The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 11 points to 12,705.41 (-0.09%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.4%) to 2,859.68, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 1.5 points to 1,325.54.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 24% at $66.30; Education Management Corp. (NASDAQ: EDMC) is down -17% at $21.19; Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is down -0.6% at $24.62; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is up 2.2% at $60.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.93 earlier today; Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is up 3.2% at $3.27; Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) is down -3.9% at $5.85; Brinks Co. (NYSE: BCO) is down -17.5% at $24.43; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) is up 0.35% at $63.29; Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is down -1.2% at $42.48; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.3% at $38.51; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is down -0.3% at $15.71; and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is down -0.9% at $46.53.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up nearly 18% at $12.49 after posting a new post-IPO high of $12.91 earlier today. The social games company got a big boost from Facebook’s IPO filing. Our coverage is here.

MediciNova Inc. (NASDAQ: MNOV) is up nearly 31% at $2.47. The company received a favorable patent notice for a multiple sclerosis treatment device.

Response Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: RGDX) is up more than 27% at $1.50. The drug maker announced the private placement of about 5.3 million shares at $1.50/share, about 28% higher than last night’s closing price.

BioScrip Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) is up more than 15% at $6.73. The pharmacy services provider has sold a portion of its assets to Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) for $225 million.

Ur-Energy Inc. (AMEX: URG) is down more than -13% at $1.22. The uranium miner has issued 1.5 million shares of new stock to agents who will attempt to sell at CDN$1.00.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report
• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing (services) index

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Paul Ausick

AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Calpine Corporation (NYSE: CPN) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan.
CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU) Cut to Neutral at UBS.
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) Started as Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Nomura Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NMR) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Steel Dynamics, Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE: GWW) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

If Apple has any huge chances for ongoing rapid growth, the two keys are China and corporate sales. And, it is rushing into the corporate market, according to new data from Foresster. The evolution is as good for Apple as it is bad for traditional PC firms like Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) the only large provider of PC OSs.

Frank Gillett of Forrester writes

Have you noticed an increased presence of Apple products in public spaces and workspaces in the last few years? Turns out that 21% of information workers are using one or more Apple products for work. Almost half of enterprises (1000 employees or more) are issuing Macs to at least some employees – and they plan a 52% increase in the number of Macs they issue in 2012.

Short sellers increased their positions in all four of America’s large banks. The short interest in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) rose 18.5% to 186.1 million. The price of its stock, and most other bank stocks, have risen as it appears that the worst of their balance sheet problems have faded some. Shares sold short in Citigroup (NYSE: C) rose 19.1% to 50.3 million. The short interest in Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was up by 11.4% to 47.1 million. Shares sold short in JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) were up by 21.5% to 40.6 million.

Shares sold short in the two big car companies also rose. The short interest in Ford (NYSE: F) was up by 14.7% to 147.1 million. Shares sold short in General Motors (NYSE: GM) were up 13.7% to 62.3 million.

The short interest in almost all major tech stocks was up as well. Shares short in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which posted relatively good earnings, were up 49.8% to 101.5 million. Shares sold short in Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), which also posted strong numbers for the fourth quarter, rose 12.2% to 131.8 million. The short interest in Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was up by 6.1% to 69.9 million. Shares sold short in Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) were up by 40.8% to 27.4 million.

Douglas A. McIntyre

The case for the extraordinary value of Apple’s share is straightforward. It had revenue of $46.3 billion in the last quarter, up from $26.7 billion in the same period a year ago. Net income was $13.1 billion, an increase from $6 billion. The strength of those numbers is compounded by their rapid growth rates. Apple probably has passed Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) as the largest tech firm in the world by sales.

There have been other, and probably more remarkable, technologies than Apple’s hardware and software, which make the company’s results less impressive.

The sales of Windows-based PCs, a product which is now viewed as nearly ancient, are still about 400 million a year. It is hard to calculate how many of these have been sold since they were first introduced in 1980. It is probably 6 billion or more. In addition to what companies like Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) and HP have made on that business, the Windows revenue of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has to be added. The figure is certainly close to $1 trillion.

The video game console and software-based games also would have to be contenders to the sales of Apple’s products. Sales of the Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation are above $200 million and growing. Add to that the sales of the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii. The total of all of these has to be $600 million or more.

Apple’s numbers may be stunning, but they are not as stunning on a second look when compared to other technology products, the success of which are almost forgotten.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Thomson Reuters has estimates of $10.08 EPS on $38.85 billion in revenues (56% earnings growth and 45% sales growth).  Apple often offers guidance and the coming quarter is expected to be $8.03 EPS on $32.04 billion in sales (25% earnings growth and almost 30% sales growth).  Keep in mind that Apple is often conservative on its guidance.

Stern Agee has raised estimates ahead of the report but it should b noted that as recently as Monday the WhisperNumber.com report showed that Apple’s earnings estimates had been showing a whisper trend down to $9.99 EPS from $10.01 EPS earlier.  The whisper numbers are less official but are trader-biased.

A few things to consider.  Apple is on the way to having $100 billion in cash on hand.  Last quarter’s earnings report was the first substantial miss in about five years.  This is the first full quarter without Steve Jobs.  Apple is a company which some investors would like to see either a dividend or some use of this cash arsenal now that Steve Jobs is not in charge.  This is also the first report that includes the full sell-thru of the iPhone 4S.

