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.

Stocks close with a rally...

Short covering ahead of the closing bell propelled stocks to daily highs.

Dow +330
Nas +86
S&P +39 to 1194

The Financials also closed at their highs. XLF closed +0.61 to 12.44 (5.16%)

So, here we are again, just below the 1200 level on the S&P.  Earnings season will start tomorrow.

General Dynamics awarded $65M Contract...

General Dynamics (GD) gains after one of its subsidiaries, C4 Systems, was awarded a $65M networking support contract by the U.S. Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center to provide support, maintain and add new capabilities to the the Navy's Wideband Networking Waveform system.


GD is up 1.75 to 61.30 today

1:00 pm update...

Stocks holding their gains as sellers have clearly taken the day off.

Dow +280
Nas +75
S&P +33

Notable Movers:

Netflix opened up 12 is now -0.26 to 117.00
Apple +14.08 on high demand of new iPhone 4S
Amazon +6 to 230
Google +18 to 532
Chipotle +13 to 307

IBM: Best Stock on the Board....

IBM is breaking out to All-Time Highs today as buyers come into the market.

IBM is currently up 3.09 to 185.49

In a note today, Janney touts Big Blue's "safety, quality, and positive demand trends... proven business models, sticky revenue streams, outstanding balance sheets."

They report earnings next Monday.  Check out this weekly chart:

Financials strong today...

Financial stocks are surging, after weekend news that Germany and France have agreed to help strengthen European banks.

Morgan Stanley (MS) +1.00 to 15.24
JP Morgan (JPM) +1.31 to 32.01
Wells Fargo (WFC) +1.14 to 25.68
Bank of America (BAC) +0.34 to 6.24

Sprint gets downgraded...

Sprint (S) is down today after at least five firms downgrade the stock following Friday's brutal investor meeting. Analysts at Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Raymond James, Collins Stewart and Kaufman Bros. all point to management that continues to keep everyone guessing on earnings and cash needs.

Sprint is down 0.18 to 2.22 so far today. 

At 11:00 am....

Stocks continue to climb as banks and oil stocks join the fun.

Dow +262
Nas +75
S&P +32 to 1187

XLF is now up 0.46 to 12.29 (+3.80%)

Stocks flying on the open...

Dow +198
Nas +46
S&P +23 to 1178

The news from Europe is sparking buying across the board.  I think we also have some follow thru on the short covering ahead of U.S. corporate earnings season which starts tomorrow.  Let's keep an eye on the banks.  Banks need to start rebounding in order for a true market bottom to hold.  The Financial ETF is XLF.

XLF is currently up 0.36 to 12.20 (+3.09%)

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

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


Cabela’s Inc. (NYSE: CAB) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE: EMR) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hercules Tech Growth Capital (NASDAQ: HTGC) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE: MU) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Raised to Neutral at Janney.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan; Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Thor Industries, Inc. (NYSE: THO) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Treehouse Foods Inc. (NYSE: THS) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

AT&T say iPhone pre-orders high...

AT&T (T) could be a stock to watch, after the company said it had 200,000 pre-orders for the newest iPhone in the first 12 hours it was available.

The company called it the most successful iPhone launch it's ever had.

We'll also watch shares of Sprint (S), which also says it had a successful iPhone launch, but whose stock was extremely volatile Friday as the company was holding an analyst meeting.  Sprint claims that it needs to raise more money to build out a 4G network.

Good Morning...

Monday is likely to get off to a bullish start, after Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy vowed that a comprehensive response to the European debt crisis would be finalized by month's end.

Wall Street is coming off a relatively calm day of modest losses Friday, with a streak of nine consecutive triple-digit moves by the Dow broken during that session.

The Dow had a second straight weekly gain for the first time since early July.

Today's action may be lighter than usual, with many businesses and the bond market closed for the Columbus Day holiday, and no government economic data on the agenda.

Stocks close lower....

