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

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Paul Ausick

In the firm’s equity income allocations, the firm is selling 100% of its allocation in American Electric Power Co. (NYSE: AEP) at $41.14 and is adding in Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) at $28.22.

As far as growth and income, Argus is recommending to buy CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) at $23.32 and Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) at $79.00; and it is recommending that the model portfolio sell all of its positions in Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) at $97.17 and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) at $19.18.

Finally, in mid-cap growth the firm’s model portfolio is buying VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) at $37.12 and buying MDU Resources Group Inc. (NYSE: MDU) at $21.50.  It is selling 100% of its position in IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (NYSE: ICE) at $113.13.  Another selling stock, but only by 20% of its allocation is Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN).

Speaking of model portfolios, here were the 5 most undervalued DJIA stocks and the 5 least attractive DJIA stocks based upon consensus targets.  Here are the top 4 DJIA stock picks from Jim Cramer for 2012.

Also, we made a lot of changes this year to the 24/7 Wall St. 2012 Model Dividend Portfolio.

JON C. OGG

To start with the worst, Frontline is down more than -88% for the year, and its median target price has dropped to $6.00 from $7.25 in late October. At today’s share price of $2.98, the potential upside is slightly more than 100%. DryShips is not much better, with a lower target price of $5.00. At today’s price of $2.37, the implied gain is nearly 111%. Neither Excel nor Diana is as bad, but neither is likely to achieve anywhere near their implied gains of 63% and 46%, respectively. The shipping business has too many ships sailing around at unprofitable day rates. Until that situation resolves itself — not likely until 2013 — anything that resembles value in the shipping business is likely a mirage.

Railroads are faring better because rail traffic is up. The Association of American Railroads reported this morning that November carload traffic on US railroads grew 4% compared with November 2010. Intermodal traffic (containers) grew by 3.7% year-over-year. The largest increase came in motor vehicle carloads, which grew by 42% compared with last year and petroleum product carloads which grew by more than 28%.

Another large gain, more than 30%, came in carloads of crushed stone, sand, and gravel. Because beach sand is the most common material used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells, it’s probably a reasonable assumption to give the drilling industry credit for the increase.

Of the four railroads, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have both had target price boosts since late October. Union Pacific’s median target price is $114.00, up from $110.00. At a current price of $102.70, the potential upside in UP’s stock is 11%. The company’s dividend yield of 2.4% is also tied with Norfolk Southern’s for the best in the group.

Norfolk Southern’s median target price is $85.50, up from $82.00. At a current price of $74.90, the stock has a potential upside of 14.5%. With a slightly higher implied gain and an equal dividend yield, Norfolk Southern might be the best bet among the railroads.

In trucking, J.B. Hunt’s median target price fell from $49.00 to $48.00, but that was quite likely due to two brokers dropping coverage. At today’s price of $$45.40, the potential upside for the stock is just 5.7%. The company pays a dividend yield of 1.2%.

Landstar’s median target price is $52.00, up half a dollar from late October, and again likely due to a drop in the number of brokers covering the stock. At today’s price of $45.90, the potential upside for the stock is 13.3%. Landstar pays a dividend yield of 0.5%. Earlier this week, Landstar was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at SunTrust.

Of the two trucking companies, neither has a clear edge over the other. Hunt is more fully valued, but the company reported record results in the third quarter. If Hunt can do that again, then the current target price will be left way behind. Hunt’s strength in intermodal transportation could easily make that happen.

Of all ten stocks reviewed here, Norfolk Southern may be the safest bet, but J.B. Hunt may add more significant growth potential to its relatively limited upside potential.

Paul Ausick

Transportation stocks get a lot more attention as economic bellwethers than they do as market participants. Railroads, ships, and trucks are not particularly glamorous, and the industries are so entrenched that they most resemble utility stocks.

The companies included in today’s overview are CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC), Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP), Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (NYSE: CP), Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM), Frontline Ltd. (NYSE: FRO), JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT), and LandStar System Inc. (NASDAQ: LSTR).

Of the ten stocks we’re looking at today, only one trades more than 10 million shares a day and most of the others trade less than 3 million.  On the surface, it would seem that all these stocks would more or less trade in parallel. In practice, though, railroads and trucking companies are faring far better than sea-borne shippers. Railroads are hauling more coal, and trucking companies are having trouble meeting demand for their services. Shippers overbuilt their fleets, and the resulting collapse in day rates has been punishing for their top and bottom lines.

