The U.S. dollar index is trading up 00.22% today, now at 82.736. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.8% at 606.01. WTI crude oil closed up 0.3% today, at $88.01 a barrel, but closed the week down 3.6%, a third consecutive weekly loss. Brent crude trades up 0.2% at $99.69 a barrel. Natural gas is up 0.2% today at about $4.40 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 0.2% today at $1,395.60 an ounce, but posted a loss of 7% for the week, the fourth week in a row that the yellow metal has dropped.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 10 points to 14,547.51 (0.07%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 40 points (1.25%) to 3,206.06, and the S&P 500 rose 0.88% or nearly 14 points to 1,555.25.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE: VAR) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) raised to ‘buy’ at Keefe Bruyette & Woods; Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) raised to ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital Markets; Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: TXN) cut to ‘market perform’ at Raymond James; and Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) cut to ‘neutral’ at R.W. Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is down 2.3% at $2.45; Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) is up 6.7% at $56.31; Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is up 10.9% at $364.03; E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up 3.1% at $9.84; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is up 4.5% at $800.35 (more coverage here); International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) is down 8% at $190.54 (more coverage here); Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is up 3.4% at $29.76 (more coverage here); General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is down 4% at $21.78 (more coverage here); Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) is up 3.8% at $74.17; McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) is down 2.1% at $99.73 (more coverage here and our ‘Company of the Week’ story here); Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) is up 2.4% at $61.08, and Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB) is down 2.1% at $69.51 (more coverage here).

Before markets open Monday morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Check Point Software Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CHKP), Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL), Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS), and NVR Corp. (NYSE: NVR).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) is up 58.9% at $84.00 after posting a new 52-week high of $85.90 earlier today. The biopharmaceuticals maker reported positive mid-stage data on a treatment for cystic fibrosis.

SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) is up 25% at $33.76. The theme park company held its IPO today, going out at $27 a share for 26 million shares. More coverage here.

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is down 3.7% at $13.44. The PC maker’s share price fell below the offer price from Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners after Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) announced that it would not make a bid for the company. More coverage here.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
• 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month bill auctions

Have a safe weekend!

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.14% today, now at 82.563. The GSCI commodity index is down 1.5% at 600.97. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% today, at $XX a barrel. Brent crude trades 1.77% at $100.39 a barrel. Natural gas is up 4.8% today at about $4.40 per million BTUs, after the weekly storage report showed a smaller-than-expected build in inventories (more coverage here). Gold settled up 0.7% today at $1,392.50 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 79 points to 14,539.14 (-0.54%), the NASDAQ fell more than 38 points (-1.20%) to 3,166.36, and the S&P 500 fell -0.67% or more than 10 points to 1,541.63.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) started as ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) started as ‘overweight’ at HSBC; HollyFrontier Corp. (NYSE: HFC) raised to ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) started as ‘outperform’ with a price target of $50 at BMO Capital Markets; and FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) cut to ‘underperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is up 1.7% at $65.20 (more coverage here); SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) is down 6.7% at $52.00 (more coverage here); eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is down 5.6% at $52.98 (more coverage here); Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) is up 0.4% at $37.95 (more coverage here); AutoNation Inc. (NYSE: AN) is up 1.7% at $43.22 (more coverage here); Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is up 0.3% at $28.09; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is down 4.7% at $20.47 (more coverage here); Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) is down 0.4% at $XX; Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) is up 8.2% at $20.58 (more coal coverage here); PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is up 2.8% at $81.08 after posting a new 52-week high of $83.44 earlier today (more coverage here); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is down 2.5% at $91.65 (more coverage here); and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) is up 3% at $51.01 after posting a new 52-week high of $51.67 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG), E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL), and Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 12.6% at $3.13. The mobile phone maker posted weak first quarter results. There’s no mercy in the markets. More coverage here.

