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Stocks fall in last hour....

2011-11-16T16:05:00.001-05:00

The volatility continues...stocks slip into the close.

Dow -190
Nas -46
S&P -20

While not a worrying issue at the moment, Fitch says the broad outlook for the U.S. banking industry could worsen "unless the eurozone debt crisis is resolved in a timely and orderly manner." This might be the reason for the late day selloff.

Rambus loses case...plummets 60%...

2011-11-16T15:57:00.002-05:00

Rambus (RMBS -60.4%) resumes trading after being halted in the wake of a federal jury's ruling against the company in a case in which it had alleged Micron (MU) and Hynix had conspired to prevent its computer memory technology from becoming an industry standard. Micron shares, also halted, now trading +21.8%.

20 Nice Dividend paying stocks....

2011-11-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

A Credit Suisse list of 20 stocks that reward investors with greater dividend payments than most bonds: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, General Mills, Pepsico, PG, J&J, Abbott, Kimberly Clark, Con Ed, Pfizer, Bristol Myers, Southern, Merck, Philip Morris, Progress, Duke, Eli Lilly, Verizon, AT&T, Altria. Avg. yield: 4.2%. Avg. YTD returns on the underlying stock: 13.3%.

At 2:45 pm....

2011-11-16T14:48:00.000-05:00

Stocks have been improving as the day wears on...

Dow -16
Nas -4
S&P -2 to 1255

Leaders on the day:

Green Mountain +5.01
Fusion IO +3.37
Interdigital +2.55
Transocean Offshore +2.12
Carbo Ceramics +4.99
Walter Energy +2.47

Target executing well...

2011-11-16T13:12:00.002-05:00

Target's (TGT +1.2%) well-received Q3 report highlights that many of the firm's initiatives such as its 5% credit card discount program and higher-end Missoni line launch were spot-on. On tap now: Navigating around a crucial Black Friday with a grassroots online protest against its Thanksgiving Day opening brewing and a scarily unstable website that keeps execs sweating out the potential for an ill-timed outage.

Abercrombie & Fitch posts higher sales but not much earnings growth...

2011-11-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF). The teen clothes retailer posted a rise in quarterly profit as sales in America offset some slowdown in international businesses. For the third quarter, the company earned $50.9 million, or 57 cents a share, compared with $50 million or 56 cents a share last year. Sales rose 21 percent to $1.08 billion.

The stock is down 7.64 to 48.12 today.

Noon update...

2011-11-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

At noon stocks are lower, but there are several story stocks bucking the trend.

Dow -67
Nas -14
S&P -7 to 1250

Looks like this market is just stuck right here as investors have stepped to the sidelines and are letting traders do their thing.

Oil services are about the only group heading higher.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades...

2011-11-16T09:45:00.002-05:00

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

Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Reiterated Buy with $18 target at Argus.

Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Maintained Underperform at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy with $22 target at Argus.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. (NYSE: DKS) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Gentiva Health Services (NASDAQ: GTIV) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (NYSE: PAA) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Sunoco Logistics, LP (NYSE: SXL) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) Started as Market Perform at BMO Capital; Started as Market Outperform at JMP Securities.

Green Mountain moving higher again...

2011-11-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) is up again this morning after rising 10% yesterday...this in the wake of last week's post-earnings crash, even as it's reported major hedge funds pared their stakes in the company. With 23.2% of Green Mountain's float shorted as of Oct. 31, and many of those shorts now sitting on big profits, more volatility could be on the way.

Goldman likes Dick's Sporting Goods...

2011-11-16T09:27:00.002-05:00

Goldman Sachs adds Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) to its Conviction Buy List citing strong unit growth, margin drivers, and a $0.50/share dividend it says represents a "shift to shareholder-friendly capital allocation." Analysts with the firm line increased their price target $4 to $45.

Target beats expectations...

2011-11-16T09:06:00.002-05:00

Target Corp. reported a 3.7 percent increase in third-quarter profits, helped by solid spending and improvement in its credit card business.

The Minneapolis discounter said Wednesday that it earned $555 million, or 82 cents per share, in the three-month period ended Oct. 29. That compares with $535 million, or 74 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 5.4 percent to $16.05 billion. Analysts had expected 74 cents per share on revenue of $16.31 billion, according to FactSet.

Revenue at stores opened at least a year — an indicator of a retailer's health — rose 4.3 percent in the quarter.

"We're very pleased with our third-quarter financial results," said Gregg Steinhafel, Target's chairman, president and chief executive in a statement. "We're confident that we have the right strategy and team in place to drive continued strong performance this holiday season and well into the future."

Tuesday's recap...

2011-11-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

Stocks showed some resilience Tuesday, erasing losses in the afternoon to finish higher amid faster turnover. The Nasdaq added 1.1%, the S&P 500 0.5% and the NYSE composite 0.2%. Volume increased on both major exchanges from Monday's anemic levels.

Stocks rallied on news that Mario Monti, prime minister-designate for debt-wracked Italy, had scored broad support and agreement on cutbacks, and that he's ready to present his new government Wednesday.