Cargo traffic is closely watched at this time of year as a predictor of holiday retail sales. Typically, ocean container shipping headed to the US tips the coming strength of retail sales. This year, container shipments have been somewhat lower, and this month’s totals will really tell the tale. Rail and truck traffic has been strong though, although the shortage of available trucks is diverting more container (intermodal) traffic to the railroads.

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and share prices were collected shortly before noon today.

CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) has a median target price of $27.00 from 24 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.66, for an implied gain of $4.34, or 19%. CSX’s forward P/E is 11.73 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.3%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $17.69-$27.06, and at today’s price that’s about 28% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 16% below the 52-week high. CSX met analysts’ expectations when it reported third quarter earnings about 10 days ago. The company noted a 15% jump in intermodal freight revenue, although volume was essentially unchanged from the same period a year ago. CSX said at the time that it does not expect significant growth in the US, but neither does it predict a double-dip recession.

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) has a median target price of $82.00 from 23 brokers. Shares are trading today at $74.74, for an implied gain of $7.26, or 10%. Norfolk Southern’s forward P/E is 12.91 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.5%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $57.57-$78.40, and at today’s price that’s about 30% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. Norfolk Southern hauled 23% more coal in the third quarter than it did a year ago, and its intermodal traffic volume increased by 13%. Like CSX, the company expects modest economic growth in the US going forward. The company’s implied stock price gain is about half that of CSX, but with both coal and intermodal traffic up and growing, Norfolk Southern is more likely to bust through its current target price than the other railroads we’ve looked at today.

Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) has a median target price of $110.00 from 25 brokers. Shares are trading today at $102.35, for an implied gain of $7.65, or 7.5%. Union Pacific’s forward P/E is 13.15 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $77.73-$107.89, and at today’s price that’s about 32% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. Union Pacific posted third quarter earnings a week ago, and its international intermodal shipments were down -12% year-over-year. That implies that retailers are buying less in anticipation of a slower holiday shopping season.

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Changyou.com Limited (NASDAQ: CYOU) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Core Laboratories N.V. (NYSE: CLB) Cut to Market Perform at FBR.
CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Maintained long-term outperform and near-term hold at Zacks; reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Herbalife (HLF: NYSE) Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray; Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Western Union (NYSE: WU) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Youku.com Inc. (NYSE: YOKU) Raised to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

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Just as we tried to look at the effects of a crude price of $120/barrel a couple of weeks ago, today is a good day to look at what effect a crude price of $80/barrel might have. First of all, it would be very good news for consumers who might anticipate gasoline prices around $3.25/gallon, at least briefly. And US drivers need some cheering up.

An $80/barrel price would definitely be bad for big oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), and ConocoPhillips Corp. (NYSE: COP). Refiners, however could do better, especially those able to get WTI crude. US refiners situated along the Gulf Coast are essentially tied to Brent prices, while refiners further from the coast can get their hands on the cheaper WTI. That allows these companies to take advantage of the crude differential to achieve more margin.

Of the refiners, Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is most closely tied to the Gulf Coast and higher priced crude. Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC), Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO), and Western Refining Inc. (NYSE: WNR) all have more plants outside the Gulf Coast region, and thus, a better chance to take advantage of wider refining margins.

Another industry that should do well with $80/barrel crude is the airlines business. United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), among others, have been slammed by high fuel costs. Provided anyone can still afford to fly, airline fuel costs will fall and fares may follow.

Other transportation industries that use large amounts of fuel are shipping and railroads. Shipping companies like DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), and Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. (NYSE: GNK) could catch a break from lower fuel costs. Unfortunately, over-capacity in dry bulk carriers could hold down any gain that might come from cheaper fuel.

Railroads might fare better. Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP), CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) have been moving a lot more goods these days, and lower diesel fuel costs will make these stocks among the best able to take advantage of cheaper fuel. Loads are up, rates are up, and fuel is getting cheaper. That’s a potent combination.

Other transportation winners could include FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS), both of which are shipping more these days and have taken a hit as fuel prices were rising.

Finally, agriculture-related firms like fertilizer companies and machinery makers could get a boost from lower fuel costs. Ag companies like Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT), Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS), CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF), and Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) all benefit from lower fuel costs in one way or another.

