Greece and its private lenders work toward a last-hour compromise on a debt exchange. (Reuters)

BP (NYSE: BP) likely to set a $20 billion to $25 billion deal to settle criminal and civil changes from the U.S. government. (Reuters)

EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) expresses concerns about European business as it announces earnings. (Reuters)

Online demonstrations against an internet anti-piracy bill prompt some members of Congress to drop their support for the legislation. (Reuters)

Sony Ericsson posts an unexpected Q4 loss ahead of its ownership transfer to Sony (NYSE: SNE). (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) raises the price of data rates that it charges its wireless subscribers. (Reuters)

The new S&P CEO defends decisions to downgrade the U.S. and EU nations. (WSJ)

The White House rejects plans to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) plans to increase Volt sales. (WSJ)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) says it expects record iron ore output this year. (WSJ)

California Governor Brown pushes for temporary tax increases to salvage the state’s finances. (WSJ)

The International Monetary Fund will try to raise several hundred billion dollars to support weak economies. (WSJ)

Italy sets new plans to allow its private businesses be more competitive. (WSJ)

Younger Chinese move much of their media consumption from TV to the internet. (WSJ)

Airbus raises the price of its A320neo. (WSJ)

Facebook adds a number of applications to keep users online for longer. (WSJ)

The SEC approves a merger between NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse. (WSJ)

China was a net seller of Treasuries in November. (WSJ)

The International Energy Agency cuts its oil demand outlook. (WSJ)

Hedge funds may sue Greece in the European Court of Human Rights if the nation does not honor bond obligations. (NYT)

A warm winter hurts retailers that sell goods for cold weather. (NYT)

Natural gas prices hit a decade low. (FT)

Commerzbank and Banca MPS may be low on funds and face partial takeovers by their respective governments. (FT)

PayPal’s numbers help eBay’s earnings. (FT)

UK consumer confidence falls. (Bloomberg)

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) each expect markets to improve. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 60 points to 12,482.22 (0.48%), the NASDAQ rose more than 17 points (0.64%) to 2,728.08, and the S&P 500 rose 0.35% or nearly 5 points to 1,293.66.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘hold’ at Jefferies; BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) raised to ‘buy’ at Wunderlich; and Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE: MMR) is up 4.55% at $13.32; TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD) is down -1.72% at $16.02; Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) is up 0.67% at $29.81; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is down nearly -8% at $28.29; and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP) is up nearly 8% at $54.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Ku6 Media Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) is up nearly 154% at $3.50. The Chinese online video company has signed an agreement with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to offer international viewers a Chinese video channel on YouTube.

Convio Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVO) is up nearly 48% at $15.89, after setting a new 52-week high earlier. The provider of software to non-profit organizations has agreed to be acquired by Blackbaud Inc. (NASDAQ: BLKB) for $16/share, or about $312 million.

Venoco Inc. (NYSE: VQ) is up nearly 31% at $10.05. The independent oil and gas company is being taken private by its CEO. We have more coverage here.

R.R. Donnelly & Sons Co. (NYSE: RRD) is down nearly -16% at $12.12 after posting a new 52-week low of $12.08 earlier. The business services company said revenues for 2011 are going to be lower than expected.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is down nearly -14% at $29.57. The cruise ship operator is sinking following the disaster off the Italian coast that has left 11 dead and 29 missing. We have more coverage here.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve Bank governor Daniel Tarullo is giving a speech. We have the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association mortgage applications
• 8:30 a.m. – Producer price index
• 9:15 a.m. – Federal Reserve report on industrial production
• 10:00 a.m. – Housing market index

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Paul Ausick

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
BHP Billiton Limited (NYSE: BHP) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Carnival Corporation (NYSE: CCL) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE: MTH) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) Raised to Sector Outperform at CIBC.
Ryland Group Inc. (NYSE: RYL) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Stifel Financial Corporation (NYSE: SF) Raised to Buy with $37 target at Goldman Sachs.
Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) Raised to Buy at Wunderlich.
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) Cut to Neutral at Citigroup.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 140 points to 12,151.64 (-1.14%), the NASDAQ fell more than 35 points (-1.34%) to 2,589.98, and the S&P 500 fell -1.25% or nearly 16 points to 1,249.66.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ at Zack’s Investment Research; Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) target price and estimate lowered to $39 at JPMorgan; Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) maintained as ‘hold’ but estimates cut at Argus; Sears Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) maintained as ‘underperform’ and target price lowered to $20 at Credit Suisse; Parker Drilling Co. (NYSE: PKD) named ‘value stock of the day’ at Zack’s; and Delphi Automotive (NASDAQ: DLPH) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

There are no earnings reports of note out yet today. After markets close today Piedmont Natural Gas Co. (NYSE: PNY) and Reading International Inc. (NASDAQ: RDI) are scheduled to report earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT) is up more than 20% at $22.80, after posting a new 52-week high of $24 earlier today. The recreational vehicle maker announced that it had repurchased a 33% stake in the company owned by Suzuki, reducing outstanding shares by about a third.

