The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 336 points to 12,101.92 (2.85%), the NASDAQ rose more than 80 points (3.19%) to 2,603.73, and the S&P 500 rose 2.98% or nearly 36 points to 1,241.22.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan. Other ratings actions today include F5 Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) cut from ‘perform’ to ‘underperform’ at Oppenheimer; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised from ‘outperform’ to ‘Top Pick’ at FBR Capital; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) added to ‘Strong Buy List’ at Zacks; and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) lowered from ‘Top Pick List’ to ‘outperform’ and target price lowered from $61 to $58 at RBC Capital Markets.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) is up 4% at $26.18; General Mills Inc. is down about -1% at $39.19; Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is up nearly 7% at $39.05; Sanderson Farms Inc. (NASDAQ: SAFM) is down -4% at $48.66; and Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) is up more than 22% at $14.46. After markets close today we get earnings from Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). See our 360 coverage on Oracle here and coverage of the ConAgra and General Mills reports here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Targacept Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is down more than -35% at $5.01, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.92 earlier in the day. The pharmaceutical maker’s anti-depressant drug, developed in conjunction with AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) has failed a late-stage trial.

Cobalt International Energy Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is up nearly 38% at $13.81. The oil & gas exploration company has signed a production-sharing agreement for a block offshore of Angola. Cobalt owns 40% of the project and is the operator.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) is up nearly 33% at $2.93. The solar panel maker has sold about 86 megawatts of generation to TransCanada Corp. (NYSE: TRP) for approximately $455 million.

Prestige Brand Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PBH) is up nearly 21% at $11.27. The drug and cleaning supplies company paid $660 million for a selection of nonprescription drugs from GlaxoSmithKline PLC (NYSE: GSK).

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is up more than 18% at $1.50. The home builder is riding the wave of good news about new housing starts.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) is up about 9% at $39.85, after posting a new 52-week high earlier of $39.86. The healthcare company raised fiscal year guidance and boosted its quarterly dividend by 30%, to $0.1625/share.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. The most widely anticipated report for tomorrow is due at 8:30 a.m. from the National Association of Realtors, which will be revising its new home sales data from 2007 forward. Lower sales of up to -13% are expected. Here are other noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 7-year Treasury note auction

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Paul Ausick

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Added to Strong Buy List at Zacks Investment Research.
AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) Reduced to Outperform from the “Top Pick” and target lowered to $58 from $61 by RBC Capital Markets.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) cut to Underperform and named as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) Raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
HomeAway, Inc. (NASDAQ: AWAY) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. (NYSE: MAA) Raised to Outperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
OpenTable Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Started as Outperform with a $49.00 price target objective at Credit Suisse.
Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to “Top Pick” from Outperform at FBR Capital Markets.
Web.com Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WWWW) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.

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JON C. OGG

At the end of December came a $2 billion buyback update from Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) versus a market cap of more than $12 billion.  PartnerRe Ltd. (NYSE: PRE) announced a 7 million share repurchase plan that comes to more than $550 million at the current prices versus a market cap of about $6 billion.  Some other key buybacks announced were as follows:

AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) announced that it would repurchase as many as 300 million shares, worth some $8.7 billion at the time.  That was about 5% of its shares against a $171 billion market cap at the time.

Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) in the middle of the month approved a share repurchase authorization of up to $2.5 billion in common stock; it had approximately $600 million remaining under its July-2009 $2.0 billion share repurchase program.  Baxter’s market cap was $29 billion at the time.

Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) added an additional 30 million shares for buybacks for nearly $1.8 billion against a market cap of nearly $18 billion at the time.

Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC) had announced a buyback plan of up to $1 billion compared to a market cap of close to $7.5 billion at the time.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) added to its prior plan saying it would buy back up to 10 million shares, over $1 billion if fully allocated, against a market cap of roughly $25 billion.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) targeted some $2.5 billion in share buybacks ahead in 2011 versus a market cap of roughly $56 billion at the time.

Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) last week added to its prior plan and announced that it would buy back up to 10 million shares.  With shares over $100 a piece, that is over $1 billion if fully allocated and that is against a market cap of roughly $25 billion.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) said earlier that the home improvement supply giant is targeting some $2.5 billion in share buybacks ahead in 2011 versus a market cap of roughly $56 billion.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) CEO Paul Otellini announced that it resumed repurchasing common stock after having previously suspended buybacks during the Great Recession.  Intel had roughly $5.7 billion remaining under an existing $25 billion buyback plan.  Intel’s market cap was more than $120 billion at the time.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) announced in early December that it would spend up to $1 billion to repurchase shares against a market cap of roughly $47 billion.

Two large restarted buyback plans right before December were General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) starting to buy shares again and a promise for more share repurchases in 2011 and another giant plan from Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) adding some $10 billion to its buyback plan.