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) is up 6.2% at $2.39. The drug store chain accepted the resignation of board member Jean Coutu, who has been reducing his group’s stake in the company. More coverage here.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 2.7% at $392.06. The tech giant’s shares will close below $400 for the first time in more than a year.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Governor Jeremy Stein is giving a speech. There are no other events on tomorrow’s schedule.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) raised to Buy at Citigroup and maintained Buy but target raised $10 to $60 at Argus.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated Outperform with $600 target at Credit Suisse due to iPhone refresh and lower-end iPhone.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reinstated as Outperform with $30 price target at Credit Suisse.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley (full summary).

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) reiterated Outperform with $68 target at Oppenheimer.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated Buy with $98 price target at Argus.

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) reiterated as Hold but with negative comments and more questions than answers from Argus.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) raised to Buy at Citigroup and raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE: WAC) raised to Buy with $45 target after extreme weakness at Stern Agee and maintained Outperform but target cut to $50 from $58 at Credit Suisse.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) started as Market Perform at Raymond James.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Deutsche Bank has a list of key global growth and income stocks to buy now based on strict S&P 500 stock screening tools.

J.P. Morgan gave a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

We are mostly evaluating E*Trade now for new investors who want to evaluate the online brokerage firm on a standalone basis. E*Trade will finally be free to govern itself much more independently if Ken Griffin is not the chief puppet-master. This is of course not an insult to Mr. Griffin, particularly considering that he did save E*Trade at the eleventh hour from the gallows.

You should now no longer expect that any bidder will magically appear with Citadel out of the way. That would be silly. Still, on a long-term basis, E*Trade will now more or less be free to make its own decisions, so long as it does not violate covenants or other existing financial restriction. The company has peeled off more of its old loan portfolio, but this is still the main drag for would-be buyers. Remember the “Take your mortgage with you” gimmick? That and other crazy loans hurt the company, and it is still perceived by some investors as a probable black hole on the balance sheet.

We saw reports that its loan portfolio is down another $3 billion year to date and is said to be down close to 70% from its peak and just over $10 billion. The delinquencies are still lower as well. What is hard to do here is to trust the numbers because the pain was so sharp. It almost imploded E*Trade, and Ken Griffin kept that from happening.

Citadel’s stake is 27,394,448 shares. We will not say that Citadel won’t maintain any influence due to trading relationships. Still, E*Trade’s relatively new management team will be freed up here.

Is it possible that The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE: SCHW) or T.D. Ameritrade (NYSE: AMTD) might take an interest again? Sure, but we would look for E*Trade to get further past the Citadel voting ties, and we would look for E*TRADE to get its loans in better and better shape.

E*Trade has about 2.9 million brokerage accounts now. There is value there, with a $3.2 billion market cap. E*Trade shares are down 5.8% at $11.13 on the news, against a 52-week range of $7.08 to $11.82. The company’s strategic review reportedly was not handled well, and the previous “go shop” effort was not really an active one. That being said, maybe toward the end of 2013 or next year things will be clean enough that a buyer might have an interest. As a reminder, it does not just have to be another online broker that is interested. Companies like Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) and many other middle-market banks, brokers and trading firms might be interested, after the books are given the “all clear” sign.

The question to ask after it is entirely clean is what price E*Trade will be worth all on its own. Interest rates might be higher by then, and these firms can start making money off client deposits too. E*Trade’s value might still be much higher down the road than today’s value.

Citadel will sell the shares it still has in E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC). (WSJ)

Competition hurts China Mobile Ltd.’s (NYSE: CHL) earnings. (WSJ)

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) cuts the price of its Kindle Fire HD tablet. (WSJ)

As U.S. retail sales rose last month, consumers saved less. (WSJ)

The head of the Google Android business will move to another job and the head of Chrome operations will take over. (WSJ)

Renault will produce more cars in France, and in exchange, unions will accept pay freezes. (WSJ)

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) agree to new employee clawback provisions after pressure from New York State. (WSJ)

Early tests of the batteries on the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner are not set to predict future problems. (NYT)

A Solar Energy Industries Association study shows rapid growth of solar adoption in the United States. (NYT)

President Obama says he will increase pressure about cyberattacks that originate in China. (FT)

Germany says it will reject stimulus in favor of budget cuts. (FT)

Finance ministers at a European Union summit likely will ask to lessen budget demands on many weak nations. (Bloomberg)

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley and reiterated Hold at Argus.

