The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 21 points to 12,418.57 (0.17%), the NASDAQ fell less than 1 point (-0.01%) to 2,648.36, and the S&P 500 rose 0.02% or less than 1 point to 1,277.31.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) added to ‘US Focus List’ at Credit Suisse; General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) reiterated ‘buy’ with $94 target price at Canaccord Genuity; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) started as ‘underperform’ at National Bank; and Tivo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) raised to ‘overweight’ at Evercore Partners.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Unifirst Corp. (NYSE: UNF) is up more than 3% at $59.83; and Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS) is down more than -11% at $17.55. Tomorrow sees earnings from Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ), Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON), and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) among others.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

LCA-Vision Inc. (NASDAQ: LCAV) is up more than 40% at $4.33. The laser vision correction system provider said that it performed more than 14,000 procedures in the fourth quarter, up 30% year-over-year.

Rare Element Resources Ltd. (AMEX: REE) is up more than 27% at $4.53. The rare earths miner announced that its resource at the company’s Bear Lodge project is 38% higher than previously believed.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up nearly 11% at $80.02. The video distributor reported that it streamed more than 2 billion hours of video in the fourth quarter. More details on this story are available here.

Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is down more than -19% at $25.65, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.20 early this morning. The networking company warned on earnings last night. We have more coverage here.

Life Partners Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LPHI) is down more than -15% at $5.38. The life insurance company has been accused of accounting fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:30 a.m. – Challenger Gray & Christmas job-cut report
• 8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
• 8:30 a.m. – Weekly initial unemployment benefits claims report
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas report
• 11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 4:30 a.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply reports

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Paul Ausick

After the first hour of trading this morning, LCA-Vision is up nearly 26% at $3.88. Volume is already nearly double the daily average. The laser vision correction system provider said that it performed more than 14,000 procedures in the fourth quarter, up 30% year-over-year.

LIfe Partners is down nearly -28% at $4.56. Volume is nearly 6x the daily average. The life insurance company has been accused of accounting fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Acme Packet is down more than -20% at $25.42, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.20 earlier. Volume is already more than double the daily average. The networking company warned on earnings last night. We have more coverage here.

Progress Software is down more than -11% at $17.57. Volume has already surpassed the daily average. The enterprise software company reported weak quarterly earnings after markets closed yesterday.

Tivo is up nearly 9% at $9.69. Volume is already about 50% higher than the daily average. The digital video recorder maker has reached a settlement with AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) under which AT&T will pay Tivo at least $215 million to license Tivo technology.

Paul Ausick

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) Cut to Neutral at Wedbush; estimates and targets lowered after revenue warnings from Morgan Keegan and Wells Fargo.
Affymetrix Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFX) Raised to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) Raised to Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Outperform with $500 target and raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Crown Castle International Corp. (NYSE: CCI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) added to the U.S. Focus List at Credit Suisse.
General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) Reiterated Buy with $94 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) Cut to Underperform by RBC Capital Markets.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) Started as Underperform at National Bank.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Raised to Buy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Raised to Overweight at Evercore Partners.

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JON C. OGG

While Acme competes against Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), shares of Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) and Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) are the stocks suffering after posting gains in the first day of 2012.

Acme cut its targets to $1.03 to $1.05 EPS for the year on sales of $308 million to $310 million.  When it gave guidance in October, those ranges were $1.14 to $1.18 EPS on sales of $315 million to $320 million.

The stock was initially halted after a 2.9% gain to $31.81 today, but shares are down 17.5% in the after-hours session down around $26.25.  Sadly, this is going to make for a 52-week low as the range over the last year was $29.25 to $84.50.

JON C. OGG

American Capital Agency Corp (NASDAQ: AGNC) is down 3.73% before market open to $27.58, relative to a 52-week range of $22.03 – $30.76.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is up 13.9% before market open to $27.05, relative to a 52-week range of $24.72 – $36.50.

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is up nearly 9% before market open to $32.20, relative to a 52-week range of $29.25 – $84.50.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is up 2.8% premarket to $18.08, relative to a 52-week range of $13.30 – $24.60.

Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is up 2.16% premarket to $33.10, relative to a 52-week range of $24.72 – $36.50.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is up almost 3.5% at $92.09, after hitting new 52-week high of $92.12 earlier in the day; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is down about -2.2%, at $16.26;  Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is up 7.25%, at $331.00; Freescale Semiconductor Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: FSL) is down about -2% at $11.89; Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) fell more than -20% and is trading at $30.37; and Calix Inc. (NYSE: CALX) is down nearly -19% at $6.82, after posting a new 52-week low earlier today of $6.39.

