Yamana Gold (AUG)
10. Dollar Tree (DLTR)

Stocks to watch...

El Paso Corporation (EP) leads our list of stocks to watch this morning, as it agrees to be bought by rival Kinder Morgan (KMI) in a $21 billion cash deal that combines the two largest natural gas pipeline operators in North America.

Sprint Nextel (S) could also be a stock to watch today, as the company says it set a single-day device sales record Friday as the iPhone 4S went on sale at its stores.

Research In Motion (RIMM) is offering BlackBerry users free premium apps, normally costing more than $100, to appease customers upset by last week's service disruptions.

Rio Tinto (RIO) is putting an estimated $8 billion in aluminum assets up for sale, signaling a retreat from that business just four years after buying Alcan for $38 billion.

State Street (STT) could see some upside action today as billionaire investor Nelson Peltz's Trian Group calls for changes, including a spinoff of the investment management business.

And Eastman Kodak (EK) is licensing thousands of its patents to Imax in a deal that will supply the troubled company with millions of dollars.

Earnings releases take center stage...

This week marks the start of the heaviest part of earnings season, with Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), Hasbro (HAS), Halliburton (HAL), and Gannett (GCI) highlighting this morning's releases.

Dow component IBM (IBM) and Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) are among the companies set to release after today's closing bell.

Good Morning...

U.S. stocks may find last week's performance difficult to top: the S&P 500 registered its best weekly percentage gain since July 2009, the Nasdaq since March 2009.

The gains put the major averages on track for their biggest monthly gains since September 2010, and the Dow and Nasdaq are now positive for 2011 (the S&P 500, however, is still lower by 2.6% for the year to date).

Stocks close out nice week...

Stocks close at their highs for the week.  A strong afternoon move in the Oils accompanied the earlier push in Tech stocks.  It seems that sellers have all turned the other way and are now long.  Obviously mutual funds are being sucked in as they do not want to be seen as the only fund that did not make money this year. 

Dow +166 to 11644
Nas +47 to 2667
S&P +20 to 1224

Have a nice weekend everybody.  Hopefully we can continue this rally next week.

At 3:30 pm...

Stocks are holding on to gains...as it looks like funds are putting money to work.  Even banks have started to join the party.

Dow +121
Nas +37
S&P +16 to 1219

We continue to sit just below the 1220 mark on the S&P.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

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


Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.

Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) Started as Hold at Argus.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Started as Buy at IS Group.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

FXCM Inc. (NYSE: FXCM) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.

Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Started as Overweight at Barclays.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Started as Buy at ISI Group.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.

Interactive Brokers Group (NASDAQ: IBKR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

ITT Corporation (NYSE: ITT) Started as Equal-Weight at Barclays.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.

Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

TAL International Group, Inc. (NYSE: TAL) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE: TER) lowered target to $12 as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Xbox picking up market share...

Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 accounted for 42% of U.S. retail console sales in September, according to NPD, as the runaway success of its Kinect add-on bolsters demand. However, industry-wide hardware sales fell 9% Y/Y, as the major consoles show their age. Software sales rose 3%, fueled by strong demand for Electronic Arts' (ERTS) Madden NFL 12.

Noon Update....

Stocks are still higher but down off earlier levels. 

Dow +77
Nas +21
S&P +10 to 1214

Apple and Google still leading the way for Technology.  Banks are now lower and Gold and Silver are now flat.

Ford F-150 selling briskly...

Ford (F) says its Ford F-150 pickups equipped with six-cylinder EcoBoost engines are selling briskly, and will account for 45% of retail sales of the model moving forward. The EcoBoost engine falls in line with regulators' push for fuel efficiency, and offers consumers 18 mpg vs. 14-17 mpg on 8-cylinder models.

Tim Geitner says IMF can help Europe...

In an interview on CNBC this morning, Timothy Geithner says the IMF has "very substantial" available financial resources to fund a TARP-like device to help solve Europe's problems, while declining to give a specific number on what would be required. Economic data has been more encouraging recently, he adds, and concerns about a much weaker growth outcome have receded a bit.

Nice open...