Kind of a subdued day until the last hour.  Buy programs kicked in at about 3:15 pm and ran stocks higher...to where the Dow was up 84 points and the Nasdaq even turned positive.  Then as we moved closer to the close, all those gains were erased as traders took those quick profits.  Basically, the last hour ended up being a wash.  Closing numbers:

Dow -19
Nas -27
S&P -9 to 1155

Banks and oils were the weakest groups.  There were a few stocks that looked good:

IBM was up 0.70 to 182.39
PEET was up 1.69 to 57.42
DLTR was up 1.23 to 77.68
WMT was up 0.95 to 53.70
AMZN was up 3.23 to 224.74

I'll try to post some charts over the weekend.  Have a nice one.

Mastercard and Visa may be worth a look...

Shares of MasterCard (M -1.1%) and Visa (V -0.5%) trade lower with other financials today, even as Deutsche weighs in with Buy ratings for both firms. Analysts say a "worldwide secular shift" to electronic payments will benefit global payments companies, and "noise" over the effect of the Durbin Amendment may be overblown.

Emergency Fund closes...

The Emergency Homeowners Loan Program is returning more than half of the $1B it was funded with as not enough people were approved in time to receive aid. HUD says setting the program up took longer than hoped and eligibility requirements disqualified more than expected. Only in America.

Correction...Stocks are trading on Monday...

The Bond market is closed Monday, but the Stock market is open....sorry about the confusion.

At 1:45 pm...

stocks are lower following the downgrades of Italy and Spain debt.  Prior to that news coming out, we were looking OK, but that seems to have taken the air out of the rally.

Dow -53
Nas -31
S&P -12 to 1152

Banks are getting beaten up.  It appears that Gold and Silver are now tied to the Euro.  If the Euro falls vs. the dollar, Gold and Silver has been falling.

We still have a little over two hours left.  Maybe we can circle the wagons and stage some late gains.

Fitch downgrades Spain and Italy...

Fitch downgrades Spain to AA- with negative outlook from AA+. Fitch also downgrades Italy to A+ with negative outlook from AA- for the usual reasons.

Markets are reacting to this, with the euro giving up 60 pips and the DJIA shedding about 60 points.

Noon Update...

Stocks are mixed following the better than expected jobs report...and the profit taking that ensued by traders.

Dow +49
Nas-14
S&P -1

The Volatility Index (VIX) has come down considerably in the last few days.  It is now at 35.75.  Remember, it got over 46 early Tuesday.  That seemed to be the point where traders reversed the downward trend.  Monday is a holiday, so it would be nice to go into the long weekend with more gains.  Hopefully stocks will drift higher the rest of the day.

Hansen raised by Stifel Nicolaus...

Hansen Natural (HANS +2.9%) gets a boost from positive comments and a price target raise out of Stifel Nicolaus this morning. Stifel says that after just six months in production, Monster Rehab, Hansen's half-tea, half-lemonade combination, has already become a top-5 seller for the company. Additionally, international sales for Q3 are much stronger than previous projections.

Have equities bottomed?

BTIG's Dan Greenhaus thinks the fact the S&P has rallied over 1.75% in each of the last 3 trading days is a positive sign. This has only happened three other times in the post- war era - Oct. '74, Aug. '84, and Aug. '02 - and each instance was at or (in the case of '02) near a market bottom.

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.


Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Started as Outperform at Baird.
AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
American Water Works Co. (NYSE: AWK) Started as Neutral with $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE: CAH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Discovery Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) Started as Neutral at JPMorgan.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) Started as Outperform at Baird.
Harbin Electric, Inc. (NASDAQ: HRBN) Cut to Neutral at Roth Capital.
Invesco Ltd. (NYSE: IVZ) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Koninklijke Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) Cut to Underperform at Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) Maintained Buy but cut estimates and target at Argus.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Wolverine Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW) named Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Sorry....Just getting back in...

Had CE this morning...

Samsung says Q3 to top consensus as phones boom...

Samsung Electronics said its quarterly profit should top the most bullish market forecasts, with smartphones becoming its main profit engine despite intense competition from bigger rival Apple.

Moody's cuts ratings of UK banks RBS and Lloyds...

The credit rating of two top UK banks were cut due to the likelihood of less state support in a future crisis, as Britain sought to reassure investors its banks were well capitalised and able to cope with a European debt crisis.

Jobs report better than expected...