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) raised to Neutral from Underperform at Stern Agee.

ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) had seen a major downgrade wave but now shares have been raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) raised to Buy with $167 price target at Citigroup and reiterated Outperform and raised target to $185 from $175 at Credit Suisse.

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) reiterated Buy and raised target price to $22 from $18 at Argus.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) named Bear of the Day on concerns about what is in its portfolio at Zacks.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) raised to Outperform and raised target price to $47 from $44 at Credit Suisse.

International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT) raised to Buy with $20 target at Argus.

Nuance Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) cut to Hold at Needham.

Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: KORS) named Bull of the Day as the high-end and “accessible” luxury demand fashion this designer’s growth around the world at Zacks.

Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) cut to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald and cut to Market Perform at FBR Capital Markets.

Vodafone Group PLC (NASDAQ: VOD) raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) reiterated Buy and raised target by $5 to $65 at Argus.

24/7 Wall St. has reviewed the largest golden parachute packages going back to the year 2000. To keep this uniform, we only used examples in which these CEOs with golden parachutes were not founders of their companies. Aubrey McClendon was co-founder of Chesapeake, and that at least makes up for some of the headline folly that might be there. If a founder goes out and builds up a company from scratch into a multibillion business, then creating major wealth is expected. But what about when non-founders acting as mere guardians get tens of millions or hundreds of millions when they decide to call it quits?

Investors and the public often have very different opinions over what one man (or woman) is worth. A machinist in a factory may view the creation of wealth by rising to be the guardian of a company much differently than a hedge fund manager or an investor who became wealthy by investing in that company during his or her tenure. Also, many CEOs who get these tens and hundreds of millions as golden parachutes are often viewed very favorably by employees and management of their companies.

There are two sides to the wealth effect story. Much criticism still continues over bonuses and high compensation on Wall St. High-growth sectors like technology, Internet and biotech have created armies of what are called “stock-option millionaires.” How many millionaires were instantly created the day that Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) came public? The social media giant had a very hyped-up and high-profile IPO, and employees were allowed to sell stock right at the IPO to unsuspecting investors who got burned. In short, this wealth effect swings both ways.

Is it fair to bash every CEO who walks away with a huge golden parachute upon retirement or resignation? No. Some of these CEOs were true visionaries who made significant change and brought about great gains for shareholders. Some other golden parachute packages will look absolutely ludicrous on the surface. Here are 10 of the largest CEO golden parachute packages going back to the year 2000. Due to large discrepancies over stock options and share price issues around a CEOs exit, some large golden parachutes were not included. Even in early 2012, a report from GMI Ratings showed that more than 20 CEOs walked away with retirement packages of more than $100 million. The grand tally was about $4 billion from those exit packages alone.

Not all packages are made directly in cash payments. That means that the packages do not come directly out of the pockets of shareholders at once, and in many cases these will have accumulated for years ahead of the awards. These retirement packages go way beyond cash and may include stock grants, stock options, noncompete compensation, pensions, benefits, security, country club fees, jet use and apartment fees, and more. The size of each exit package goes back to the report from GMI in 2012, but we have added additional color that may shed more light on the sheer size of our selections of non-founder CEO retirement packages. We also have shown how these high-end golden parachutes compare to the market values of these companies as they stand today.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.44% today, now at 79.992. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.8% at 658.12, with commodities prices mostly higher today. WTI crude oil closed up 0.1% today, at $95.56 a barrel to close the week up 2.1%. Brent crude trades up 0.8% at $111.90 a barrel. Natural gas is up 2.2% today at about $3.57 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 0.2% today at $1,687.00 an ounce, and closed the week up 1.6%.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 53 points to 13,649.70 (0.39%), the NASDAQ fell more than 1 point (-0.04%) to 3,134.71, and the S&P 500 rose 0.34% or about 5 points to 1,485.98.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) raised to ‘buy’ at Jefferies; Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) cut to ‘neutral’ at Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) is down 1.9% at $59.59 (more coverage here); Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is down 6.8% at $21.13 (more coverage here); Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) is down 7.7% at $56.84; General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is up 3.9% at $22.13 (more coverage here); Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is down 3.2% at $30.94; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is up 8% at $22.40 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.46 earlier (more coverage here); Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL) is down 1.9% at $59.04 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.84 earlier today; Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) is up 4.1% at $76.39 (more coverage here); and SunTrust Banks inc. (NYSE: STI) is down 1.8% at $29.03.

