The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 33 points to12,675.75 (-0.26%), the NASDAQ rose just 2 points (0.09%) to 2,786.64, and the S&P 500 fell -0.10% or just more than 1 point to 1,314.63.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) maintained as ‘outperform’ with a $100 target price at Credit Suisse; Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) maintained as ‘outperform’ but estimates lowered at Credit Suisse; Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) maintained as ‘buy’ but target price lowered to $54 at Argus; Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $51 at Argus; ;and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) started as ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley, as ‘outperform’ at Baird, and as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) is down nearly -3% at $87.29; Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) is down -0.57% at $47.46; Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up 2% at $1.79; EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is up 6.7% at $25.01; Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) is up 6.2% at $36.85; CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) is down -3.5% at $21.89; and Zions Bancorp. (NYSE: ZION) is down -7.6% at $17.15. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reports earnings after markets close today. See our coverage here.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

BioLineRx Ltd. (NASDAQ: BLRX) is up nearly 79% at $5.88 after posting a new 52-week high today of $6.87. The biopharmaceutical company has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with a French company to develop and market its hepatitis C drug.

Lee Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LEE) is up more than 26% at $1.39. The newspaper company has been granted permission to exit bankruptcy protection.

The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is up nearly 18% at $3.81. The department store operator has hired a new CEO who was previously the CEO at Lord & Taylor, before that chain was acquired by a Canadian company.

InterDigital Inc. (NASDAQ: IDCC) is down nearly -20% at $35.68. The wireless technology developed has shut down its “strategic review” without finding a buyer and will continue to seek additional patent sales and licensing agreements.

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) is up more than 17% at $10.79. The drug company, which is developing its own hepatitis C drug, is enjoying a halo effect from BioLineRx’s announcement.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. President Barack Obama delivers his state of the union address at 9:00 P.M ET tonight. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 10:00 a.m. – Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) house price index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 10:30 a.m. – 5-year Treasury note auction
• 2:15 p.m. – Fed chairman Ben Bernanke press conference

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Paul Ausick

Bank of Japan says it will hold to current policies as the economy in the Asian nation has weakened. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) considered buying Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM). (Reuters)

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) puts a large investment into its new Star Wars: The Old Republic. (Reuters)

The Federal Reserve offers new rules to cut risk-taking by U.S. banks. (Reuters)

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) misses estimates and shares fall 8%. (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) may buy Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) or Dish Network (NASDAQ: DISH) now that its T-Mobile bid is over. (Reuters)

HTC begins to test new models after a patent suit loss to Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). (Reuters)

Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) buys HSBC’s (NYSE: HBC) Japan private bank. (Reuters)

Chinese hackers hit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (WSJ)

Some $200 million may have been transferred from MF Global accounts to JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM). (WSJ)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) considered a bid for RIM. (WSJ)

Wendy’s (NYSE: WEN) may pass Burger King in sales. (WSJ)

Honda (NYSE: HMC) to shift more production to the North America. (WSJ)

A lack of action by Congress could raise payroll taxes to 6.2% and eliminate long-term unemployment payments. (WSJ)

Fund Starboard Value attacks Aol (NYSE: AOL) for its ongoing plans to invest in content. (WSJ)

LightSquared pushes the FCC to approve its service, which some think interferes with GPS devices. (WSJ)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission says firms must disclose data on trading over-the-counter securities. (WSJ)

Bill Gross’s Total Return Fund will have its first outflow since 1987. (WSJ)

Spain’s borrowing costs drop as it auctions new bonds. (WSJ)

EU banks probably will take advantage of new European Central Bank loans. (FT)

Troubled EU banks sell more mortgage securities. (FT)

French banks will try to raise $48 billion to satisfy debt needs. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

S&P’s threat of a downgrade of eurozone nations puts huge pressure on the region’s leaders. (Reuters)

An independent panel that reviewed the financial activity of Olympus suggests legal action be taken. (Reuters)

An MIT report says the U.S. power grid is vulnerable to cyber attacks. (Reuters)

