Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the largest company by market cap in history. (Reuters)

Samsung will put $4 billion into a mobile chip plant in the United States. (Reuters)

The heads of Apple and Samsung discuss settlement of a patent suit without results. (Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) chief Warren Buffett terminates $8.25 billion in credit default swaps on municipal debt, a sign he may be concerned about municipal finances. (WSJ)

The first investor in Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), Peter Thiel, sells most of his holdings. He remains on the board of the social network. (WSJ)

Barnes & Noble Inc. (NYSE: BKS) earnings will allow investors to see how its Nook e-reader product has fared. (WSJ)

Sharp may sell two of its TV factories to cut debt. (WSJ)

Germany and the European Central Bank each reject rumors that the central bank will cap lending to the financially most troubled nations in the region. (WSJ)

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE: RDS-A) trade some assets in Australia. (WSJ)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) extends its Christmas layaway program by a month. (WSJ)

News Corp.’s (NASDAQ: NWS) Twentieth Century Fox will distribute DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.’s (NASDAQ: DWA) films. (WSJ)

Many Wall St. investors react badly to the appointment of a CEO from outside the industry at Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY). (NYT)

Glencore refuses to raise its offer for Xtrata. (FT)

The head of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raises objections to the idea that large banks should be broken up. (FT)

George Soros buys 8% of Manchester United Ltd. (NYSE: MANU) shares. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Can these directors really be worth so much to the companies they govern? 24/7 Wall St. examined the issue and found that many of these highly paid boards share several traits, offering a clue to what differentiates them from boards that are paid modestly.

The debate over board governance practices and the value of boards as an important part of large company management has been prominent in the news recently. A multibillion trade at JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) raised the question of whether board risk-management practices are effective at this and other banks.

The CEO of Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK), Aubrey McClendon, took out hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to buy into many of the company’s drilling operations. McClendon stood to make several times his annual compensation if these investments paid off. The board of Chesapeake did not question this conflict — a decision that contributed to the board’s restructuring by outside investors, including corporate raider Carl Icahn. At least five current Chesapeake directors lost their positions. Coincidentally, the Chesapeake board pay level is high enough to make this 24/7 Wall St. list.

Many of the boards on this list govern corporations in which the current CEO is also the founder, including Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), Chesapeake Energy and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM). At Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN), the CEO and directors are members of the founding family. So it could be that CEOs who control their companies’ management also control their boards and how these boards are treated.

In many other cases, the companies on this list have one board member who received an extremely large compensation in 2011. Often, these are former CEOs or other high-ranking executives who now serve as chairman, do part-time consulting work with their former employer or both.

However, just because a company pays its board a lot does not necessarily mean it is excelling financially. Of the top 12 companies, six have lower stock prices compared to two years ago (as of June 4). Seven of the companies had lower profits in 2011 compared to the year earlier.

In order to identify the highest-paid boards of directors, 24/7 Wall St. relied on a special screen generated by GMI Ratings, a corporate governance ratings firm. GMI ranked the top 50 companies with the highest average board of director compensation. The screen also included the number of directors, the company’s position in Fortune 500 and whether the company is on the Russell 1000 and/or S&P 500 stock indices.

24/7 Wall St. then took the compensation of the top 12 companies, verified the company data through their proxy statements, vetted directors who deviated from the trends and considered director backgrounds to gain insight into pay practices. We also noted each companies’ change in share price over the past two years, along with the net earnings in 2010 and 2011.

These are the 12 companies with the highest-paid board of directors.

12. Chesapeake Energy
> Average Compensation: $533,163
> 2-Year Stock Change: -26.05%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: -$28 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $472 million

It has been a rough go for Chesapeake Energy. The company lost $28 million in 2011. The company continues to flounder following the reports that in the past three years CEO Aubrey McClendon took out more than $1 billion in loans using his stake in the company’s wells as collateral. This raised a host of questions regarding conflict of interest and corporate governance. Nevertheless, all but two directors were paid more than $500,000 during 2011.

After intense pressure from shareholders, the board will soon be revamped. The Oklahoma City-based company announced Monday that four of the eight nonexecutive board members will resign later this month and be replaced by a new slate of directors selected by the company’s two largest shareholders, Southeastern Asset Management and Carl Icahn. McClendon also will step down from his role as chairman, and a new independent director will take his place.

11. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold
> Average Compensation: $541,836
> 2-Year Stock Change: -7.68%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $4.56 billion
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $4.34 billion

Although Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) had no one who deviated tenfold from the median pay, Vice Chairman B. M. Rankin, cofounder of the company, managed to rake in $1,274,903 in 2011. Unlike other directors, the 82-year old former executive was paid $816,000 in consulting fees, although the specifics of his consulting contract were not disclosed.

Even without Rankin’s hefty director pay, the members of the board are still handsomely paid, even though the company share price has sagged. The lowest-paid director, former KPMG CEO Jon Madonna, still received $418,403 in 2011.

10. Tyson Foods
> Average Compensation: $542,013
> 2-Year Stock Change: +5.75%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $750 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $780 million

At Tyson Foods, the average board member compensation was significantly skewed because of the payments to John and Don Tyson. John Tyson, the current chairman, was paid $3,295,168 in 2011. In return for working up to 20 hours a month, he is entitled to $500,000 in cash annually through a consulting contract until Oct. 2020. The other payments included health care and pension payments, use of the company aircraft and security services, among other expenses.