Delcath Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: DCTH) is up nearly 11% at $3.38. The drug development company has received EU standards certification for its plant in Galway, Ireland.

Endeavor International Corp. (NYSE: END) is up nearly 11% to $8.78. The independent oil & gas company continues to receive attention for its purchase of North Sea assets from ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and an ratings upgrade from ‘market perform’ to ‘outperform’ at Rodman & Renshaw.

Molycorp shares are down nearly -14% at $24.12 after posting a new 52-week low of $24.03 earlier today. The rare earths miner was downgraded this morning and a Chinese announcement on exports of rare earth minerals are both weighing on the company. More on Molycorp here.

SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is up more than 18% at $3.81. The LED lighting maker hit a technical target at around $3.29/share. Trading in SemiLEDS shares is about 6x average daily volume.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
• 9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI report
• 10:00 a.m. – National Association of Realtors pending home sales index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas status report
• 11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply reports

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Paul Ausick

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) Cut to Underperform from an already-cautious Neutral rating and named as the “Bear of the Day” by Zacks Investment Research.
Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) maintained Hold (with Long-Term Buy) but cut estimates at Argus.
Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Manning & Napier, Inc. (NYSE: MN) Started as Neutral at Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Mattress Firm Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: MFRM) Started as Buy at UBS.
Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) Lowered estimates and target to $39 from J.P. Morgan.
Parker Drilling Company (NYSE: PKD) named as value stock of the day by Zacks Investment Research.
PC Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) named as the aggressive growth stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust (NYSE: PMT) Maintained Buy and raised target to $19 at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (late Tuesday) after distressed asset purchase.
Sears Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD) Maintained Underperform but cut estimates and cut target to $20.00 at Credit Suisse.
The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) Upgraded to Outperform from Neutral and named as the “Bull of the Day” by Zacks Investment Research.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSK) Maintained as Outperform but target price is only $40.00 (versus $39.95 share price) by Credit Suisse.

Read Also: Analysts’ Top Biotech Stock Picks for 2012

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JON C. OGG

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

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is up only 1.25% at $1.60 and shares are flat in local trading in Paris.  Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is up 10% at $18.26 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is up 6.5% at $74.21.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is up 5.6% at $7.56 and the stock is up 4% in local trading in Madrid. The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is now up 8.6% at $4.92 and shares are up 7% in local trading in Dublin. National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is up 4.9% at $2.55 in New York but shares are up almost 3% in local trading in Athens.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is up 7% at $24.03 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is up 6.1% at $12.18. Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is up 7.9% at $38.36 and shares are up 6.6% in local trading in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) is up 4.3% at $17.01 and shares are up 3.4% in local trading in Paris. Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is up 4.6% at $20.00 in New York trading. LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is up 5.5% at $10.37; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is up 4.2% at $5.73.  Funny, Nokia’s problems are not really tied to “liquidity” issues or other uncertainties.  Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is up 5.9% at $101.54 in New York and shares are up 4.1% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is up 5.6% at $11.32 in New York and shares are up 4% in local trading in Milan.

JON C. OGG

As is typical in a bidding war, competitor companies are also garnering some interest from the back-and-forth between Rio and Cameco as investors figure that the value of all uranium miners might rise. Uranium miners Denison Mines Corp. (AMEX: DNN), Uranerz Energy Corp. (AMEX: URZ), and Uranium Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: URRE) have all gotten a boost from the bidding, but perhaps not as much as might be expected.

Cameco originally offered C$3.75/share in cash for Hathor only to see Rio come in a few weeks later with an all-cash offer of C$4.15/share. Cameco raised its offer to C$.4.50 earlier this week, and now Rio has come back with an offer of C$4.59.

Denison, Uranerz, and Uranium Resources all saw share prices fall from the time of Cameco’s original offer on September 1st, bottoming out in early October. The shares got a bit of a boost when Rio’s offer was announced in mid-October, but shares of all three are still trading down from their levels of September 1st.