Sep. Nonfarm Payrolls: +103K vs. consensus of +60K, 0 prior. Unemployment 9.1% in-line with expectation. Avg. hourly earnings +$0.04. to $23.12. Workweek +0.1 hour to 34.3.

Make it 9 triple digit days in a row...

Stocks close at their highs of the day as we get a nice run up in the last hour of trading.  No doubt, the gains were helped by shorts covering their positions ahead of tomorrow morning's weekly jobs report.

Dow +183
Nas +46
S&P +20 to 1164

Banks had a strong day as several statements (Fleckenstein and Geitner) made shorts run for the exit.

Tomorrow is an important day.  It would be nice to continue this rally as we head into a long weekend...and in advance of next weeks earnings releases.

WalMart unveils layaway plan...

Wal-Mart (WMT) unveils its layaway plan - designed to keep up with peers jumping on the layaway bandwagon. A 10% down payment on a total minimum layaway amount of $50 must be made, with items to be paid in full before Dec. 16. Where WMT rakes in money: A $5 non-refundable service fee applies, as well a $10 charge for items cancelled or not picked up or paid for on time.

Birinyi screen of value...

Lazlo Birinyi screens S&P 1500 stocks to uncover a list of 8 stocks trading with a dividend yield higher than its P/E ratio. Though analysts with the firm say the method isn't a "foolproof" way to find undervalued stocks, they do call it an "interesting starting point." Stocks:

RR Donnely RRD
Pitney Bowes PBI
Deluxe Corp. DLX
United Online UNTD
Apollo Investment AINV
US Mobility USMO
Lincoln Educational Services LINC
Prospect Capital PSEC

Geitner's comments helps Banks...

Timothy Geithner’s comments to the Senate Banking Committee that there is “absolutely” no chance that another U.S. financial institution would fail is music to Bank of America (BAC +6%), Morgan Stanley (MS +3.8%) and other bank stocks (XLF +1.4%). “The direct exposure of the U.S. financial system to the countries under the most pressure in Europe is very modest," the Secretary says.

Will Steve Jobs death hurt Apple???

My guess is YES.  Maybe not in the short term...the firm has a great deal of momentum with all of their "cool" products.  However, in the long term, I cannot imagine the company's creativity and ability to predict the future needs of consumers will not suffer. 

The question is "what new product will they come up with next?"  They have had a string of winners starting with the iPod, leading to the iPod touch, the iPhone, and now the iPad.  The iMac (computers) have ridden on the coat-tails of these other products.

Steve Jobs was a rarity.  Those kind of creative minds do not come around too often.

At 1:00 pm...

Stocks are holding on to earlier gains. 

Dow +76
Nas +25
S&P +10

The move is broad as every major group is higher.  My guess is that traders who were short are starting to cover as we move closer to earnings reports which start next week. 

Fed Ex says no recession...

As chief of economic bellwether FedEx (FDX), when Fred Smith speaks, people listen. And he's saying there's no recession looming: "We don't see a contraction. We don't see a recession... It's steady as you go, slow growth."

Fed Ex is currrently up 0.59 to 70.95

The stock was at 98.63 back in July.

Obama speaking about jobs bill...

and get this....the market is not selling off.

That's it!!!

We are definitely going higher.  If we were still in the bearish mode, stocks would be selling off right now.

At 11:00 am...

Stocks are posting gains.  I think this is key as we have had two straight days of gains, some bad news overnight and we are still climbing. 

Dow +28
Nas +16
S&P +5 to 1148

Banks are starting to rally, gold and silver, oil and gas, tech, and commodities are all moving higher.

Fleckenstein turns bullish on U.S. Banks...

Professional bear Bill Fleckenstein turns bullish on banks. "I'm going to risk looking really stupid. I think the drama in the U.S. banks is overdone .. Lots of people who didn't see 2008 coming are now sure they will see a replay. If the ECB starts to print finally, we will see an absolutely hellacious rally."

JPM cuts Exxon and Chevron...

JPMorgan cuts its ratings on Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) to Underweight from Neutral, as the two oil companies have outperformed the price of oil and their peers but the stocks are now "less favorably positioned."