U.S. economic news also provided a boost to the market. October retail sales and the New York Fed's manufacturing index both bested forecasts. The producer price index fell more than expected, suggesting the Fed could have more room for easing.

The Nasdaq closed just below its 200-day moving average. It's been struggling to hold over that level in the prior three weeks, falling back below the line four times but finding support at the 2600 level.

It's been a similar story for the S&P 500, which closed under its 200-day line Tuesday. The S&P 500 has been finding support near the 1220 to 1230 level, but meeting resistance at its 200-day average.

In other words, it's about what you would expect for a market uptrend that's under pressure.

Despite Tuesday's gains, Nasdaq stocks making new lows outnumbered those making new highs. NYSE new highs topped new lows, though.

Home Depot Beats expectations...

2011-11-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Home Depot (HD): Q3 EPS of $0.60 beats by $0.02. Revenue of $17.3B (+4.4% year over year) beats by $200M. Comparable store sales growth at 4.2%. Sees FY11 EPS at $2.38.

Number of customer transactions increased 1.2% year over year, while the average ticket was up 3%. The company reaffirms full-year sales growth guidance of 2.5%. Increases its quarterly dividend by 16% to $0.29/share, and sets a 50% dividend payout target.

HD is currently down 0.21 to 38.04

Kindle Fire starts shipping today...

2011-11-15T11:12:00.002-05:00

As Kindle Fire deliveries kick off to enormous consumer buzz (albeit lukewarm reviews), analysts are making optimistic forecasts about the device's long-term impact. JPMorgan's Doug Anmuth expects 20M Fire shipments in 2012, and $8B in total Kindle-related sales in 2013. Anmuth's bullishness on the Fire's adoption has led him to lift his PT for Amazon (AMZN) to $250 from $230.

Credit Card delinquencies rise...

2011-11-15T11:09:00.002-05:00

Capital One (COF) says delinquencies rose in October at its U.S. credit card business for the third straight month, to 3.73% from 3.65%. U.S. charge-offs edged up to 3.96% from 3.9%; internationally, charge-offs rose to 6.24% from 5.65%.

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades..

2011-11-15T10:24:00.002-05:00

These are some of Tuesday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades, and initiations seen from Wall Street research calls.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Cut to Hold at Argus.

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Alimera Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) Cut to Neutral with $2 target at Credit Suisse.

CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR) Added to Strong Sell List at Zacks.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) Cut to Sell as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) Raised target to $28 from $25 at Argus.

Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) named value stock of the day at Zacks.

Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

NSTAR (NYSE: NST) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) Reiterated Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Sourcefire, Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE) Initiated as Buy at BofA/ML.

Monday's summary...

2011-11-15T10:10:00.000-05:00

Stocks fell Monday as worries over Europe's debt crisis again took center stage. But the low volume softened the blow of the selling.

The S&P 500 lost 1% and the Nasdaq 0.8%. Hurt largely by financials, the NYSE composite dropped 1.1%. The Dow Jones industrial average fell a milder 0.6%, thanks in part to Boeing's (BA) 1.5% gain. The aerospace giant won a record $18 billion passenger jet order from Emirates.

Volume fell, even though Veterans Day kept trading light on Friday. In fact, volume was the lowest of the year on both major exchanges. The low trade helped the market avoid another distribution day, which would signal more institutional selling than has already occurred in recent weeks.

Headlines out of Europe have helped and hurt the market. On Monday, there was a round of bad news. Yields on five-year Italian bonds spiked to new euro-era highs, while 10-year bonds rose to nearly 7%. Spanish bond yields also rose.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Europe is facing its toughest challenge since World War II. Industrial output in the euro zone fell 2% in September — the most since early 2009.

The rocky environment has led to a mixed market and tough trading conditions. The number of distribution days on the market is relatively high. But leading stocks continue to act well. Many leaders from various industries have staged breakouts.

Tibco Software (TIBX) joined the club Monday. It cleared a cup-with-handle base. The stock closed off its session high, but still above the 29.66 buy point.

VMware (VMW) cleared a tight trading area in heavy volume Monday. The stock is shaping a base with a 111.53 buy point. VMware's Relative Strength line is at a new high.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) found support at its 50-day moving average in the heaviest volume in more than a month. The stock breached the line last week, but only moderately and in light volume.

Lowe's losing business to Home Depot...

2011-11-14T09:43:00.002-05:00

Lowe's Cos Inc (LOW). The company saw its quarterly profit fall more than 40 percent as the home improvement retailer keeps losing business to market leader Home Depot Inc (HD). For the third quarter, it earned $225 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $404 million, or 29 cents a share last year. Sales increased 2.3 percent to $11.9 billion.

Friday's recap...

2011-11-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

Stocks jogged ahead Friday in quiet trade, with several indexes erasing all of the week's losses.

The S&P 500 and the NYSE composite added 1.9% and 2.1%, respectively. The Nasdaq tacked on 2%. The Dow rose 2.2% as all 30 components rose. The average IBD 50 stock was up 2.2%.Volume fell sharply across the board.

