The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 11 points to 12,705.41 (-0.09%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.4%) to 2,859.68, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 1.5 points to 1,325.54.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 24% at $66.30; Education Management Corp. (NASDAQ: EDMC) is down -17% at $21.19; Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is down -0.6% at $24.62; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is up 2.2% at $60.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.93 earlier today; Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is up 3.2% at $3.27; Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) is down -3.9% at $5.85; Brinks Co. (NYSE: BCO) is down -17.5% at $24.43; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) is up 0.35% at $63.29; Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is down -1.2% at $42.48; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.3% at $38.51; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is down -0.3% at $15.71; and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is down -0.9% at $46.53.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up nearly 18% at $12.49 after posting a new post-IPO high of $12.91 earlier today. The social games company got a big boost from Facebook’s IPO filing. Our coverage is here.

MediciNova Inc. (NASDAQ: MNOV) is up nearly 31% at $2.47. The company received a favorable patent notice for a multiple sclerosis treatment device.

Response Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: RGDX) is up more than 27% at $1.50. The drug maker announced the private placement of about 5.3 million shares at $1.50/share, about 28% higher than last night’s closing price.

BioScrip Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) is up more than 15% at $6.73. The pharmacy services provider has sold a portion of its assets to Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) for $225 million.

Ur-Energy Inc. (AMEX: URG) is down more than -13% at $1.22. The uranium miner has issued 1.5 million shares of new stock to agents who will attempt to sell at CDN$1.00.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report
• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing (services) index

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Paul Ausick

• The 17 Most Important IPOs to Watch in 2012.
• The 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend portfolio
• Bankruptcy, liquidation, delisting and all… Here is a list of ten stocks that are not expected to survive 2012.
• Major semiconductors and expected price performance of leaders in 2012.
• Top Oil & Gas stocks with expected price performance in 2012.

One firm gave what looks and feels like an outrageous possibility: a 50% drop from the peak in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares.

Jim Cramer’s top four of the thirty DJIA picks are AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT). FULL SUMMARY

A Doug Kass call was made for E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) to be acquired, even though it all but killed any M&A prospects.

Barron’s gave ten stocks it sees as its favorite picks in 2012, and the trend here is based upon value stocks and dividend stocks rather than aggressive growth stocks.

Molycorp. Inc. (NYSE: MCP) received a wishy-washy outlook concerns from top analyst for this year.

3 Groups of small and mid-cap stock picks expecting huge upside in 2012:

Small & Mid-Cap Stocks With 50% Upside In 2012 (OIS, OI, ROSE, WBC, CIE)
Small Caps With 50% Upside in 2012 (TEN, WNR, APO, SNV, MTZ)
Small Caps With Over 50% Stock Upside in 2012 (PNK, CDXS, VVUS, SCMR)

A consensus breakdown of top analyst stock picks for biotech in 2012. Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) was noted with having more than 40% upside at the time, but that was literally seen in one day this last week.  Three top medical technology picks in 2012 from Zacks Investment Research were Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX), Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG). and St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ).

Eight nations with active ETFs, closed-end funds, and ADRs which may benefit from credit rating upgrades in 2012.

JON C. OGG

AGCO Corporation (NYSE: AGCO) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Reiterated Outperform and Raised Target to $60 at Credit Suisse.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Maintained Hold but lowered estimates at Argus.
Career Education Corporation (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Reiterated Neutral with $10 target at Baird.
FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Market Perform by Wells Fargo.
Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Illinois Tool Works. Inc. (NYSE: ITW) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE: KSS) Cut to Hold at Argus.
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) Raised to Buy at Stern Agee.
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform and named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Vodafone Group PLC (NYSE: VOD) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Zhongpin, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOGS) Started as outperform at Oppenheimer.

If you enjoyed this morning’s Wall Street research notes, you can sign up to receive these directly in your inbox each morning by joining our free email list in the box below.  We also include major movers, key stock calls, news on Warren Buffett and other gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

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JON C. OGG

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) is a bit of a surprise to see as a top pick considering that this company’s stock is not just under $10.00 now… It is barely a $5.00 stock.  The drug-eluting stent share and a recent approval are driving the decision.  The consensus analyst price target from Thomson Reuters is roughly $7.00, implying about 35% upside from here. FULL BOSTON SCIENTIFIC REPORT

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) is not so interesting as a top pick because of any sort of controversy, but it is interesting as a top pick considering that it is up more than 50% in 2011.  At $440.73 and with a high of $449.06, this stock is trading right at the consensus analyst target price from Thomson Reuters of $440.10. FULL INTUITIVE REPORT

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE: STJ) may seem like a bottom-fishing pick as shares are down about 40% from the annual highs.  At $33.67, the Thomson Reuters consensus price target has an implied 32% of upside to the $44.38 price target.  Zacks called it better placed against other medical devices stocks in the cardiovascular sector, with positive earnings surprises and healthy revenue growth. FULL ST. JUDE REPORT

Others on the top picks list for 2012 by Zacks are Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), Stryker Corporation (NYSE: SYK), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: TMO), and ZOLL Medical Corporation (NASDAQ: ZOLL).

