The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 22 points to 12,734.63 (-0.18%), the NASDAQ fell about 13 points (-0.46%) to 2,805.28, and the S&P 500 fell -0.57% or nearly 7 points to 1,318.45.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer; Vale S.A. (NYSE: VALE) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) started as ‘perform’ at Williams Capital; Corning Inc. (NYSE: GLW) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘underweight’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) is down -3.66% at $77.29; Arctic Cat Inc. (NASDAQ: ACAT) is up more than 19% at $28.40 after posting a new 52-week high of $29.20 earlier today; AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is down -2.65% at $29.41; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is down -0.92% at $32.40; Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is up 1.95% at $111.18; Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY) is down more than -11% at $17.03; Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) is up 0.95% at $82.51; McCormick & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MKC) is up 0.90% at $78.55; Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) is down more than -20% at $7.18; Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE: POT) is up 1.61% at $45.96; and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) is up 0.34% at $49.88.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

VIST Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: VIST) is up more than 62% at $11.20 after posting a new 52-week high of $11.50 earlier today. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Tompkins Financial Corp. (AMEX: TMP) in an all-stock deal at an 86% premium to last night’s closing price, or about $85 million.

RealNetworks Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) is up more than 35% at $9.98. The digital media company has sold a video codec and a number of patents to Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) for $120 million.

Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTA) is down nearly -21% at $15.13. The biotechnology company lost its bid for an injunction against certain competitors.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up about 22% at $116.01. The digital video streaming and rental company reported a better-than-expected number of new subscribers after markets closed last night.

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (NASDAQ: EFSC) is down more than -19% at $12.51. The bank holding company will restate earnings for 2010 and the first three quarters of 2011 and expects to dilute 2010 earnings by half as a result.

Stay tuned for Friday. New York Fed President William Dudley is giving a speech in the morning. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – US GDP report
• 9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index

Your email address

subscribe

terms and conditions

Paul Ausick

Many of Apple’s suppliers are well-known, but the list includes Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD), Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: CY), Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM), Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS), Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX), Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), Vishay Intertechnology Inc. (NYSE: VSH), TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. (NASDAQ: TQNT), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ONNN), and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM).

The report is based on 229 audits, of which 14 were specialized environmental audits and 27 process safety audits. Apple found 6 current cases of suppliers hiring underage workers and 13 historical cases of child labor violations. About these violations, the company said:

In each case, the facility had insufficient controls to verify age or detect false documentation. We found no instances of intentional hiring of underage labor. We required the suppliers to support the young workers’ return to school and to improve their management systems—such as labor recruitment practices and age verification procedures—to prevent recurrences.

Chinese environmental groups last year charged that 27 of Apple’s suppliers were dumping toxic gases and heavy metal sludges into the country’s land and air. The company’s audits revealed that 112 supplier facilities were not properly storing, moving, or handling hazardous chemicals correctly; 69 facilities were illegally dumping or failing to recycle hazardous waste; and 52 facilities failed to label hazardous materials. Apple also reported that 58 facilities failed to monitor and control air emissions.

Apple had come under increasing pressure to name its suppliers and to hold them to a higher standard following suicide attempts by 18 workers and 14 deaths at China’s Foxconn facility in 2010.

Paul Ausick

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) damaged by drop in PC sales worldwide.

The Flame Index started as a research tool in 2008 at the NY Innovation Design Lab (nyidlab). It was used as a general metric to evaluate companies and their risk in the media. Publicly traded Fortune 500 companies are used as a measure to calculate an overall market of negative news and the companies are ranked within that market

Data and ranking provided by the Flame Index.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Outperform and $500 target at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $460 at Argus; Reiterated Buy and $515 target at BofA/ML.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Gleacher.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Reiterated Buy with $24 target at Argus.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) Reiterated Neutral with $23 target at Gleacher.
The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) Reiterated Buy and raised target to $78 at BofA/ML.
Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks; Added to Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Raised to Outperform at Baird; Reiterated Neutral and cut target to $37 at BofA/ML.
US Cellular (NYSE: USM) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $128 at BofA/ML.
Youku.com Inc (NYSE: YOKU) Started as Neutral at Susquehanna.

