Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital.

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

JON C. OGG

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) wins a patent case over HTC in the smartphone wars. (Reuters)

Olympus will sell shares to Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Fuji Film to help its battered balance sheet. (Reuters)

A new set of loans to the IMF will be set to help struggling EU nations, but the UK did not contribute to the 150 billion euro fund. (Reuters)

In a sign of worsening trouble for the financial firm, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) shares trade below $5. (Reuters)

LightSquared, Falcone’s wireless company, is nearly out of money. (Reuters)

Sony sold 321,000 PlayStation Vitas in its first two days on sale. (Reuters)

A tax increase in the U.S. for 2012 is more likely as Congress wrangles over a budget. (WSJ)

An ITC ruling against HTC may hurt the efforts of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android. (WSJ)

Google and KKR (NYSE: KKR) will invest in a new solar venture. (WSJ)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) permission to drill in northern Alaska. (WSJ)

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) says its sales growth has improved. (WSJ)

FBI reports show crime dropped for the fourth straight year. (WSJ)

Spain will try to cut its deficit by more than $21 billion next year. (WSJ)

The number two executive at Cablevision (NYSE: CVC), Tom Rutledge, leaves for Charter (NASDAQ: CHTR). (WSJ)

Winn-Dixie is taken private by BI-LO  for $560 million. (WSJ)

The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) may sell 16 local newspapers. (WSJ)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) has set plans for online coupons. (WSJ)

China may allow its citizens to invest more overseas. (WSJ)

A new UK plan will make banks and investment houses legally different entities by 2019. (NYT)

Japan will buy a new F-35 fighter jet from Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). (FT)

The European Central Bank says contagion remains the greatest risk of the EU financial crisis. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) rose after reporting earnings of $0.67 EPS on revenues of $1.15 billion, while Thomson Reuters for earnings of 60 cents a share in the quarter on revenue of $1.09 billion. Adobe sees non-GAAP profits of ranging from 54 to 59 cents a share for its fiscal first quarter ending in February and $2.37 to $2.47 a share for the full year. Those views compare to the current average analyst estimates for earnings per share of 58 cents and $2.44 in the respective periods. Shares are up 4.7% at $27.70.

athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN) is trading up about 3% at $50.50 after both Leerink Swann and Oppenheimer raised their analyst ratings.

Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is indicated down 7% after COO Rutledge resigned from the company. Interestingly enough, Reuters said that this means Cablevision could end up being in play after the resignation.

Cameron International Corporation (NYSE: CAM) is trading up about 2.2% at $45.85 after BP agreed to indemnify Cameron against current and future claims in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

CryptoLogic Limited (NASDAQ: CRYP), which would win from any loosening online gambling regulations in America, surged in the after-hours on news that it has agreed to a buyout offer by the Amaya Gaming Group at $2.50 per share.  Shares were up 35% last night at $2.14 and the 52-week trading range was $0.84 to $2.19.

Ista Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISTA) is seeing a major pop with shares up more than 60% after the proposed $6.50 per share acquisition and buyout proposal from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. (NYSE: VRX).  Valeant is about 75-times the size of Ista, and the $6.22 share price of Ista compares to a $3.89 close on Thursday and compares to a 52-week range of $2.88 to $11.39.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) has not yet traded but is indicated higher by almost 1% after increasing its share buyback plan by $500 million last night.

Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) just cannot get its act together.  Despite what appeared to be an earnings beat, RIM guided lower, delayed a new launch due to chipset concerns, it keeps remaining on the same path, and it keeps losing market share despite having nearly 75 million Blackberry subscribers.  This company just needs new management and it really needs to figure out a way to show that its security is far superior than that of smartphones from Apple or Google. Shares are down 10% at $13.58 in the pre-market session.

RSC Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RRR) is going to be up about 50% on the United Rentals buyout at $18.00 per share.

Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) is trading lower by more than 4.3% at $50.50 after China is going to start requiring microblog users (which Sina hosts) to get users’ real names before allowing them to access posting privileges.