Of all the companies we’ve looked at here, only FedEx, UPS, and CF Industries is showing a gain today. CF Industries raised its annual dividend today from $0.40/share to $1.60/share, on top of a blowout quarterly earnings report. CF Industries’ shares are up more than 70% in the past 12 months, and the company expects the rest of 2011 to be just as strong as the first half.

Paul Ausick

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) completely blew its targets away last night, even better than the best bulls expected; After-hours we saw a 5.9% gain of $22+ at $398.10 and pre-market trading with just over an hour is still up about 5.35% at $397.02.

Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) is lower on fears that its longstanding hopes of being acquired by Dell could be fading.  Dell announced the acquisition of private Force 10 Networks to get into networking and that usurps the need for Brocade.  At least that is the theory.  Shares are down 3.5% at $6.07 in the pre-market.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is taking a breather after having risen and risen after reporting soft earnings. Shares were down 4.7% at $318.00 last night but an analyst upgrade this morning has shares down only about 3% at $323.50 this morning.

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) managed to beat earnings and its also gave guidance that meets or beats estimates.  Shares were up more than 7% at $33.08 in the after-hours and now we have shares up 10% at $34.00 in the pre-market.

Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTRN) lowered guidance and sees much wider losses than expected.  The trend is lower, with shares down about 19% at $12.90 this morning but volume is thin and this one trades about 155,000 shares a day is all.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) is up more than last night’s 1.6% gain as shares pre-market are up 2.6% at $26.15 after beating estimates and backing its prior earnings guidance.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is soaring after holder (and near-controller) Citadel is calling for a shareholder meeting to maximize shareholder value after dissatisfaction with results.  Shares are up 7.5% at $13.92 in pre-market trading after the filing.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) sounded good on the surface after it grew revenues 35%, grew billings 22% and grew earnings 88%… Shares were getting smacked down 21% at $21.25 in the after-hours session, but the stock is now down “only” 17% at $22.16 in pre-market trading as traders may be bottom fishing.

Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) filed to sell some 5 million shares of common stock in the REIT to cut debt under its revolving credit facility and for general business purposes.  Shares are down 3.4% at $25.47 in the pre-market session.

We have covered brief moves on the news and then added in the moves with color.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) just blew out earnings so much that it is not even worth noting how great the quarter was.  Massive, and with some $76 billion in cash.  Shares were up 0.8% at $376.85 and the stock is now at an all-time again in after-hours on a 5.9% gain of $22+ at $398.10.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) has risen and risen, but we are seeing give-backs with a bit of Montezuma’s Revenge tonight… Shares are down 4.7% at $318.00 in the after-hours on what appears to be soft earnings.

Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ: CTAS) beat earnings and gave guidance that meets or beats estimates.  Shares closed up 1.4% at $30.86 but the stock is up more than 7% at $33.08 in the after-hours.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) is rising on Apple and it was up 5.8% to $17.14 in normal trading and up another 5% at $18.03 in the after-hours.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) is up 1.6% at $25.90 in the after-hours after just beating estimates and backing prior guidance.

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) grew revenues 35%, grew billings 22% and grew earnings 88%, but shares are getting smacked.  After almost a 1% gain today shares are down 21% at $21.25 in the after-hours session.  Ouch.

Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE: GOV) did not report earnings but it said it was selling 5 million shares of common stock in the REIT after the close to reduce amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility and for general business purposes.  Shares are down over 3% at $25.56 in the after-hours session.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) is selling more DaVinci robotic systems.  It was up 3.5% at $374.90 before earnings.  Revenue was up 21% to $426 million and earnings were $2.91 EPS, sending shares up another 6% or $23+ to $397.80 in the after-hours.

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) should change its name on Wednesday to River-Dead… Shares closed up 6.7% at $41.40 but the after hours session has shares down a massive 25% at $30.90 after missing revenue estimates and after announcing two acquisitions.  The company saw softness in the EMEA region.  It has also traded more than 3 million shares since the closing bell.  This marks a severe blow when you consider how much it has gained.