Surprisingly positive earnings from Google is giving the entire market a lift.

Dow +118
Nas +36
S&P +16 to 1220

1220 on the S&P is that key level that technicians are paying attention to, looking for a breakout in stocks.

Leading the market:

Google +36.24 to 595.40
Apple +8.59 to 417.26
Amazon +5.35 to 241.68
IBM +1.32 to 188.24
Mastercard +7.71 to 343.70

Gold and Silver have been drifting higher even though the market has been moving higher.  This seems to be a disconnect to why Gold and Silver were being bought in the first place...as a defensive move.  Let's see if that relationship changes in the next few days.

iPhone 4S goes on sale today...

Apple Inc. (AAPL). The company’s latest iPhone went on sale in stores across the globe, with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve Jobs' lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former Apple boss. Separately, a U.S. judge said that Samsung Electronic's Galaxy tablets infringe Apple Inc's iPad patents, but added that Apple has a problem establishing the validity of its patents in the latest courtroom face-off between the technology giants.

Good Morning...

Though Wall Street's major averages are coming off a mixed session Thursday, they remain on pace for their best weekly gains in four weeks, and the fourth biggest weekly gains of 2011.  The Nasdaq Composite is currently riding a four-day winning streak and is up for seven of the past eight sessions.


We'll get the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment reading for October at 9:55am ET, expected to edge higher to 60.0 from September's final number of 59.4.

Google (GOOG) leads our list of stocks to watch this morning, after blowing past expectations with its latest quarterly earnings.

Google is up more than 8% premarket.

Apple (AAPL) will be high on the watch list once again today, as the iPhone 4S makes its debut in stores.

Financials could see some downward action today, as Fitch downgrades UBS (UBS) and puts others such as Morgan Stanley (MS) and Goldman Sachs (GS) on review.

Another Mixed Day for Stocks....

The early earnings posted by JP Morgan held the Dow and S&P back today.  Also, weakness in Europe overnight caused a selloff in Gold and Silver.  However, Technology posted decent gains.

Dow -40
Nas +15
S&P -3 to 1203

Leading the market higher:

Apple +6.24 to 408.43
Google +1049 to 558.99
Visa +1.43 to 92.60
Mastercard +8.00 to 335.99
Netflix +3.39 to 117.01
Walter Energy +8.45 to 75.22

JP Morgan closed down 1.60 to 31.60

I thought these were already gone...

The payphone business is shrinking rapidly, but that hasn't stopped Pacific Telemanagement Services, a little-known company that agreed to buy nearly all Verizon's (VZ) remaining 50,000 pay phones. PTS will operate nearly 100,000 payphones out of ~425,000 still in existence in the U.S.; Verizon now owns just 4,000, down from a peak of 500,000.

Blackberry service back up and running...

On a conference call, Research In Motion (RIMM) co-CEO Mike Lazaridis tells reporters the company has fully restored BlackBerry service.

This blackout could deal a fatal blow to RIMM.

Banks pulling market lower...

Early market action is driven by weakness in financials (XLF -3.1%), which has wiped out yesterday's big gains in the sector. Big banks are taking their cue from JPMorgan Chase (JPM -4.7%), which reported lower profits and said it will trim headcount at its investment bank by 1,000 jobs. Bank of America (BAC -4.1%) and Citigroup (C -5.3%) report results next week.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

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

Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Bank of New York-Mellon (NYSE: BK) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTIC) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) was Underperform and has been dropped from coverage by BofA/ML as fundamentals are not driving the shares.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) Reiterated Buy with $85 target on Focus List at Argus.
Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG) reiterated strong buy as Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.
Gold Fields Limited (NYSE: GFI) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Hatteras Financial Corporation (NYSE: HTS) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie.
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
NetEase.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) Raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.
Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX) Started as Buy at Ladenburg Thalmann.
Rackspace Hosting, Inc (NYSE: RAX) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs, but reportedly Downgraded to hold at a firm called Benchmark.

Wedbush likes eBay...