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.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair; Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse; Raised target to $90 at Argus.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Maintained Neutral but cut estimates and target to $87 at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) maintained Neutral but target to $4 from $10 at Credit Suisse.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS.A) Removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) Cut to UNderperform at BofA/ML.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Sprint to offer iPhone...

Sprint Nextel (S). The mobile provider plans to offer customers who buy the Apple Inc (AAPL) iPhone its unlimited data service for a flat monthly fee, potentially putting pressure on bigger rivals Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc (T).

BAC explains website outage...

Bank of America Corp. (BAC). The bank said an ongoing upgrade and heavy traffic was behind six days of problems with its banking website, easing concerns about possible hacking.

Oh...OK.  Thanks for the explanation.  That makes me feel better.

Express Scripts cuts forecast...

Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX). The company cut its 2011 profit forecast as the U.S. pharmacy benefit manager projects fewer members filling prescriptions because of the weak economy.

...and the loss of the Walgreens account.

ESRX stock is currently up 3 points premarket on this news...makes sense.

Good Morning...

As for the markets, U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a slightly higher open this morning, following a second straight day of gains Wednesday.

Highlighting the market's recent volatility is the fact that the Dow has registered triple digit moves in eight straight sessions and 10 of the past 11.

There's no shortage of economic data and market-moving events as investors await the September jobs report tomorrow morning.

The earnings calendar remains light ahead of the upcoming earnings season (which starts next week), with Constellation Brands (STZ) the only company of note set to issue quarterly numbers this morning.

The Great Steve Jobs dies...

Apple's visionary Steve Jobs dead at 56

Steve Jobs, the transcendent Silicon Valley entrepreneur who reinvented the world's computing, music and mobile phone industries and changed the daily habits of millions around the globe, died on Wednesday at the age of 56.

I was shocked when I saw the news.  My first thought was maybe this was the reason for the Apple iPhone 4S announcement on Tuesday...one last announcement for Steve.

Don't forget, Jobs also started PIXAR, the great computer animation studio that put out Toy Story 1,2 and 3, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc., Cars and Finding Nemo.  Wow!!!

His creativity has touched all of our lives.  He will be missed.

Stocks hold their gains....

At the close:

Dow +131
Nas +55
S&P +20 to 1144

Surprisingly nice rally.  Not sure whether to trust it or not...it just seems that arbitrarily, shorts start to cover at around 3:30 yesterday and they have been afraid to jump back in and short again.  Like taking a "W" in the NFL, we'll take a day like this.  Maybe it can feed on itself for tomorrow.

More on Morgan Stanley...

Morgan Stanley (MS +4.2%) is romping again after telling Fox's Charlie Gasparino that their Q3 looks "solid" and likely will beat Goldman's (GS) numbers estimates for them. It's a vague reminder of the March 2009 rally which began with Citi's leak that its Q1 numbers would be great.

At 3:45 pm...

Stocks climbing in the last hour.  Looks like the shorts are clearly taking a day off after yesterday's face ripping, last hour rally.

Dow +112
Nas +53
S&P +18 to 1142

Banks are even joining the party.  Morgan Stanley is now up 0.49 to 14.50.  That stock had been as low as 11.58 yesterday before 3 pm.  Nice little 20% move in one day.
 

Coal Stocks bouncing...

Coal stocks are having a nice day after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Environmental Protection Agency may ease rules, allowing power plants to emit more pollutants than previously permitted. A proposal is expected as early as this week, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Patriot Coal +0.81 to 9.27
Walter Energy +0.82 to 59.01
Peobody Energy +0.98 to 34.60
Arch Coal +0.79 to 15.28

At 2:30 pm...

Stocks are drifting even higher....led by oil and commodity stocks. 

Dow +80
Nas +45
S&P +12 to 1136

Gold and Silver both higher as well.  Technology has gained ground this afternoon, led by a big reveral in Apple.  Apple traded as low as 360 this moring.  It is now back up to 378.

Foreclosure backlog deepens...

As the foreclosure backlog continues to build up, delinquent borrowers are spending even more time in their homes without making mortgage payments.

Once borrowers start missing payments, they spend an average of a year and nine months, or 611 days, in foreclosure before banks repossess their homes, according to LPS Mortgage Monitor. That's more than twice as long as three years ago, when the average was 251 days. Earlier his year, the average was 523 days.