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW) rose 5.2% to $106.02, a new year high today.  Shares are up more than 6.5% more at $112.90 after beating earnings and revenues and giving solid guidance.  Earnings almost tripled.  This news also has majority owner and former parent EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) up 2% at $27.95 after the close.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) closed up 1.2% at $14.59 but shares are soft after a revenue miss and on light guidance.  The good news is that Carol Bartz continues to trim costs.  The bad news is that costs are not translating to higher revenues.  The stock is down 1.65% at $14.35 after the close on more than 1.4 million shares since the 4PM bell.

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

JON C. OGG

We are reviewing events or ongoing news in shares of Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP), CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX), Five Star Quality Care Inc. (NYSE: FVE), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV), Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU), Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN), Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX), and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX).

Inside each preview we have shown what the news or upcoming event is, given price indications, and added color on each if applicable.  Also, we had ten top analyst calls of the week that are carry-over events from last week and we also have a full detailed earnings calendar with previews for the top ten companies reporting earnings this coming week in separate articles.

Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NYSE: ADP) announced on Friday evening that its board of directors had raised its share buyback plan with an additional 35 million shares of common stock on top of about 15 million shares remaining under the previous buyback plan.  If executed entirely, this would be about 10% of its entire stock’s float.

CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) is set to split 3-for-1 on Thursday after it declared that split in early May.  This is one of the many pending and current splits, a trend we are seeing more of than we have in years. Shares closed at $73.48 Friday and the 52-week range is $46.51 to $80.42.

Five Star Quality Care Inc. (NYSE: FVE) is expected to have a secondary offering of up to 10 million shares mid-week, with all of the shares expected to be sold by the company.  Shares were pounded on the announcement of the deal with a drop from $7.20 before to $6.27 on the day of the news and then to close out the week at $6.10.  Its market cap is only about $220 million share its 52-week trading range is $2.72 to $8.95.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) disclosed a subpoena from the Department of Justice on Friday after the close, which included requests for documentation on testing of nearly all its products.  The wording also noted “criminal” on top of civil in the subpoena.  If Gilead was Lucille Ball, it would have “splaining” to do.  Surprisingly, shares were only down a little more than 2% at $39.40 after the close on the news. Its 52-week range is $31.73 to $42.93.

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: LYV) was up 6% Friday on word that Liberty’s John Malone and Live Nation CEO Irving Azoff were in talks to possibly take Live Nation private.  At $10.92, its 52-week trading range is $8.17 to $12.48, but this stock stalled out at $16.00 in April-2010 and has been dead since.

No money was injured while filming

Stock splits usually bring back memories of the old tech bubble and dot-com bubble.  Fundamentally, nothing changes at the company other than that smaller investors get to invest in shares at a lower nominal share price.  Now that the markets have recovered so much, with the recent weeks as an exception, we are seeing many companies with higher share prices starting to announce stock splits. There may even be more current stock splits pending and freshly affected than we can remember seeing in years.

We have seen major stock split announcements from the likes of many companies.  Some of the larger splits are from the following: Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH); Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS); Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN); Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN); Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM); California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT); Oceaneering International, Inc. (NYSE: OII); CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX); Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE: SIX); II-VI Inc. (NASDAQ: IIVI); Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO); and Church & Dwight Co. Inc. (NYSE: CHD).  We even have a fresh reverse stock split from Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIXD).  You might think it learned from Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) but Pacific Ethanol did not have a choice if it wanted to keep its listing.

There is also no way to have an article about stock splits without pondering when or what it would take for great companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) to consider splitting their shares.

The road to stock splits has really become more common.  We have not seen this many pending splits in years.  These are not presented in any significant order.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) announced a two-for-one stock split in the form of a dividend payable on July 26, 2011 to holders of record at the close on July 6, 2011.

On Tuesday came word from Oneok Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) that it planned to conduct a two-for-one split of its common and class-B units.  This was its first split and you rarely see “units” split.  It is 43% owned by its general partner, Oneok Inc. (NYSE: OKE).

In May came a biotech stock split from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN).  It previously approved a 2-for-1 stock split and shares began trading on a split-adjusted basis on May 23.  Shares went from almost $100 to under $50…

Also in May came word from Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN) that its board of directors had approved a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a dividend for holders of record on June 15, 2011. The distribution date for the new shares is June 24, 2011.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) announced last month after its pact with H-P that its board of directors approved a two-for-one split of its stock in the form of a stock dividend for holders of record at the close of business on June 15.