Shares are still around $424.00 per share and the 52-week range is $310.50 to $431.37 with a consensus price target from Thomson Reuters of $514.98.  If Apple only meets its $35.39 consensus earnings estimate for Fiscal 2012 (September-end) then this stock trades just under 12-times expected earnings.

If you use the monthly options rather than the weekly options, options traders appear to be braced for a move of up to about $16 in either direction.

As far as Apple’s chart, there is a lot going on here as you will see with the stockcharts.com chart below.  Apple recently hit all-time highs just last week and that implies a large breakout pattern.  The problem is that the high was hit and then it has stalled.  One could even argue that the chart is awaiting today’s news because shares are settling in right now just above what was resistance in September around $420 and then a firmer resistance around $425 in October.  The stock has also rallied from a low of about $365 around the end of November for a 16% gain since that time.

Some other issues to consider from fresh and recent articles:

• Motorola patent case narrowed
• Apple was a top brand of 2011
• Apple released its full supplier list
• Apple shares made it yet again on the Top Picks List for 2012 from analysts

JON C. OGG

Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will offer a tablet PC by the end of the year (Reuters)

Alibaba will reduce the size of a loan its was to use to buy back the 40% of its shares held by Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) (Reuters)

A deal between NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse will be killed by EC regulators (WSJ)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The market for tablets is already mature enough to support substantial sales. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung have proven that. That competition between the two is heated enough for each to spend time in court attempting to block sales of the other country by country.

If any other company is late to the tablet PC market it is Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), which launched its Kindle Fire late last year. Amazon has the advantage of its large content libraries to help buttress sales. Dell will have no such advantage.

Dell also will face other tablet launches in 2012. That will include one by Lenovo. Acer has just entered the market. Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ) first foray was a failure, but that does not mean the firm will not try again.

Companies like Dell get caught flat-footed when a market they should do well in grows rapidly. The excuse is usually the same. It is worth a wait to see how the market will flesh out. It is best to hold off to see which features and operating systems have the most momentum. By the time all of those things are known, it is usually too late. Being first to market a risk, but it is a bigger risk to be last. The tablet market has already shown as much.

Douglas A. McIntyre

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and Deutsche Boerse will try to save their merger with a case for EC regulators. (Reuters)

Fannie Mae’s CEO to depart. (Reuters)

New York State is examining the use of force-place insurance by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and other large financial firms. (Reuters)

Motorola (NYSE: MMI) and Lenovo will launch smartphones powered by Intel (NYSE: INTC). (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) will have substantial exhibits at the Consumer Electronics Show. (Reuters)

Kodak (NYSE: EK) sues Apple and HTC over patent infringements. (Reuters)

Some of Spain’s banks continue to make home loans despite an oversupply. (WSJ)

The Fed gives the U.S. Treasury $76.9 billion in profits. (WSJ)

Orange juice futures hit a record high. (WSJ)

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) reaches a settlement with miner families arising from an explosion in a Massey mine in 2010. (WSJ)

Egypt will ask the International Monetary Fund for money. (WSJ)

Fitch says that Italy is the largest risk to the euro. (WSJ)

The Hostess relationship with unions may determine whether it can stay out of bankruptcy. (WSJ)

The New Republic is for sale. (WSJ)

Tiffany’s (NYSE: TIF) sales stumble. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) launches a new product to tie search more closely to its social network. (WSJ)

The head of WebMD (NASDAQ: WBMD) departs. (WSJ)

Office owners hurt by expiring five-year leases. (WSJ)

Bank of NY Mellon (NYSE: BK) is close to settling on overcharging for currency trade cases. (WSJ)

Copper rises on demand from China. (WSJ)

Some Chinese exporters have such a large share of market that they cannot expand. (WSJ)

Investors add to positions in Greek bonds on the assumption of a bailout in March. (NYT)

Dividend increases are a sign of better corporate recoveries. (NYT)

India will again offer foreign retailers more access to its markets after reneging on an earlier arrangement. (NYT)

The head of Citigroup (NYSE: C) says banks should disclose more of the risk assessments of their assets. (FT)

Carlyle Group will list on the Nasdaq. (FT)

The battle between Intel and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) over smartphone chips intensifies. (FT)

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) sues more Chinese companies over piracy. (FT)

Banks in the eurozone continue to cut lending despite European Central Bank attempts to change the practice. (Bloomberg)

State-funded pensions in Europe are $39 trillion short on money to fund obligations. (Bloomberg)

Germany’s economy contracts in Q4. (Bloomberg)

Microsoft says interruptions of parts supplies from Thailand will slow PC sales. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

If Brocade is in play, investors may want to consider that CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) might be another candidate.  As far as who the buyers would be or could be, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) were two such names speculated in the past.  Perhaps International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) could be another.

The aim and value is that Brocade is often “The Poor Man’s Version” of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).  With Cisco now going after the data center revenue segment, many of these and other technology outfits could be buyers.

For now, just count this as a rumor.  Brocade shares hit the 10% limit halt for a circuit breaker and shares are currently up 8.7% at $5.89. CommVault shares are up 1.2% at $45.97 on the day.

JON C. OGG