Wedbush pounds the table for eBay (EBAY) following its X.commerce announcements. The firm calls eBay "the best investment in the growth of mobile payments," thanks to the breadth of PayPal's solutions. Wedbush also expects PayPal to help drive "significant multiple expansion" for eBay.

eBay is currently down 0.56 to 32.19

At 10:00 am...

Stocks are lower after a weak night in Europe and the JP Morgan Earnings release.

Dow -101
Nas -9
S&P -12 to 1194

Banks, Oils and Commodities are selling off, while Technology holds up well.

JP Morgan earnings...

JPMorgan (JPM): Q3 EPS of $1.02 beats by $0.08. Revenue of $24.4B beats by $700M.

After popping higher on the headline number beat, JPMorgan (JPM) turns south as closer analysis reveals $0.29 of profit was debt valuation adjustment. Without that, JPM would have reported earnings of just $0.73, a large miss.

JP Morgan is currently down 1.59 to 31.62

IRS questions Google tax avoidance...

A source tells Bloomberg that the IRS is auditing Google (GOOG) over how the company avoids taxes by using offshore subsidiaries, and has requested information on its $1.65B acquisition of YouTube. The focus of the agency may be tied to how Google values software rights and IP it licenses abroard. A company spokesman calls the inquiry "routine."

Good Morning....

Stocks open lower this morning on a weak earnings report from financial bellweather, JP Morgan.

The Dow is coming off its highest close since August 31, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have risen in six of the past seven sessions.

The Dow briefly moved into positive territory for 2011 Wednesday before a mild late-session selloff.

Stock News:

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) is a stock to watch in today's trading, having soared after hours on reports that Google (GOOG) was interested in acquiring it - a rumor that several sources now say is a non-starter.

We'll also watch shares of AOL (AOL) on reports that CEO Tim Armstrong has been pitching top shareholders on the idea of selling the company to Yahoo (YHOO).

Service troubles continue to plague BlackBerry users, though Research In Motion (RIM) says the situation has improved as it continues to work to solve the problem.

Apple (AAPL) is in the news on two fronts this morning: the Wall Street Journal reports the company is in talks with Hollywood Studios over the idea of letting iTunes movie buyers watch streaming versions, and an Australian court has granted Apple's request for a temporary ban on sales of Samsung's Galaxy tablet in that country.

Peabody Energy (BTU) and ArcelorMittal (MT) have won China's approval for their $4.7 billion takeover of Australia's Macarthur Coal, which could move those stocks today.  Chinese approval was needed because Macarthur controls a substantial portion of the Chinese metallurgical coal market.

Google (GOOG) is scheduled to come out with their earnings after this afternoon's closing bell.

Stocks fade in last hour...

Stocks lost steam in the last hour ahead of a key earnings report tomorrow from JP Morgan.  Trading today was on very light volume.  Looks like the shorts have been scared out for now, and funds are starting to put money to work.  Any funds that have been sitting in cash have missed a thousand point move in the Dow in the last two weeks.  Those funds have to get in if the market keeps moving higher for fear that they might miss more of the run.

Here's how we finished:

Dow +102
Nas +21
S&P +11 to 1207

Now that we are back above 1200 on the S&P, traders are looking at 1220 as the next key level to break thru.  1300 is the real key level that to me would represent a "Buy" signal.

RIMM services still down...

Research In Motion (RIMM -2.1%) sells off as outages plague its data services for the third straight day, reaching North America and sending Wall Street into withdrawal. As Susquehanna notes, the real problem for RIM isn't any short-term revenue loss, but the building of "negative goodwill," and the potential for even greater customer defections.

JP Morgan reports tomorrow...

J.P. Morgan (JPM) +3.56% , the first of the large U.S. banks reporting third-quarter results, is scheduled to release its latest earnings before the opening bell on Thursday.

Equities trading, which accounts for roughly one-tenth of J.P. Morgan’s revenue, slumped in the third quarter. Even with unusually high trading volumes in August, enough investors had sidelined their money over the summer to cut into trading fees at investment banks following Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the United States’ national debt, the U.S. debt-ceiling debate, and continued worries over Europe’s sovereign debt problems.

In a research note, Matthew Burnell at Wells Fargo called it a “perfect storm” of complications in the capital markets.