Several other standouts from today include …

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) began the day up about 5% following some harsh words from David Einhorn. The stock is finishing the day up about 1.5%, at $69.01, after dropping nearly -30% since the beginning of the week.

Pure Cycle Corp. (NASDAQ: PCYO) is up more than 27%, to $2.37, after several down trading sessions.

Synaptics Inc. (NASDAQ: SYNA) is up more than 19%, to $32.18, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today. The company has nearly completed its transition to a maker of chips for touchscreens, a much higher margin business than its touchpad chips.

Recon Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: RCON) is down more than -5%, at $0.97, after getting a letter from Nasdaq for failing to file an annual report.

Stay tuned for Monday.  We have the National Activity Index from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank at 8:30 a.m. and a speech from Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher at 9:00 a.m.  The US Treasury has also scheduled three short-term T-bill auctions for late morning.

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No money was injured while filming

At about mid-day, the Dow is off nearly -4%, the Nasdaq is off nearly -4.5%, and the S&P 500 is down just over -4%. It’s not a good day, and things are really looking nasty for several stocks. Here’s a look at some of today’s biggest losers so far.

NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is down about -19% and has posted a new 52-week intra-day low of $33.32 following a poor earnings report, a weak forecast, and a downgrade from FBN. The stock is setting the pace for tech weakness after it pointed out that NetApp is expecting a “dramatic slowdown” in sales.

JDS Uniphase Corp. (NASDAQ: JDSU) is off -10.5%, at $10.47, within a 52-week range of $9.09-$29.12. The company managed to dodge a downgrade, but yesterday’s earnings and guidance combined with NetApp’s warning have clobbered the stock.

Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (NYSE: IVR) is off more than -8.5%, at $17.63, in a 52-week range of $16.48-$24.07. The company has announced a secondary offering of 20 million shares at $18.37/share, $0.92/share lower than yesterday’s closing price. Shareholders hate that sort of thing.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) shares are off around -7%, at $27.90, in a 52-week range of $26.25-$51.50. There’s no specific news that would lead to this drop, just the usual worries on European debt, home sales, and any of a number of economic concerns.

Camelot Information Systems Inc. (NYSE: CIS) is down more than -31%, at $5.87, having already posted a new 52-week low this morning of $4.90. That’s down nearly -80% from its 52-week high of $28.18. The company missed both profit and revenue estimates. There have also been some questions recently about the company’s truthfulness in reporting.

Gentium SpA (NASDAQ: GENT) is off more than -30%, at $6.12, within a 52-week range of $4.53-$13.69. The Italian drug maker has withdrawn a marketing application for an experimental treatment for complications resulting from stem cell transplants.

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is down nearly -18%, at $41.25, in a 52-week range of $30.70-$84.50. The communications equipment maker’s stock was downgraded by Pacific Crest, and is wallowing in the NetApp disaster.

Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) is down nearly -16%, at $20.53, in a 52-week range of $17.36-$44.70. Another communications equipment vendor and another downgrade at Pacific Crest.

The Direxion Daily Technology Bull 3X Shares (NYSE: TYH) is down nearly -16%, at $29.00, in a 52-week range of $23.66-$57.23. The triple-leveraged ETF is getting pulverized on its long technology bet.

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is off -12%, at $10.15, in a 52-week range of $8.92-$16.94. Investor Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda Corp. reported yesterday that he has shed 20 million MGM shares. Tracinda is still the largest shareholder in MGM with nearly a stake of nearly 27% .

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is off more than -10%, at $20.22, in a 52-week range of $17.90-$28.73. The company is down about -24% in the past month, and today is following the downward spiral created by NetApp.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is among the volume leaders with the largest share price downturns today. Shares are down nearly -7%, at $6.96, in a 52-week range of $6.31-$15.31. Worries about bank stocks are growing as reports on the global economy get gloomier.

Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) has already traded more shares than its daily average of more than 34 million. Shares are off nearly -8%, at $25.35, within a 52-week range of $21.66-$36.50. No particular news except the general disillusionment with tech stocks following NetApp’s pronouncement.