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

Advance Auto Parts Inc. (NYSE: AAP) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) Raised to Market Perform at FBR Capital.
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE: AEO) Raised to Outperform at FBR Capital.
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CF) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) added to Focus List at Citigroup.
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) Reiterated Strong Buy as Aggressive Growth at Zacks.
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (NYSE: KCI) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. (NYSE: KKD) Maintained Strong Buy as Momentum & Value at Zacks.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Cut to Underperform at FBR Capital.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Reiterated Buy but raised target to $60 at Argus.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Buy at ThinkEquity.
Prudential Financial. Inc. (NYSE: PRU) Added to Focus List at Credit Suisse.
RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Semtech Corp. (NASDAQ: SMTC) Reiterated Buy but raised target to $33 at Gleacher & Co.
Sequans Communications SA (NYSE: SQNS) Started as Outperform at Baird; Started as Buy at Needham; Started as Buy at UBS.
Universal Tech Institute (NYSE: UTI) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Wendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc. (NYSE: WEN) Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Maintained Buy with $19 target at BofA/ML.

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

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Raised target to $438 at Kaufman Bros; Reiterated Buy with $375 target at Needham; Oppenheimer raised target to $425.
The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) Cut estimates for 2011 and 2012 at BofA/ML.
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Kept at Hold but lowered target to $52 at Kaufman Bros.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) Raised to Buy at UBS.
DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) Started as Neutral at Stern Agee.
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Added to Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVNT) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
United States Steel Corp oration (NYSE: X) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.

You can 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

Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.
Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) target raised to $400 at ISI and raised target to $385 at Oppenheimer.
The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
Mercadolibre, Inc. (NASDAQ: MELI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Cut to Hold at Jefferies
Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) and Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) both downgraded to Neutral from Buy on valuation at Gleacher & Co.

Last week’s top five analyst calls can be seen here, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), ValueVision Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VVTV), and in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

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

JON C. OGG

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Raised to Outperform at Leerink Swann.
AON Corporation (NYSE: AON) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.
CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Raised to Buy with $24 target at BofA/ML.
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: CY) Started as Buy at ThinkEquity.
General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) Reiterated Buy and $42 target at Argus.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) Started as Buy at Needham.
Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer; Raised estimates and target to $38 at Credit Suisse.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Raised estimates and target to $85 at Credit Suisse; target raised to $60 at Canaccord.
Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Raised to Buy at Soleil.
VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Visa, Inc. (NYSE: V) Removed from Conviction Buy List but maintained as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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

JON C. OGG

We have offered color on each with applicable data on how each compares to size and volume, along with other statistical reference.

PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE: PPG) approved an additional 10 million shares of outstanding common stock, effective immediately and without an expiration.  Back in December 2009,  PPG authorized 5 million shares in a buyback and approximately 3.1 million shares of that plan are still available for repurchase.  Average volume here is 1.2 million shares and the market cap is $12.65 billion.  This is large in dollar terms, but not a massive game-changer on its float if it buys shares back at roughly the same rate it has.  At $76.60, the 52-week range is $55.89 to $77.95.

Natural gas distributor ONEOK Inc. (NYSE: OKE) has approved $750 million over a three year period.  The market cap here is $5.33 billion and with shares at $50.05 the 52-week trading range is $29.56 to $50.85.  This buyback is large in size and large in scope as the current share price would retire 14% of the stock based on today’s prices and the buyback represents over 22 days worth of trading volume.

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: CY) may have found an alternative to M&A.  After announcing a buyback plan of up to $600 million, the market cap today is only about $2.15 billion.  At $13.35, the 52-week trading range is $8.05 to $13.89.  This won’t happen overnight as the cash and equivalents on the books come in at about $279 million.

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) rose after earnings, but the buyback and leveraging of the books may have contributed more than anything here along with $300 million spent buying back stock in the last quarter.  eBay said that the company authorized up to $2 billion for additional share buybacks.  It also authorized a commercial paper program of up to $1 billion and has approved the sale of up to $1.5 billion in term-debt financing under an existing shelf registration.

Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NYSE: WTW) approved a buyback plan of up to $250 million, which is a combination and add-on to a prior share buyback plan.  This represents 10% of the implied shares that could be bought back and at current prices it represents almost 29-days worth of volume.

AFLAC (NYSE: AFL) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) Raised to Buy at Calyon.
Cypress Semiconductor (NYSE: CY) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Marvell Technologies (NASDAQ: MRVL) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.
Prudential (NYSE: PRU) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Under Armour (NYSE: UA) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) Raised to Buy at BofA/Merrill.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list from 24/7 Wall St. to hear about ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, analyst upgrades and downgrades, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and IPOs, and more.

JON C. OGG