BP (NYSE: BP) says high oil prices could hurt global growth. (Reuters)

Samsung announces a new flash memory chip operation in China to cost as much as $4 billion. (Reuters)

John Corzine ignored warnings about his firm’s risky trades, some of which were given to his board by management. (WSJ)

Merkel and Sarkozy will support changes in the euro area treaty that would hold nations more closely to their budgets. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) begins to search for a CEO as Alan Mulally plans to leave within two years. (WSJ)

AMR (NYSE: AMR) likely will make deep expense cuts so it can exit Chapter 11. (WSJ)

Kraft Foods (NYSE: KFT) announces who will manage the two divisions into which the company will be broken. (WSJ)

Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) will try to raise $300 million. (WSJ)

California Governor Jerry Brown will try to get a tax on high-income residents to cover the costs of education. (WSJ)

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) will pay fines to cover a mining disaster that happened before it owned the operator of the mine involved — Massey. (WSJ)

BP says Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) destroyed evidence about the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (WSJ)

A leading Greek politician says his country’s recession will last through 2013. (WSJ)

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) expects strong ad growth in the near term. (WSJ)

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) says that two agencies approved its drilling in the Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. (WSJ)

Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) changes some of its advisers as it tries to avoid Chapter 11. (WSJ)

Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund pushes to replace board members at some U.S. firms it owns. (WSJ)

Debate over whether Walmart (NYSE: WMT) will hurt local merchants in India has caused deep rifts in a government that may let large retailers own stores in the country. (NYT)

An antitrust hearing will check issues with the Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) and Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) merger. (NYT)

Edgar M. Bronfman Jr. departs as chairman of Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG). (NYT)

Dubai may refinance $10 billion in state debt. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Tom Glocer, the head of Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI), resigns and will be replaced by the COO. (Reuters)

The intellectual property battle between Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung continues in the California courts. (Reuters)

AMR (NYSE: AMR) workers will have to fight to maintain pensions. (Reuters)

The European Central Bank says it may take action on the EU crisis. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) may launch an online shopping business to compete with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). (WSJ)

The Senate blocks a bill to extent tax cuts into next year. (WSJ)

The ECB says it would increase its role in the debt crisis if nations in the region set and follow strict budgets. (WSJ)

Many credit rating agency employees have left their firms to work as analysts at banks — a sector they once rated. (WSJ)

Two Fed officials say they do not expect the central bank to launch a QE3 program. (WSJ)

Sales of SUVs rise sharply as gas prices drop. (WSJ)

Google’s Chrome becomes the second most used browser after Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Internet Explorer. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says it will buy back Chevy Volts. (WSJ)

Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) will pay Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) as much as $1.6 billion over four years for access to the Clearwire network. (WSJ)

Purchasing managers indexes in most nations outside the U.S. declined last month. (WSJ)

Lorillard (NYSE: LO) will continue the cigarette business and not diversify into other forms of tobacco products. (WSJ)

Retailers that tend to offer discounts did well in November sales numbers. (WSJ)

Some AMR creditors will be forced to take big write-downs. (WSJ)

AT&T (NYSE: T) criticizes the FCC for comments about its plan to buy T-Mobile. (WSJ)

BMW and Toyota (NYSE: TM) will work on battery technology together. (WSJ)

Nissan hopes to become the number two Japanese car company in the U.S. (WSJ)

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) reports weak numbers as it battles in the e-commerce business. (WSJ)

Talbots (NYSE: TLB) loses money in the most recent quarter. (WSJ)

Massachusetts sues large banks, including Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), over mortgage fraud. (WSJ)

Credit insurance rates show the costs to insure Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) debt is higher than for EU-based banks. (WSJ)

Germans fear that some solutions to the sovereign debt crisis will cause inflation in the nation. (NYT)

The John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers releases a study that shows only 7% of Americans who lost jobs in the credit crisis have come back into the labor force with comparable or better work. (NYT)