All of these are pre-market trading indications and some are likely to change substantially throughout the trading day.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 78points to 12,097.83 (0.65%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 29 points (1.10%) to 2,655.76, and the S&P 500 rose 1.03% or nearly 13 points to 1,257.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) cut to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’at Goldman Sachs. Other ratings action include Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (NYSE: CBI) removed from ‘Conviction Buy List’ at Goldman Sachs, but maintained at ‘buy’; Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) cut to from ‘outperform’ to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) raised to ‘outperform’ from ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo. We include Cablevision and Time Warner in our story today about tomorrow’s release of new software for the Xbox from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) is up more than 1.6% at $40.59, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $41.25; and Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: HITK) is down more than -9% at $38.75, after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $44.58. Earnings releases have slowed significantly this month, but there are some noteworthy reports coming after markets close today: Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust (NYSE: CHKR), Blyth, Inc. (NYSE: BTH), Pep Boys-Manny, Joe, and Jack (NYSE: PBY), and Uranium Energy Corp. (AMEX: UEC).

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

SuccessFactors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFSF) is up more than 51%, at $39.71. The cloud-based software maker is being acquired by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) for about $3.4 billion ($40/share). We have more coverage on this story here.

Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHX) is up more than 27%, at $2.11. The stem-cell research firm, which uses adult cells not embryonic cells, is apparently back in favor after falling to a 52-week low of $1.00 just over two weeks ago.

Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO) is up more than 21%, at $39.99, after posting a new 52-week high of $41.23. Another cloud-based solution supplier, Taleo is one of a number of cloud developer stocks jumping today on the halo effect from SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) is up more than 11%, at $4.66. The health care facilities operator fell more than -10% on Friday, when investors over-reacted to some downgrades in the entire sector; today’s gains are just a reaction to last week’s over-reaction.

Recovery Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: RECV) is up more than 22%, at $5.34. This small oil & gas E&P holds 137,000 net acres in the Denver-Julesberg basin in northwestern Colorado, and began trading on the Nasdaq just about one month ago.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. We have noted Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on the Dodd-Frank bill. Here are other noteworthy events scheduled for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

• 7:45 a.m. – International Council of Shopping Centers/Goldman Sachs weekly sales report
• 8:55 a.m. – International Council of Shopping Centers Redbook

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Paul Ausick

The biggest problem with the cable companies’ set top boxes is the nearly impenetrable user interface. The new Xbox Live software completely changes that, replacing the hierarchical menus with a graphical interface that can accept voice, touch, and motion commands as well as commands from a smartphone or other handheld device. The idea is to make the TV interface as intuitive and easy-to-use as a smartphone.

Apple’s latest Apple TV offering lets users stream content from the iPhone to a TV set through its AirPlay feature. Google is working with Samsung Electronics (OTC: SSNLF) to integrate Google TV directly into a TV set. Users will still need a cable TV subscription to gain access to cable programming through the Xbox or other TV device.

One interesting thing about all this is that Microsoft, Apple, and Google are very likely to take over the distribution of content from cable companies like Comcast and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ). Not having to design, build, and market a set top box with a modern interface is not a bad thing for the cable guys, who will still make money by requiring users to pay for the cable subscription. Customers, of course, will very likely have to pay a (modest) fee to Microsoft, Apple, or Google for the privilege of connecting to the TV through another device. Xbox Live, for example, requires a $5/month fee for its premium service which allows users to control the TV.

Another possibility is that the TV control software will be paid for by advertising. Xbox Live does include advertising, and although Google has not revealed what it plans to do with its software, the company could choose to offer the TV software on an ad-supported basis.

A second interesting thing about Microsoft’s announcement is that this is one area in which Microsoft could actually be leading both Apple and Google. The Xbox Live interface is consistent with the Windows Phone 8 interface and will be the same as the user interface on Windows 8 which is due in the second half of next year. Apple was first to integrate handheld smartphones and tablets with a TV, but the Microsoft offering is far more mature than Apple’s offering. Google got sidetracked on a failed try with Logitech International SA (NASDAQ: LOGI), but its TV deal with Samsung could change things around because Samsung also sells more Android-based phones than any other company. Integrating Android with a TV is natural extension, but Google and Samsung are getting a bit of a late start.

The Xbox Live announcement could usher in the next big thing or it could just be another swing and miss at the integration of computing devices and TV sets. This time does look like it will be different.