U.S. markets are closed Monday in observance of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. Before markets open on Tuesday we are scheduled to get earnings report from Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF), and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NCLH) is up 31.5% today at $24.98. The cruise ship operator held its IPO today. Move coverage here.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is down 10.2% at $2.46. The semiconductor maker is down sharply in sympathy with Intel.

James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is up 10.1% at $3.16. The coal mining stocks are getting a bounce today from the strong GDP growth report out of China.

U.S. markets are closed Monday. Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Chicago Fed national activity index
• 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
• 10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auctions

Have a great weekend!

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) raised to Positive at Susquehanna and cut to Neutral at Janney.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) raised to Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

CNO Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: CNO) raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Read Also: 2013 Outlook for Stocks Expected to Rise 50% to 100%

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.

Masco Corp. (NYSE: MAS) raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) raised to Buy with $129 fair value target at Janney.

Qlik Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: QLIK) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Rockwood Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ROC) added to U.S. Focus List and raised price target to $65 by Credit Suisse.

Ryanair Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: RYAAY) cut to Underweight at HSBC.

Stone Energy Corp. (NYSE: SGY) cut to Underperform from Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) cut to Neutral at Baird.

Dividend Investors: Argus makes major changes to its model equity income portfolio (FULL SUMMARY).

The U.S. dollar index fell 0.2% today, now at 79.651. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.2% at 653.31, with commodities prices mostly lower today. WTI crude oil closed up 1.3% today, at $95.49 a barrel on the strong U.S. economic data, among other things (more coverage here). Brent crude trades up 1.1% at $110.89 a barrel. Natural gas is up 1.5% today at about $3.49 per million BTUs after a sharper than expected drop in U.S. inventories (more coverage here). Gold settled up 0.5% today at $1,690.80 an ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 85 points to 13,596.09 (0.63%), the NASDAQ rose more than 18 points (0.59%) to 3,136.00, and the S&P 500 rose 0.56% or more than 8 points to 1,480.93.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) cut to ‘sell’ at Brean; Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) cut to ‘sell’ at UBS and raised to ‘neutral’ at Citigroup; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) cut to ‘sector perform’ at RBC; and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE: MDT) raised to ‘outperform’ with a $50 price target at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in several price moves today, including these: eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is up 2.6% at $54.28 after posting a new 52-week high of $54.88 earlier today (more coverage here); Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (NYSE: KMP) is up 0.3% at $88.18 (more coverage here); Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is down 4.5% at $11.25 (more coverage here); BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is up 4.5% at $232.29 after posting a new 52-week high of $234.46 earlier today; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) is down 3.1% at $41.15 (more coverage here); PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is up 4.3% at $62.33; and UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is up 1.3% at $54.38 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Johnson Controls Inc. (NYSE: JCI), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), and SunTrust Banks inc. (NYSE: STI).

Some standouts from today include the following stocks:

CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) is up 8.5% today at $41.18 after posting a new 52-week high of $42.55 earlier. The entertainment company will convert its outdoor advertising business to a REIT. Move coverage here.

K-Swiss Inc. (NASDAQ: KSWS) is up 47.7% at $4.71 after posting a new 52-week high of $4.73 earlier today. The athletic shoe maker is being acquired by a Korean firm for $170 million ($4.75 a share).

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is down 7.5% at $5.85. The wireless communications company was cut to ‘sell’ at Jefferies.

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

• 9:55 a.m. – University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index