JON C. OGG

Closing bell. The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 207 points to 12,043.19 (1.75%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 58 points (2.2%) to 2,697.97, and the S&P 500 rose 1.87% or more than 23 points to 1,261.10.

Analyst upgrades and downgrades. There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) started at ‘overweight’ at Barclays. Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO), Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX), and Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) were cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) were started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse.

Market reacts to earnings. Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fair Isaac Corp. (NYSE: FICO) is up about 25%, at $33.95; Lamar Advertising Co. (NASDAQ: LAMR) is up nearly 25%, at $26.18; Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW) is up 40%, at $2.66; K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is down more than -33%, at $3.09; and Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) is down about -13%, at $48.73.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up 140%, at $39.74 after posting a new 52-week high of $40.15 earlier today. The company reported that an experimental prostate cancer drug reduced death risk by 37%.

Sonesta International Hotels Corp. (NASDAQ: SNSTA) is up nearly 41%, at $30.65 after posting a new 52-week high of $31.06. The company has agreed to be acquired for $31/share by an affiliate of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT).

SonoSite, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) is up about 29%, at 39.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $40 earlier today. Sonosite is reported to have hired Morgan Stanley to find a buyer for the company and talks are already in progress with potential buyers, including Samsung Electronics.

Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) is down more than -37%, at $6.53 after setting a new 52-week low of $6.52 earlier today. The company today reiterated its forecast for only modest sales of its Provenge anti-cancer drug.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) is down nearly -20%, at $59.51. The company reported slowing sales in Europe, a region where the company had pinned its hopes for growth.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down about -14%, at $1.75. The company is seeking additional financing and has been unable to get its largest customer and majority shareholder Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) to commit to the financing.

Stay tuned for Friday. The G-20 summit opened today and will continue meeting tomorrow and over the weekend. Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) releases its October report on US online job demand. We have noted the following event (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll data for October

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Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Career Education Corp. (NASDAQ: CECO) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Clorox Corp. (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
CNH Global N.V. (NYSE: CNH) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Hexcel Corporation (NYSE: HXL) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) cut to Underperform ar Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) downgraded at Raymond James and Morgan Keegan.
St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Sun Life Financial Inc. (NYSE: SLF) Cut to Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Tidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Wyndam Worldwide (NYSE: WYN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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Among NYSE stocks, the short interest in AMD (NYSE: AMD) fell 15% to 80.4 million shares. Shares sold short in embattled airline stock AMR (NYSE: AMR), the parent of American Airlines, dropped by 19% to 48.8 million. Rumors suggest the company may declare Chapter 11. Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) may also face bankruptcy. Shares short in the company fell 11% to 70.2 million.

Shares short in BP (NYSE: BP) were down 49% to 7 million. The short interest in struggling drug retailer Rite Aide (NYSE: RAD) dropped 11% to 61.1 million. Shares short in its competitor CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) were off 21% to 27.3 million.

In the medical sector, shares short in Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) were down 19% to 39 million. The short interest in Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) fell 10% to 79.3 million.

The same pattern of abandonment of stocks in weak companies held true for Nasdaq-traded shares. The short interest in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) dropped 23% to 60.6 million. The short interest in Level 3 (NASDAQ: LVLT) fell 8% to 168.6 million. Shares short in News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) dropped 9% to 51.8 million. The short interest in Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) dropped 6% to 80.7 million. Shares short in Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) fell 32% to 6.0 million.

Notable increases in short interest included troubled wireless broadband company Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR). Shares sold short in the company rose 15% to 47.8 million. The short interest in Southwest Air (NYSE: LUV) was higher by 15% to 25.2 million.

Short interest as of October 14. Data from NYSE and Nasdaq.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The lucky guy is Michael Mahoney, who is currently Worldwide Chairman of the Medical Device and Diagnostics group at Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Between Mahoney’s October start date and his November 2012 ascension to the CEO suite, Hank Kucheman who is president of Boston Scientific’s largest group will be the interim CEO. Current CEO Ray Elliott announced in May that he would retire, but he will remain available through the end of the year for consultation with Mahoney and Kucheman.