"The number of defaults in the pipeline has been huge and we had more problem loans than ever before," said Herb Belcher, who supervises analytics for Lender Processing Services (LPS), which provides mortgage industry information and analytics to big banks.

With so many bad loans, servicers have had to prioritize which ones they can deal with and which ones to push aside.

"It's like your boat has all these holes in it and is taking in water. You have to plug up the worst holes first," said Belcher.

Dems propose 5% Millionaire tax...

Senate Democrats propose a 5% tax on people earning more than $1M a year to help fund the cost of President Obama's jobs bill. Sen. Schumer explains the surtax would include dividends and capital gains, and would stay in place for 10 years.

At 1:15 pm....

Stocks are spinning their wheels today as traders are pushing the latets losers higher and the latest gainers lower.  The averages are still holding on to earlier gains, but the rally is fading slowly.  Not sure what to expect in the next few hours.

Dow +30
Nas +25
S&P +6 to 1129

Banks are still weak...I doubt stocks are going anywhere unless the banking sector improves.

Friendly's files for bankruptcy...

Friendly Ice Cream Corp., which employs roughly 10,000 people and operates more than 400 restaurants known for sundaes and hamburgers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday.

In a struggle familiar to many restaurant chains, the Wilbraham, Mass., restaurant chain has seen sales crimped as fewer people dine out, just as rising prices for corn, butter and other ingredients drained its cash.

The Wall Street Journal late last month reported the restaurant chain was preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing.

Friendly's is a privately held company.

REIT's selling off...

Not sure why, but REITs are selling off across the board of late.  Up until two weeks ago, this was one of the strongest groups.  Here are just a few:

Simon Property Group (SPG) -3.21 to 107.58
Vornado Realty (VNO) -2.62 to 69.43
Avalon Bay (AVB) -5.32 to 11.67

Here are the charts:

At 11:00 am...

Stocks are broadly higher, only a few of the banks are selling down.

Dow +75
Nas +30
S&P +9 to 1133

This is setting up for another crazy afternoon.

RIMM up on takeout rumors...

Research In Motion (RIMM) is up over 10% this morning on continued M&A speculation after an article suggests Vodafone (VOD) may be interested in the company.

The stock is currently up 3.00 to $24.00

Bristol-Myers hitting new highs...

Bristol Myers continues to hit new highs this morning...and in this market, that is an amazing feat.

The stock is currently up 0.23 to a new 52-week high of 32.35

Bristol-Myers (BMY) is close to completing a groundbreaking treatment for Hepatitis C that could be launched by 2015 and produce as much as $2.9B in global sales five years later, according to a Citi analyst. Hepatitis C is the primary cause of liver transplants in the U.S. and is expected to become a larger public health issue as baby boomers age.

How's this for a chart:

Samsung and Apple battle over patents...

Samsung Electronics said it would file for a sales ban on Apple's new iPhone with courts in France and Italy as the phone infringed its patents, widening its legal battle with Apple.

Separately, the company beefed up its new iPhone with faster chips and better cameras, seeking to set its handset apart from the rising tide of Google (GOOG) Android smartphones.

Oracle cancels Saleforce.com presentation...

Oracle (ORCL) has stoked some controversy in the tech world by canceling a keynote due to be given today by Salesforce.com (CRM) CEO Mark Benioff at Oracle's OpenWorld conference. Oracle could be upset about Benioff's recent dismissal of its cloud offerings as a "false cloud," though some tech pundits seem to be in agreement.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff are good friends, which makes this even more interesting.

Costco misses forecasts...

Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST). The company missed forecasts for fourth quarter profit and sales and said it will increase its annual membership fee for a little more than 22 million members. Net income was $478 million, or $1.08 a share, compared with $432 million, or 97 cents a share a year ago.


Costco is down 2.02 to 79.60 this morning.

At 10:00 am....

Stocks are mixed but improving.

Dow +6
Nas -3
S&P +1 to 1124

Commodity stocks leading the market higher.

Ag stocks catching a bid...