Paul Ausick

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Amgen Corporation (NASDAQ: AMGN) named as value stock of the day by Zacks.
Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) Cut to Sell from Neutral with new $32 target at Goldman Sachs. 
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) downgraded to Market Perform from outperform at Wells Fargo.
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company N.V. (NYSE: CBI) maintained as Buy but removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
China Life Insurance (NYSE: LFC) maintained Underperform with $35.00 price target and named as Bear of the Day by Zacks.
Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Raised to Equal-Weight at Evercore; Reiterated “Hold” on growth versus valuation and overhang concerns by Argus.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) Raised to Outperform with $5.50 target by Zacks and named as the key Bull of the Day.
Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) Raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) Started as Buy with $13 price target at UBS.

Here is a summary of the top analyst upgrades and downgrades from this weekend in a summary format for last week’s top (and a few lousy) Wall Street research calls.

JON C. OGG

If you just watched the Cablevision stock chart, it would seem as though cable was dying.  It is not.  Cablevision has been cleaning its books up and it has parted ways with Madison Square Garden and AMC Networks for the most part.  Again, those changes skew the stock charts.

We no longer have any serious hope of takeover ambitions resurfacing, but the Dolan family did try to buy it before at much higher prices and that deal was rejected.  The current market cap is only $4.3 billion and that does make it capable of a deal if another player wanted to make an offer.  A sum-of-the-parts analysis remains “oversold” and this value is solely on the merits of the company on a standalone basis. This one can still slide if the market softens, but this remains underpriced and we think higher prices will be reflected when things normalize.

Dividend and income investors now have an accidentally high-yield of almost 4%.  Even after the AMC spin-off, shares fell from $25 to under $15 and the selling was just too harsh for a company that trades at close to 11.5-times 2012 earnings estimates. 
Our take is that Cablevision should easily be a $20.00 stock after the dust settles, and that opinion has nothing to do with what Barron’s touted as being worth $30.00 per share in a buyout. 

The current $15.00 share price compares to a Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $22.14.  Our projection calls for close to 33% gains due to mispricing right now, and our projection is even less than the consensus target and far less than what Barron’s recently published.

This was one of seven oversold picks poised for a comeback which was offered recently to our readers who sign up for our free daily newsletter service.  Each morning’s free newsletter is sent by email and includes the top news headlines, shows the top 15 or so analyst upgrades and downgrades, covers activist investor and insider trading, and offer key trading alerts for investors. Sign up in the box below.

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JON C. OGG

Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS) fell -49.4%, from $12.97 to $6.56. The consensus price target is $7.00. Janus has struggled with high redemptions so far this year and the company’s assets under management could fall further by the end of the year.

Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) fell -50.9%, from $12.74 to $6.25. The consensus price target is $6.50. Hudson’s mortgage business has been beaten up by low mortgage interest rates, which currently show now signs of rising significantly.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) fell -51.4%, from $13.14 to $6.38. The consensus price target is $8.50. Genworth, an insurance company, has suffered from mortgage insurance woes, as the risk of default on the company’s insured loans rises.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) fell -53.3%, from $175.70 to $82.08. The consensus price target is $185.00. This stock was our worst performer in the month of October, but its decline started in July.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) fell -56.6%, from $58.42 to #25.36. The consensus price target is $35.00. Like other steelmakers, US steel has struggled with reduced construction and lower levels of automobile manufacturing. The outlook continues weak.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) fell -57.2%, from $57.62 to $24.69. The consensus price target is $29.00. AIG continues to feel the weight of its majority ownership by the federal government and its rising cost of capital.

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) fell -57.2%, from $33.84 to $14.47. The consensus price target is $22.00. This was another of our biggest October losers.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) fell -60%, from $60.03 to $24.04. The consensus price target is $35.50. Alpha’s $8.5 billion purchase of Massey Energy came at a high point in the coal business, which has since seen asset values fall. Alpha’s overhang on litigation from an explosion at a Massey mine that killed 29 miners.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) fell -60.9%, from $23.63 to $9.23. The consensus price target is $15.00. Monster has suffered from high US unemployment as employers have not been looking to hire new employees.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) fell -61.8%, from $130.14 to $49.77. The consensus price target is $100.00. First Solar was the second-worst performer in our list of the worst stocks in the month of October.

Paul Ausick

Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. fell -3.4%, from $38.78 to $37.45. The consensus price target for the stock is $42.00. The drinks maker posted solid earnings in the third quarter, and it pays a high 3.3% dividend yield. The downturn could just be a loss of confidence in sugary soft drinks.