Uranium prices hit a peak of more than $70/pound in February, and have since fallen to around $55/pound. The disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant following the earthquake and tsunami in March and the subsequent decision by Germany to retire all its nuclear power plants has weighed on both nuclear plant builders and uranium miners.

Cameco, the world’s largest uranium miner, has experienced a near -50% drop in its share price since early March, largely as fallout from the immediate closure of 14 nuclear generation plants in Japan and Germany. Mining costs are also rising, putting even more pressure on profits.

The outlook for uranium demand is not very strong either. While it’s true that there are many new plants under construction, delays due to more regulatory reviews are being anticipated, even in China and India where construction has been growing.

The other impact of the current low price for uranium is that it stalls new mining projects. If demand picks up over the next several years, supply is likely to be weak due to cancellation of new projects.

That’s largely the reason that Hathor is worth the fight. The company is sitting on reserves that are estimated to be able to produce up to 5 million pounds of uranium annually. And regardless of a possible slowdown in production, uranium miners expect China’s nuclear building program to proceed as planned. Chinese demand is expected to grow, as is India’s, and Hathor’s uranium is already being produced and there’s plenty more to dig out.

There’s no doubt that Rio has deeper pockets than Cameco, and Rio’s latest offer totals about C$654 million. But Cameco has about $1.2 billion in cash and short-term investments in its war chest, so the battle may not be over quite yet.

Paul Ausick

The largest shareholder in Olympus cuts its position. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) launches its new music service. (Reuters)

Germany and France disagree about the role of the European Central Bank in the sovereign debt crisis. (Reuters)

SABMiller expects difficulty with sales due to slow business in the U.S. and EU. (Reuters)

BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) lowers its forecasts. (Reuters)

Greece starts talks with private bondholders. (Reuters)

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) directors may split the company into separate food and soda operations. (Reuters)

The head of Aol’s (NYSE: AOL) applications group quits. (WSJ)

Europe’s banks may have trouble with capital. (WSJ)

Fitch warns that U.S. banks may be more exposed to the EU debt crisis than expected. (WSJ)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) starts a $1 billion software program to make products and services more efficient. (WSJ)

Rambus (NASDAQ: RMBS) loses a major antitrust case against Micron (NASDAQ: MU) and Hynix. (WSJ)

Fees that Newt Gingrich earned from Freddie Mac have drawn negative media attention. (WSJ)

Demands grow for the ECB to help resolve the eurozone debt crisis. (WSJ)

Sales at Sears Holdings’ (NYSE: SHLD) Kmart and Sears stores hurt by slow remodeling. (WSJ)

Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) hurt by its need to lower prices. (WSJ)

Delphi Automotive sets its share prices at $22. (WSJ)

AMR (NYSE: AMR) and its pilots will return to the bargaining table. (WSJ)

Germany’s public sector lenders downgraded by Moody’s. (WSJ)

China increases its Treasury holdings as some eurozone paper becomes more risky. (WSJ)

A number of alternatives to oil may be lost if the Keystone XL pipeline loses support. (NYT)

Central banks sharply increase gold holdings. (FT)

The U.S.-China Economic and Sec­urity Review Commission says yuan manipulation could undermine the dollar as the world’s currency. (FT)

AT&T (NYSE: T) may sell the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows smartphone. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is down another 2.5% at $1.92 and shares are down 2.6% in local trading in Paris.

Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) is down 3.3% at $18.36 and BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is down 1.5% at $74.85.

Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) is down almost 2% at $7.47 and the stock is down 2% in local trading in Madrid.

The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) is down 2.1% at $4.70 and shares are down 2.3% in local trading in Dublin.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) is down 3.6% at $23.32 and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) is down over 2.5% at $11.60.

Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) is down 2.2% at $37.68 and shares are down 2.6% in Frankfurt.

France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) has not traded in New York but shares are indicated under $17.00 after a $17.10 close on Monday; shares are down 1% in Paris.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (NYSE: PHG) is down 3.1% at $18.86 in New York trading.

LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) is down 1.8% at $9.99; Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) is indicated down almost 2% at $6.42.

National Bank of Greece SA (NYSE: NBG) is down 5.5% at $0.52 in New York but shares are down 8.5% in local trading in Athens.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) is down 1.2% in New York and shares are down 1.7% in local trading in Frankfurt.

Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI) is down almost 3% at $11.55 in New York and shares are down almost 3.1% in local trading in Milan.

JON C. OGG