The full list of December buybacks can be seen here with many more plans being in the hundreds of millions of dollars or even higher.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Baxter International (NYSE: BAX) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) Cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX) Cut to Sell at Merriman Curhan Ford.
JA Solar Holdings (NASDAQ: JASO) Cut to Neutral at Broadpoint AmTech.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
OSI Systems (NASDAQ: OSIS) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Potash Corp. (NYSE: POT) Target cut to $116 at UBS.
Phillip Morris International (NYSE: PM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Started as Buy at UBS.
Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG

Update: RADVision (RVSN) is trading down over 33% on rumors that the Cisco (CSCO) buyout of Tandberg will cost it nearly 40% of its revenue.  (Morgan Keegan)

Update:  Friday’s unemployment numbers will be bogus  (RealClearMarkets)

GE (GE) may or may not be talking to Comcast (CMCSA) about buying all or part of NBC Universal. Time Warner (TWX) was also identified as a potential bidder. (FT)

Inside candidates at Bank of America (BAC) may be out of luck if they hope to get the job of departing CEO Ken Lewis. Larry Fink, the head of Blackrock (BLK), and former Merrill Lynch President Greg Fleming may be in the running.  (NYPost)

Hershey (HSY) will not make a bid for Cadbury (CBY)  (WSJ)

Baxter International (BAX) may be the next buyout target in pharma.  (The Deal).

Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal thinks a number of private internet companies will go public or be bought including Digg, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Glam, Zillow, eHarmony, and Yelp  (Barron’s)

AOL’s (TWX) advertising business is losing money on an EBITDA basis.  (Clusterstock)

CIT (CIT) is about to offer a massive debt exchange offer to its bondholders. (NYTimes)

Disgraced football player and dog fight lover Michael Vick may be re-signing with Nike (NKE)  (CNBC)  Update: Nike denies the rumor.

Douglas A. McIntyre

New short-interest data suggest traders are now increasing their directional bets against biotech stocks. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) are in the top 10 of all large-cap stocks with the greatest increase in the number of shares shorted.

Eli Lilly has the FDA’s OK to market its Effient blood thinner, but the black-box warning on its label is so strong that it’s hard to believe it can dent the market share of the Sanofi Aventis (NYSE: SNY)/ Bristol Myers Inc. (NYSE: BMY) drug Plavix.

OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: OSIP) announced new data from its Phase III Saturn study of Tarceva, and it’s likely an incremental positive for the cancer drug over rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s (NYSE: LLY) drug Altima.

-The 24/7 Wall St. Team

Baidu (BIDU) Started as Underweight with $244 target at HSBC.
Baxter (BAX) Started as Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Carnival (CCL) Raised to Outperform at Wachovia.
Hershey (HSY) was named as a Top Pick at Citigroup.
IBM (IBM) Started as Outperform at Cowen.
LDK Solar (LDK) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Microsoft (MSFT) Added to Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List.
SunPower Corp. (SPWRA) Raised to Buy at UBS.

Jon C. Ogg
June 19, 2009

According to The Wall Street Journal, France, Italy and Denmark recalled the drug yesterday. The trouble is more wide-spread than previously thought.

The ingredients which cause the health problems appear to be made in China.

The question is why Baxter did not have closer look at a medicine used in heart surgery and dialysis.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Baxter International (NYSE: BAX)—contaminant in recalled Heparin identified by the FDA today. Shares rose slightly to $58.18 in response to board approved $2 billion stock buyback program. maybe it’s a major drug stock, but this has been a pending issue for some time.

Cytokinetics Inc. (NASDAQ: CYTK) up almost 10% to $3.38 today; annual report filed last week.

Discovery Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: DSCO) up over 10% today to $2.38 on a late afternoon rise on no new news.

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) up 23% today to $6.06 on heavy late afternoon trading volume and no news. Halozyme dipped earlier this week due to downgrades.

ImClone Systems (NASDAQ: IMCL) showed little response to upgrades in anticipation to cancer clinical trial data. Shares inched up $0.20 to $43.30.

Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN) upgraded by RBC Capital Markets and noted for strong research platform. Up 4% to $8.70. The 52-week range is $7.20 to $3.44.

Rachel Lopez
March 19, 2008

Reuters reports that Blll Gates said Microsoft (MSFT) will target web search with or without Yahoo! (YHOO)

Reuters writes that RIM (RIMM) has sued Motorola (MOT) over patent issues.

Reuters writes that Exxon (XOM) is willing to enter talks with Venezuela but will continue its fight to be paid for assets.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Credit Suisse (CS) has cut the value of its asset-backed securities by $2.85 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Ambac (ABK) will try to raise $2 billion.

The Wall Street Journal writes that a rival of Baxter (BAX) has started to supply a drug to replace heparin which has been tainted by supply quality problems in China.

The Wall Street Journal reports that problems in the auction-rate securities market may lead to higher financing costs for some institutions.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Martha Steward (MSO) will buy certain assets from Emeril.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) will begin to build chips designed by Sun (JAVA).

The Wall Street Journal writes that Verizon’s (VZ) roll-out of HDTV is being delayed by a shortage of settop boxes.

The Wall Street Journal writes that banks and investment houses may have to write down as much as $15 billion in LBO debt.

The Wall Street Journal writes that big media companies want a larger part of video games based on their shows.

The New York Times writes that Wall St. is bracing for another wave of write-downs.

The New York Times writes that China inflation rose 7.1% in January, the largest increase in a decade

The New York Times writes that Delta (DAL) and Northwest (NWA) are close to closing a merger.

The FT writes that banks have quietly borrowed $50 billion from the Fed in the last few weeks.

Bloomberg writes that the second half 2007 profits at Barclays (BCS) fell 21% on write-downs.

Douglas A. McIntyre