Bemis Company Inc. (NYSE: BMS) fell -4.1%, from $29.31 to $28.11. The consensus price target for the stock is $34.00. The company makes flexible packaging for food and pharmaceuticals and last week announced that it would close “several” small plants around the world.

Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) fell -6.7%, from $19.60 to $18.28. The consensus price target is $29.00. The cosmetics maker got another downgrade this morning from Jefferies, and is also the subject of a federal investigation into bribery charges.

Cerner Corp. (NASDAQ: CERN) fell -7.4%, from $68.52 to $63.43. The consensus price target is $71.00. The company develops software for health care providers and, though it reported good earnings for the previous quarter, an announced acquisition is likely weighing on the share price.

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) fell -8%, from $15.73 to $14.47. The consensus price target is $22.00. The cable TV provider reported lower profits in the third quarter and a subsidiary just sold $1 billion in senior unsecured notes. Investors are also concerned at the company’s rising costs.

BMC Software Inc. (NASDAQ: BMC) fell -9.9%, from $38.56 to $34.76. The consensus price target is $49.50. The business software maker said last week that its bookings are weak through the end of the year, and the share price got crushed.

Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) fell -15%, from $37.00 to $31.45. The consensus price target is $36.50. The pharmaceutical and medicine company could feel the impact of a recent executive order signed by President Obama related to the distribution of generic drugs.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) fell -15.5%, from $3.04 to $2.57. The consensus price target is $3.70. The wireless carrier has essentially bet the company on the iPhone, and there is plenty of skepticism on Sprint’s ability to win the bet.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) fell -21.3%, from $63.21 to $49.77.  The consensus price target is $100.00. First Solar’s  share price topped $175 in the past 12 months, but falling module prices and lower government support is killing the whole solar sector. As the largest company by market cap in the sector, First Solar has taken a vicious beating.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) fell -27.5%, from $113.27 to $82.08. The consensus price target is $185.00. The stock’s 52-week high is over $300 and it is trading today at around $80. Shares were pummeled following an announced price increase, vehement opposition from subscribers, and the loss of 800,000 of those subscribers. Things could get worse here before they get better.

Paul Ausick

The report names discussions with Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA), as both companies are already investors in Clearwire.  Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) and Bright House Networks LLC are also noted as discussing funding possibilities to build out the high-speed wireless network.

The issue at hand is that Clearwire’s plan calls for about $600 million.  The company is at least somewhat under new management and many believe that it cannot live on its own.  The upgrade is for the long-term evolution technology (LTE) that aims to compete against AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ).

So we went back through the report and the report centers on issues such as “sources” and that “no deal is imminent” and that “no terms have been determined” and the like.  Those sources also noted that Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) and Cox have also held some discussions with Sprint on the matter.

Our question is a bit different.  Clearwire has many investors who might go along with a buyout, but Clearwire closed at $2.31 yesterday and the 52-week range is $1.32 to $8.82. This was more than $20 at the launch.  There are many investors who might fight an acquisition unless the investor group ponies up a significant multiple of premium rather than just premium.  The good news is that Clearwire shares are up over 10% this morning.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) has been such a dog and the stock is seeing no response at all this morning.  The problem with Sprint is that some investors question its real long-term viability even though it has more than $6.5 billion in liquidity.  The company keeps losing money and the path to profitability is one which remains elusive.  Dan Hesse has just not been able to effect the turnaround and the company could find itself under attack by shareholders.

Sprint’s biggest sin today is that it doesn’t carry the iPhone from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).  It has already pushed back against Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) on the tablets and carrying the 4G HTE phone and the Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android phones has so far not been able to save it.

Sprint has perhaps a multi-billion hidden asset in its spectrum.  The question about the value of Spectrum is if AT&T or Verizon would pony up the real value of cash.  Other buyers are there, but the wireless spectrum players are becoming a smaller and smaller lot because of M&A.

This is an interesting thought for both Sprint and Clearwire, but any investment that leads to a deal for Clearwire might leave many of Clearwire’s long-term shareholders in the wind at a significant loss.  Any deal might come at a high price for Sprint Nextel as well, and the company is in no position to add on massive dilution on top of the pain it has already dished out to shareholders.

JON C. OGG