Following Monsanto's better than expected release, agriculture stocks are rising this morning.

CF Industries (CF) +3.60 to 127.72
Terra Nitrogen (TNH) +2.50 to 135.50
Monsanto (MON) +1.88 to 64.85
Mosaic (MOS) +1.11 to 50.17

Today's little tidbit....

Yesterday's last-hour reversal marked only the 10th time since 1985 that the S&P 500 was down 1% or more at 3 PM and finished the day with a gain. But such rallies rarely show any follow-through; of the previous nine, only two sparked a positive return the next day, and three during the next week.

Apple continues to sell off...

Apple is selling off further following the new iPhone 4S announcement.

The stock is opening down 8.36 to 364 this morning.  The stock is now down over 40 points in three trading sessions.

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.


Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Overweight at JPMorgan; Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Raised to Outperform with $47 target at Credit Suisse.
Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE: FII) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) maintained Buy but cut target to $85 at Argus.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Mednax Inc. (NYSE: MD) Started as Neutral with $67 target at Credit Suisse.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Plains All American LP (NYSE: PAA) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
PP&L Corporation (NYSE: PPL) reiterated Buy with $31 target at Argus.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Yandex N. V. (NASDAQ: YNDX) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) Cut to Sell at Citigroup.

Analysts defend the new iPhone...

Though Apple (AAPL) fell yesterday on iPhone 4S disappointment, many analysts are coming to its defense. Needham touts the device's Siri voice assistant software; Piper still sees plenty of pent-up demand; and Jefferies expects the low-cost 3GS to produce high margins, while reiterating its belief China Telecomm will do an iPhone launch in Q1 2012.

I think if they would have just called the new phone the iPhone 5, the stock would be higher now.

American Airlines trying to stay afloat...

Shares of American Airlines (AMR) gain 5.4% premarket, continuing to recover from Monday's steep selloff as negotiations with its pilots union progresses. As for AMR restructuring, insiders agree it looks to be off the table: "They don’t even speak the B-word."

Monsanto beats earnings estimates...

Monsanto (MON): FQ4 EPS of -$0.22 beats by $0.05. Revenue of $2.25B (+15.1% Y/Y) beats by $360M.  Sees FY12 mid-teens earnings growth to a range of $3.34-$3.44 EPS, boosted by above normal business in Latin America for Q1. The Seeds and Genomics segment is expected to kick in single-digit unit growth to derive gross profit in a range of $5.7B-$5.85B for the year.

Monsanto is up over $1 premarket.

JP Morgan downgrades HP...

JPMorgan downgrades Hewlett Packard (HPQ) to Underweight and halves its price target to $20. Firm believes HP's earnings and revenue growth will trail its peers, and is concerned the Autonomy acquisition sets an expensive, unfavorable precedent for future deals.

Good Morning...

U.S. stock index futures are pointing to a lower open on Wall Street this morning, which - based on recent action - may mean absolutely nothing.

The markets were headed for a down session Tuesday when some potentially positive news out of Europe sparked a reversal, helping stocks finish sharply higher.

One piece of European news that won't help the investor mood in the U.S. today is a Moody's downgrade of Italy, with the rating agency cutting Italian government bond ratings by three notches with a negative outlook.

Costco (COST) is a stock to watch this morning, with an early earnings report that shows its fourth quarter profit fell slightly short of forecasts.

Chemical maker Monsanto (MON) is also out with its earnings report this morning, while hotel operator Marriott (MAR) is among those set to release its quarterly numbers after the closing bell.

Bank of New York Mellon (BK) is on our watch list today as well, as New York State accuses the bank of defrauding foreign exchange customers, seeking a recovery of $2 billion.  The bank says the state fundamentally misunderstands the forex market and that it's confident it will prevail in the case.

We'll also watch shares of Yahoo (YHOO), on reports that it's preparing to send out financial information to potential buyers in the coming days.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) shares are also worth watching, as new CEO Meg Whitman says she would like to make a decision on whether to sell the company's PC division by the end of October.

And we'll track shares of Yum Brands (YUM), whose shares slipped after hours as U.S. revenue slumped and worldwide restaurant margins edged lower during the company's fiscal third quarter.