“Equity prices fell in both the U.S. and internationally, debt spreads widened across most products, ‘risk-off’ trades were investors’ focus, and investment banking underwriting and M&A volumes dropped in August and September due to market volatility,” Burnell wrote.

PVH says it will hit the high end of estimates...

PVH, formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen, gains +6% after saying it expects Q3 and FY11 EPS to be at least at the high end of guidance, as the apparel company reaps the benefits from strong sales in its Calvin Klein and newly acquired Tommy Hilfiger brands. The company said back in August it expects Q3 EPS in the range of $ 1.75 to $1.81 on revenue of between $1.61B to $1.63B.

1:45 pm update...

Stocks are still moving to the upside, as it seems like there is a steady flow of money coming into the market.  Volume is fairly light though.

Dow +175
Nas +40
S&P +21 to 1216

Leading the market higher:

Apple +6.20 to 406.35
Google +9.52 to 552.70
IBM +2.83 to 187.83
Nike +2.47 to 92.30
Phillips Van Heusen +3.11 to 67.15
Netflix +5.81 to 114.40

PlayStation gets hacked...

Sony (SNE) discovers a "large amount" of unauthorized sign-in attempts on its its PlayStation Network and other services, and temporarily freezes about 93,000 user accounts. Only a small fraction of the accounts showed activity by possible intruders, while credit card details are "not at risk."

11:00 am update....

Stocks are broadly higher this morning as it seems there is optimism that the Euro crisis is subsiding.

Dow +96
Nas +32
S&P +14 to 1210

Note: The S&P 500 has climbed back above 1200.  This is a key level hold above...at least for the time being.  Gold and Silver are rallying as they seem to be tied to the Strength of the Euro.  Back when Gold and Silver were selling off, the rumor was that some European funds were selling to raise money for their Euro losses.  Now, as the Euro climbs back higher vs. the dollar, that selling has stopped.

Coinstar benefits from Netflix misstep...

Shares of Coinstar (CSTR), up 3.3%, get a boost from Piper Jaffray after analysts keep an Overweight rating in place to go along with a healthy $68 price target. The firm points to data showing a nice lift to Redbox's DVD kiosk business and web traffic after the Netflix (NFLX +3.9%) pricing debacle turned away a portion of their own customers.

Apple launches iCloud...

Apple (AAPL) opens the door to the cloud with the launch of iCloud - included free with an update to iOS 5. The service is Apple's most ambitious bid to offer a service to sync files in the cloud after previous attempts fell flat, as noted by Steve Jobs - "keeping these devices in sync is driving us crazy." The bottom line: If iCloud is a hit, it could further increase loyalty to Apple's ecosystem of devices and disrupt the plans of cloud storage companies.

EBAY announces new PayPal feature...

EBAY plans to announce a new payment feature, called PayPal Access, designed to allow consumers to use their accounts across the web without having to register individually at every site a purchase is made. With 100M active registered accounts, the company is poised to make a large splash with the new system if it can bring merchants on board.

A123 to supply batteries for Chevy Spark...

A123 Systems (AONE) is up 16% premarket after CNBC reports the company will supply batteries for GM's latest Chevy Spark model.

Analyst moves for today...

ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS


• Baker Hughes (BHI) price target cut to $69 from $88 at RBC

• Cameron (CAM) price target cut to $60 from $67 at RBC

• Halliburton (HAL) price target cut to $49 from $62 at RBC

• EMC (EMC) price target cut to $26 from $31 at JP Morgan

• Google (GOOG) price target raised to $700 from $650 at Global equities research

• Helmerich & Payne (HP) price target cut to $62 from $75 at RBC

• Nabors (NBR) price target cut to $22 from $32 at RBC

• National Oilwell Varco (NOV) price target cut to $89 from $96 at RBC

• NetApp (NTAP) price target cut to $46 from $55 at JP Morgan

• Patterson Uti Energy (PTEN) price target cut to $27 from $43 at RBC

• Schlumberger (SLB) price target cut to $79 from $95 at RBC

• Seagate Technology (STX) rating cut to neutral from overweight at JP Morgan

• Western Digital (WDC) price target cut to $37 from $50 at JP Morgan

• Xerox (XRX) rating cut to underweight from neutral at JP Morgan

RIMM struggles to fix texting outage...