Ford (NYSE: F) tries to revive is flagging luxury Lincoln brand. (NYT)

Merkel says Germany wants new EU rules that will bind nations to honor budgets. (FT)

Banks find it increasingly difficult to make money. (FT)

Banks will compete with sovereigns for $2 trillion needed to refinance maturing debt next year. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 25 points to 12,020.48 (-0.21%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 6 points (0.22%) to 2,626.20, and the S&P 500 fell -0.19% or more than 2 points to 1,244.58.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup. Other ratings action included IAMGOLD Corp. (NYSE: IAG) started as ‘outperform’ with a $25 price target at Credit Suisse; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) raised from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) reiterated ‘buy’ with a new price target of $49 at Canaccord Genuity.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Gildan Activewear Inc. (NYSE: GIL) is down -30.8% at $16.53, after setting a new 52-week low of $16.52; Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is down -16.9% at $14.50; Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is down -4.8% at $47.34; Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISLE) is down -8.5% at $4.51; The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is up 1% at $23.41; and The Talbot’s Inc. (NYSE: TLB) is down -17.1% at $1.65, after posting a new 52-week low of $1.63. We have more details on Lululemon’s earnings and on the November sales reports from a number of retailers, including Talbot’s.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) is up 26.7% at $1.33. The ethanol maker has regained compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements and has increased ownership of its four ethanol production plants to 27%.

Magma Design Automation Inc. (NASDAQ: LAVA) is up more than 25% at $7.16. The design automation firm has agreed to be acquired by Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) for $7.35/share.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is up more than 17% at $2.09. The wireless broadband provider received a $1.6 billion investment from its majority owner Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) that will enable Clearwire to meet its $237 million debt payment. We have more details here.

Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE: STNG) are down more than -20% at $5.31. The Monaco-based petroleum shipping company priced a secondary offering this morning at $5.50/share.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: HOVNP) is down more than -14% at $1.31. The homebuilder has been batted around for nearly a year now, and even improving news on construction spending can’t stop the slide.

Stay tuned for Friday. We have noted speeches due from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren. Here’s another noteworthy event scheduled for tomorrow (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Paul Ausick

The pact is over the next four years for WiMAX services, and includes possible pre-payments for LTE services and potential equity investments.  Sprint has committed to providing additional equity funding to Clearwire in the event of an equity offering. If Clearwire raises new equity between $400 and $700 million, the Sprint “will participate in the offering on a pro rata basis up to $347 million, consistent with Sprint’s current voting interest of 49.6 percent on the same terms and conditions as other participating companies.”

Under the terms of the agreements, Sprint will pay Clearwire a total of $926 million.  The companies noted that about two-thirds of the payments will come in 2012 for unlimited 4G WiMAX retail services during 2012 and 2013.  Clearwire has simultaneously announced that it made interest payments of $237 million on its first-priority, second-priority and exchangeable notes which were due Dec. 1, 2011.  That should alleviate any of the bankruptcy fears, at least for the time being, as Sprint had previously communicated that it had considered not making a coming interest payment.

The move is aimed to further align Clearwire’s LTE network build as a complement to Sprint’s Network Vision strategy.  Sprint is claiming that it gets improved pricing while still allows it to continue providing WiMAX 4G services to customers.  Clearwire calls this an important step in funding its business.

The other note about the terms is that this establishes long-term usage-based pricing for WiMAX services in 2014 and beyond, giving Sprint access to Clearwire’s WiMAX network through at least 2015. Sprint plans to continue selling WiMAX devices with two-year contracts through at least 2012 and support those devices through the life of the contract.

Clearwire is halted and briefly traded up at $1.85 after closing at $1.78 and its 52-week range is $1.24 to $6.80.  Sprint Nextel is down 5% at $2.57 on the news and the 52-week trading range is $2.10 to $6.45.  No good deed goes unpunished.