Paul Ausick

The top components are as follows: NetFlix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) 4.46%; RightNow Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RNOW) 4.15%; Open Text Corp. (NASDAQ: OTEX) 4.13%; Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX) 4.11%; TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) 3.91%; Informatica Corp. (NASDAQ: INFA) 3.89%; Acme Packet Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) 3.87%; Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) 3.80%; Aruba Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) 3.78%; and Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) 3.70%.  The classification stresses software at 32.53%, Internet software & services as 22.61%, communications equipment at 16.75%, and computer & peripherals at 11.15%.

The index tracks the ISE Cloud Computing™ Index and is said to be modified in equal-dollar weightings and is meant to track the cumulative performance of companies “actively involved in the cloud computing industry.”  Minimum participation requires being engaged in a business activity supporting or utilizing the cloud computing space, as well as a share listing on an index-eligible global stock exchange, and finally a minimum market capitalization rate of $100 million.

The three segments in the index are the following:

• pure-play cloud computing companies: direct service providers for the cloud or companies that deliver goods and services that utilize cloud computing technology;
• non-pure-play cloud computing companies: companies that focus outside the cloud computing space, but those which provide goods and services in support of the cloud computing space;
• Technology Conglomerate Cloud Computing Companies: These are large broad-based companies that indirectly utilize or support the use of cloud computing technology.

The overall weight by segment is 10% allocated to technology conglomerate companies.  The rest is stated as, “The index weight that is allocated to non pure play companies is calculated by dividing the non pure play companies’ market capitalization by the sum of the pure play, non pure play and technology conglomerate market capitalizations. The remainder of the index weight is allocated to pure play companies.”  Stocks are equally weighted within each of the three classifications and the index is reconstituted semi-annually and rebalanced quarterly.

After looking at the fact sheet, here are more details.  The minimum constituent market cap is $863 million, the median market cap is $9.65 billion, and the highest market cap is $321 billion.  The average P/E ratio is 33.37, the average price/book ratio is 5.10, the average price-to-cash flow ratio is 17.75, and the average Price/sales ratio is 4.20.

It is up to you as to decide whether or not you are a believer in an ETF with modified weightings such as this.  When we hear “There is an ETF for that!” the question that always comes to mind is “Should there be?”

JON C. OGG

Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) is up 8% to $60.50, relative to a 52-week range of $10.50-$62.96. The company reported positive fourth quarter earnings.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:  BRCM) is down 5.52% to $43.83, relative to a 52-week range of $27.48-$47.38. 4Q profits met market expectations.

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: MGIC) is up 7% premarket to $8.68, relative to a 52-week range of $1.61-$8.99. The software company reported very positive fourth quarter revenue.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) is up 2.4% on heavy volume to $2.56, relative to a 52-week range of $2.47-$11.15. Shares of the pharmaceutical company lost more than 70% of their value yesterday after the FDA insisted upon further testing for a new weight loss drug.

F5 Networks shares fell by -22.3% to $107.82 and on a whopping 4,362,265 shares in the after-hours session last night.  Shares are indicated around $112.50 in the very early pre-market session.  Four competing and overlapping companies were hit very hard as well:

• Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) -9.68% at $33.39 and 415,501 shares in the after hours.
• Blue Coat Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI) -7.95% at $27.80 and 82,604 shares in the after hours.
• Aruba Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) -5.8% at $22.90 and 75,493 shares in the after hours.
• Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ: APKT) -5.68% at $53.34 and 90,074 shares in the after hours.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) is almost 4-times its size in revenue and almost twice its size in market cap and even it fell by -2.85% to $35.85 and 196,174 shares in the after hours.

F5 had risen close to 200% over the last year and it was recently was added to the S&P 500 Index.  Add in that its market cap had reached over $11 billion and it is not a huge shock that the stock is being pounded even if this may seem an overreaction.

Is this a true overreaction?  On the surface, yes.  If the market remains strong then the growth targets here will be deemed a bit of sandbagging the estimates.  If the market choppiness continues, F5 may still have a bit of room below.

We have actually seen two upgrades so far.  Gleacher & Co. raised the rating to Buy and Credit Suisse has raised the rating to Outperform.  It seems as though some are using this as an opportunity to get in after having missed the huge gains over the last year.

Without the effects of the pre-market and after-hours trading, the 50-Day moving average was $133.45 and the 200-Day moving average is all the way down at $96.03.  F5 was at $90 as recently as last October and its 52-week trading range is $47.11 to $145.76.

JON C. OGG