With Veterans Day falling on a Friday, it's reasonable to assume some fund managers started the weekend early, resulting in less trading. The bond market was closed Friday.

The market remains a mixed bag — in an uptrend but under pressure. With only seven weeks of trade left this year, the time to redeem this stingy year is running out.

On the plus side, the indexes have recovered nicely from the year's lows on Oct. 4. The Nasdaq rose as much as 19.8% from the low and has given back only a few percentage points.

More breakouts among top-rated stocks have appeared since the Oct. 12 follow-through day.

Consumer Sentiment better than expected...

2011-11-11T13:52:00.001-05:00

November Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment: 64.2 preliminary vs. 61.3 expected and 60.9 in October. Expectations 51.8 vs. 47 in October. Current conditions 75.1 vs. 73.8 in October.

Disney releases strong results...

2011-11-11T09:16:00.001-05:00

Walt Disney Co. (DIS). The company unveiled strong results that trumped Wall Street's expectations as advertisers spent more at cable networks like ESPN and consumers kept going to theme parks despite a rough economy. It reported a better-than-expected 7 percent gain in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue and net income rose 30 percent to $1.1 billion. Earnings per share came in at 58 cents.

Thursday's recap...

2011-11-11T09:04:00.000-05:00

Stocks tried to regain lost ground from Wednesday's wild sell-off, but weren't able to make much progress Thursday.

The S&P 500 and the NYSE composite rose 0.9% and 1%, respectively, while staying within the previous day's trading range. The two indexes took back less than a fourth of Wednesday's massive loss.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq edged up 0.1%. The IBD 50's median move was a 0.2% gain.

Volume fell across the board.

The Nasdaq appeared to find support at the 2600 level, which was one of the few positive technical take-aways from the session. The composite has gotten fairly consistent support in that area, which had served as resistance in September and part of October.

Other factors made it hard to see a clear message in Thursday's trading.

Winners led losers by a 7-3 ratio on the NYSE and by 5-3 on the Nasdaq. But new lows outnumbered new highs by 32 to 17 on the NYSE and 49 to 10 on the Nasdaq.

Declining volume and the Nasdaq's inability to rally with the other indexes were negatives. But all the indexes closed high in the day's range, a plus.

A few leaders stirred.

Software maker SolarWinds (SWI) advanced to a new high, up 3% in 75% faster trade. The stock has been a leader since gapping up Oct. 27. The Austin, Texas-based company's stock is now 18% past a 25.72 buy point.

Advance Auto Parts (AAP) rose almost 5% in more than triple its usual volume after topping estimates on EPS and sales. The stock is about 4% past a 67.03 buy point in a first-stage base.

On the downside, Apple (AAPL) lost 2.5% in 30% faster trade as it sliced under its 50-day line. The stock had been getting support at that key level the past few weeks.

Market watchers tied the loss to Cleveland Research's reduced estimate on iPad shipments and on S&P Capital IQ's downgrade from strong buy to buy.

However, there's another explanation. Apple began the day with an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of D-, which points to institutional selling. Fund managers were already selling before the news from analysts. The A/D Rating was at E at the end of the day.

Top-rated stocks have had some challenges in this choppy market.

In the four weeks since the market flashed a follow-through day Oct. 12, dozens of stocks have broken out. Some have made progress. But nine triggered the 8% sell rule after breakouts. They are Thoratec (THOR), World Fuel Services (INT), Concho Resources (CXO), IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), ARM Holdings (ARMH), Herbalife (HLF), FEI Co. (FEIC), Fusion-io (FIO) and Opnet Technologies (OPNT).

Some have bounced back to reduce their losses. Others have gotten no better.

At 11:30 markets are mixed...

2011-11-10T11:30:00.000-05:00

Stocks seem very indecisive here as trtaders try to guess the direction of the next move.

Dow +76
Nas +1
S&P +6 to 1234

Just waiting for the next shoe to drop.

at 10:30 am....

2011-11-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

Stocks are giving back earlier gains...and it is starting to look like traders are turning bearish...

Dow +36
Nas -14
S&P +1

Not good, considering the open we had...

Today's Upgrades and Downgrades..

2011-11-10T10:34:00.002-05:00

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

Advance Auto Parts. Inc. (NYSE: AAP) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) added to Strong Sell List at Zacks.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD) Cut to Neutral at UBS.

Carbonite, Inc. (NASDAQ: CARB) Reiterated Buy with $16 target at Canaccord Genuity.

Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank; Raised to Buy at Citigroup; Target raised to $26 from $25 at Credit Suisse.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.

Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) Cut to Sell at S&P Capital IQ (late-Wednesday); Maintained Buy at Bof A/ML.

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Hospira, Inc. (NYSE: HSP) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) Reiterated Buy with $40 target at Argus.

Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) Raised to Hold at S&P Capital IQ (late-Wednesday).

Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) maintained Hold with $7.50 target at Canaccord Genuity.

PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE: SD) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) Reiterated Buy and raised estimates at Canaccord Genuity.

SurModics Inc. (NASDAQ: SRDX) named as Aggressive Growth at Zacks.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Raised to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.