Research in Motion (RIMM). Millions of BlackBerry users around the world were left without text communication services for a third day on Wednesday as the company struggled to fix what it said was a switching failure in its private network.

Alcoa blames economic slowdown...

Alcoa Inc. (AA). The aluminum producer said an economic slowdown hurt demand and knocked prices for the metal lower, denting its third-quarter profit. Alcoa, the first Dow component company to report third-quarter results, said net earnings were $172 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $61 million, or 6 cents per share, a year earlier.

Good Morning...

Futures are pointing to as higher opening on the heels of a rare session of little movement, where the major averages finished mixed.

The Dow has posted small double-digit losses in two of the past three sessions, but before that, all 14 negative sessions since August 16 had been triple digit drops.

Now, investors are looking ahead to earnings season, with Dow component Alcoa (AA) kicking things off after the closing bell on Tuesday by reporting profit that fell short of estimates.

In the news: President Obama's jobs bill failed to get the 60 Senate votes needed to move forward in an evening vote last night, while senators did approve the controversial bill aimed at convincing China to let the value of its currency rise.

Stocks closed mixed...

Stocks had a rather tame day ahead of earnings season which started after the bell.  Alcoa (AA) has already reported and it looks like they were in line with expectations.  Shares are down slightly in after hours trading.

Here's how we closed:

Dow -16
Nas +16
S&P +0.65

Tech and Agriculture stocks were the leaders.  Banks and Oils were mixed, Gold and silver were flat.

I knew it was coming....

Facebook has started putting Google ads on their site.  Unfortunately for Facebook, the ads are severely impacting the speed of the site.

Not a good idea.  I'm done with Facebook unless they go back to the simple site they had just a few weeks ago.

U.S. disrupts plot...

U.S. officials have disrupted a plot - tied to Iran - to commit a "significant terrorist attack in the U.S.," reports ABC. The plot included the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. as well as attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies. Reuters reports AG Holder saying a suspect is in custody, has confessed, and provided information about Iranian involvement.

At 2:40 pm....

Stocks are sleepwalking thru the day in a very tight range.  That doesn't mean this is how we will close though.  In the last week we have seen some wild movements in the last hour of trading.

Dow -32
Nas +8
S&P -1

Notable movers:

AAPL +10.69 to 399.51
IBM -1.51 to 185.03
MA +4.87 to 330.50
HANS +1.93 to 89.50
CTXS +3.00 to 61.00
CF +6.02 to 146.41

IBM continues to expand....

IBM continues snapping up smaller software companies. Its latest target is Platform Computing, a provider of software for managing large clusters of servers being used for "big data" applications such as analytics and computer modeling. Platform claims over 2K customers, including 23 of the 30 largest global enterprises.

IBM is taking a break today, it is down 1.67 to 184.95

Oh Great....more spam...

Microsoft (MSFT) is preparing to launch a daily deals offering under its Bing brand, with the help of startup Tippr. Google (GOOG) and Amazon (AMZN) kicked off their daily deals products over the summer, as the Internet's big names grow envious of Groupon (GRPN) and LivingSocial's rapid growth (though perhaps not their losses).

Netflix down again...

Netflix (NFLX -5.3%) is selling off for the second straight day - shares are now down over 9% since the company announced it would nix Qwikster. Hudson Square Research is upgrading Netflix today, but Pacific Crest is slashing its estimates, believing the video provider is suffering from "brand damage."

Netflix is currently down 5.16 to 106.50

I think the selling is a bit overdone.

Good Afternoon....

Sorry...been out of the office...

Stocks are looking OK today as at least we are not selling off the gains we posted yesterday.

Dow -31
Nas +3
S&P -2

The Federal Reserve will also release the minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting at 2pm ET.

Earnings season gets underway today with the release of quarterly numbers from Dow component Alcoa (AA) after this afternoon's closing bell.