JON C. OGG

The catch for Clearwire is whether or not it can survive missing a debt payment. The company is not likely to get more help from Sprint, which has problems of its own. Sprint would likely be happy to see Clearwire restructure, under bankruptcy protection or not. What Sprint can’t afford is for Clearwire’s network to shut down. As many as 8 million Sprint customers would lose service should that happen.

Clearwire needs help and it is turning up the heat on Sprint to provide that help. If Clearwire files for bankruptcy protection, the company’s spectrum licenses go to the bondholders, not to Sprint. That’s something Sprint will likely try to avoid at all reasonable cost. Trouble is, for Sprint, no new costs are reasonable.

Paul Ausick

Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) may skip a major bond payment to preseve cash (WSJ)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) may cut its bonus pool. (FT)

A senior Chinese official says he expects the global recession to last for some time. (Reuters)

Spain’s center-right People’s Party gains a majority in parliament as work on austerity grows. (Reuters)

Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) may begin M&A work once its IPO is done. (Reuters)

Some retailers, including Gap (NYSE: GPS), Zales (NYSE: ZLC) and Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), expect a hard holiday season. (WSJ)

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) pays $60 million to settle bribery claims brought by the government. (WSJ)

Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) may skip a large dept payment. (WSJ)

Twenty-two states set partial-work patterns that allow workers to operate part-time and receive reduced unemployment checks. (WSJ)

The used car business is growing quickly in China. (WSJ)

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) takes responsibility for a major spill off Brazil’s coast. (WSJ)

Many monthly magazines have ad page fall-offs in the fourth quarter. (WSJ)

Warren Buffett to invite analysts to the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B) annual meeting. (WSJ)

Large U.S. companies continue to sell bonds with little impact from troubled financial markets. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has trouble competing with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Office. (NYT)

Retailers try to help catalog sales with apps. (NYT)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) may cut its bonus pool. (FT)

Volkswagen to make electric cars in China. (Bloomberg)

Foreign banks’ reserves at the Fed have doubled since the end of last year, as the financial firms seek safety. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 25 points to 11,796.23 (0.22%), the NASDAQ fell more than 15 points (-0.60%) to 2,572.50, and the S&P 500 fell 0.04% or about 0.48 points to 1,215.65.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which was raised to ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee. Other action included The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) started as ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) cut to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) started as ‘hold’ at Jefferies; and Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Ann Inc. (NYSE: ANN) is down more than -6.6%, at $23.63; Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) is up more than 3%, at $7.88; H.J. Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) is down more than -3%, at $51.06; America’s Car Mart, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT) is up more than 10%, at $35.84; Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) is down more than -10.5%, at $112.67; and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONT) is down more than -8%, at $2.84, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.70 earlier today.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) is up about 2.9%, at $152.46. The company’s stock got pounded yesterday on news that the corn prices fell, but are recovering a bit today as investors remember that falling corn prices don’t necessarily mean that less corn will be planted and, thus, less fertilizer will be used.

The Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) is up more than 4.6%, at $53.12. Another fertilizer maker that got slammed yesterday and is recovering somewhat today.

Fisher Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: FSCI) is up about 12.7%, at $29.20. The broadcast TV station operator has sold its Fisher Plaza building in Seattle for $160 million in cash to Hines Global REIT, Inc.

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is down nearly -21%, at $1.47. The company is reported to be considering skipping a $237 million debt payment due in two weeks, raising fears that the wireless broadband provider could end up in bankruptcy.

Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is down about -9.7%, at $5.12, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.11 earlier in the day. Shares lost -17% earlier this week when the company lowered its guidance for 2012 and the stock was downgraded today from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at KeyBanc.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is up more than ;6.8%, at $14.70. The chip maker reported so-so earnings yesterday, but strong positive statements by analysts at FBR and Citi have turned broken eggs into an omelette.

Stay tuned for Monday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is speaking in Brazil. Here’s a list of other noteworthy events (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Chicago Federal Reserve Bank national activity index
• 10:00 a.m. – National Association of Retailers existing home sales report

Have a great weekend.

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Paul Ausick