Mahoney’s hiring was apparently contested by J&J and that’s why his start date as CEO has been pushed out more than a year. According to the Boston Scientific press release, the “transition period is being implemented to accommodate Mahoney’s post-employment obligations to Johnson & Johnson, which both Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson have agreed is appropriate.” J&J probably thinks it’s more appropriate than does Boston Scientific.

Boston Scientific is betting that Mr. Mahoney is worth waiting another year for. J&J has essentially found a way to keep him hostage for a year, which is probably enough time for Boston Scientific to foul things up even more than they already are.

The company is the world leading maker of coronary stents, a business that J&J dropped because of problems with the devices. Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is the other big maker of stents.

Boston Scientific’s problems are well-known. The $28 billion, 2006 acquisition of Guidant Corp. ended a fierce struggle with J&J over control of Guidant. Boston Scientific is still trying to deal with that “win.” The company announced layoffs of an additional 1,200-1,400 workers earlier this year and is on our list of the 2011 Layoff Kings.

Boston Scientific’s board of directors has failed shareholders here. Mr. Mahoney may indeed walk on water, but having to wait for a year for him to prove it is too long for the company. Over the past two years, Boston Scientific’s shares have lost about -45% of their value. Retiring CEO Elliott has been at the helm for two years. And the board keeps him around to give advice to the new guys?

Going back to 2006, Boston Scientific’s stock is down more than -60%. And the board is satisfied to wait another year? Sometimes reality is far stranger than it needs to be.

Paul Ausick

Federal Reserve may try to help the economy with more bond purchases. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) board will meet to discuss the company’s strategic options. (Reuters)

The number of U.S. poor reached 42 million last year. (Reuters)

Shareholders file suit against News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) based on allegations that it knew many years ago about wiretaps set by its papers. (Reuters)

Diabetes cases reach 366 million worldwide. (Reuters)

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to try to increase its appeal to women shoppers. (Reuters)

U.S. examines whether eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) employees took data from Craigslist. (Reuters)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) repays money Warren Buffett loaned to it during the credit crisis. (Reuters)

U.S. household income falls to 1996 levels. (WSJ)

U.S. airlines to keep capacity low and fares high. (WSJ)

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) lowers annual financial targets. (WSJ)

Poor earnings drive down shares of Best Buy (NYSE: BBY). (WSJ)

Italy must pay higher rates to sell bonds. (WSJ)

IMF’s Lagarde suggests emerging nations that want to invest in the EU look at bonds in the riskiest nations. (WSJ)

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) recruits a Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) executive to be its new CEO. (WSJ)

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) plans to buy back $5 billion in shares. (WSJ)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) shows its new version of Windows, which is meant to more effectively compete with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). (WSJ)

Target’s (NYSE: TGT) website goes down due to huge demand for new fashions. (NYT)

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) warns on Q3 earnings. (NYT)

Obama to propose cuts in Medicare and Medicaid as part of new budget proposals. (FT)

Merkel makes more statements about Germany’s support of Greece. (FT)

Italy’s parliament to vote on austerity plans. (Bloomberg)

China’s prime minister says the world must depend on debt reduction, not the world’s second largest economy, to improve its financial future. (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg poll: 72% of respondents think the U.S. economy is on the wrong course. (Bloomberg)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) probably sold 460,000 PlayBooks last quarter, a figure dwarfed by Apple iPad sales. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

These become the top analyst calls of the week.  This last week there were many such calls with keen insight and some which stand out from the pack… For better or worse.

This last week’s top research calls were in shares of the following: Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL); Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC); Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX); Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG); Human Genome Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR); NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ); Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM); Pandora Media, Inc. (NYSE: P); Priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN); Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM); Seattle Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: SGEN); Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM); SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM); VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS); VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW); and World Fuel Services Corporation (NYSE: INT).

We have included the impact and pricing data on each, as well as added in some outside trading color if applicable.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) was in the news after the departure of Steve Jobs as CEO.  What is interesting is that almost every research analyst out there came out and defended Apple saying that this was mostly factored in and that the prospects for Apple remain solid.  Here were some of the calls that we saw:

• Maintained Overweight at JPMorgan;
• Maintained Outperform at Credit Suisse;
• Maintained Buy at BofA/ML;
• Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Adams;
• Maintained Buy at Gabelli;
• Maintained Buy at Deutsche Bank.