Meanwhile, John Tyson’s father, Don Tyson, received a pay package of $1,274,588 in 2011. This included cash compensation, use of the company-owned aircraft, life insurance premiums, tax reimbursement and tax and estate planning. Following Don Tyson’s death in January 2011, the cash compensation portion of $319,048 will be paid to his three surviving children.

9. Alpha Natural Resources
> Average Compensation: $549,445
> 2-Year Stock Change: -73.65%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: -$677.39 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $95.55 million

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) is the result of two mergers: one with Foundation Coal in 2009 and the other with Massey Energy in 2011. The mergers resulted in a host of executive and director changes.

The average director compensation is high because Michael Quillen, the former CEO of Alpha, was paid out $2,610,776 in 2011 as part of an outpayment agreement following the Foundation Coal merger. Once Quillen ended his service as Alpha’s CEO in July 2009, he became entitled to certain benefits for up to 24 months after termination. Since this deal ended last year, Alpha probably will not make next year’s list.

8. Ball
> Average Compensation: $563,954
> 2-Year Stock Change: +60.6%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $444 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $468 million

The former CEO of Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL), R. David Hoover, was paid both for both his services to the day-to-day operations and to the board. Hoover, who retired as CEO in Jan. 2011, continued to serve as chairman. He was paid $3,532,234 in 2011. The company’s proxy statement also indicated that he received payment for Jan. 2011, when he was still CEO. Other company directors earned between $200,000 and $300,000 in 2011.

7. Occidental Petroleum
> Average Compensation:$645,242
> 2-Year Stock Change: -2.85%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $6.64 billion
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $4.59 billion

For years, former Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) CEO Ray Irani was one of the highest-paid CEOs in the United States, garnering approximately $857 million between 2000 and 2010, according to a 2010 analysis by the Wall Street Journal. Irani may have been pushed out as CEO and to the chairman post, but his pay package remained large. The highest-paid director at Occidental was Aziz Syriani, who made $1,052,265 in 2011. He has served on the board longer than Irani, joining in 1983.

The average could have been significantly higher, but John Chalsty (joined in 1996) and Irvin Maloney (joined in 1994) only served as directors until the annual shareholder meeting in June 2011. They were only paid $65,151 and $29,908 that year, respectively.

6. Salesforce.com
> Average Compensation: $690,053
> 2-Year Stock Change: +51.65%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $64.5 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $80.7 million

Compared to some companies on this list, Salesforce.com is a rather small company, generating less than $2.3 billion in revenue for 2011. Nevertheless, the company shelled out nearly $700,000 on average to its directors last year.

Founder and CEO Marc Benioff left Oracle, which shows up later on this list, to start Salesforce.com in 1999. He currently owns 7.8% of the common stock, giving him a fair amount of clout to determine the shape and remuneration of the board. Another connection to another company on this list is Lawrence Tomlinson, who has served as a director since May 2003. Tomlinson retired from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) in June of that year.

5. Northrop Grumman
> Average Compensation: $696,717
> 2-Year Stock Change: -5.59%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $2.12 billion
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $2.05 billion

Unlike many other companies on the list, the outlier at Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) is not a current or former executive. Rather, the average compensation figure is skewed because of the compensation of the lead independent director, Lewis Coleman, who was paid $5,652,356 in 2011. Most of his payment was not in cash or stock. The company shelled out a whopping $5,203,559 in costs “related to security protection related to Mr. Coleman.” This included $1,515,536 for “personal and family member travel on company aircraft” and a $174,953 “tax-gross up.” That’s a pretty good deal, given that he probably gets paid a pretty penny to serve as president and chief financial officer of DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA).

4. Oracle
> Average Compensation: $725,589
> 2-Year Stock Change: +16.08%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $8.55 billion
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $6.14 billion

Oracle’s cofounder and CEO, Larry Ellison, has significant power to shape the board due to his large ownership of common stock (22.4%). Donald Lucas, the highest paid-director, made $1,023,231 from Oracle in fiscal year 2011. He has served on the board of directors since March 1980. He was chairman of the board from Oct. 1980 through May 1990, and served as chairman of the executive committee from Dec. 1985 through June 2008, when the position was eliminated. Oracle has a board beefed up with insiders. The chairman is a former CFO, and both co-presidents, including former HP CEO Mark Hurd, serve on the board.

3. Fidelity National Information Services
> Average Compensation: $849,691
> 2-Year Stock Change: +13.52%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $469.6 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $404.5 million

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE: FIS), is the surviving entity of a 2005 merger between Certegy and Fidelity National Financial, or “Old Fidelity.” The board is composed of members from both Old Fidelity and Certegy.

The clear outlier in this case is William Foley, who made $3,488,791. He is currently the vice chairman of the board and was executive chairman of the board until Feb. 2011 and chairman until March 2012. Still, even without Foley in the mix, the average director compensation would be well over $300,000, a sizable pay package for a part-time job.

2. Amazon.com
> Average Compensation: $898,993
> 2-Year Stock Change: +71.03%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $631 million
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $1.15 billion

The CEO and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is also its largest shareholder (19.5% of common stock), which gives him considerable leeway in determining the compensation of the board members. Amazon directors are not paid in cash but do receive restricted stock and options awards exclusively, which is unusual for a publicly traded company.

Three independent directors did not receive compensation for their board services in 2011: John Seely Brown, Alain Monie and Jonathan Rubinstein. However, Brown and Monie received 3,600 restricted shares in Feb. 2012. Meanwhile, Rubinstein was the only director paid in 2010, receiving $883,350. The only paid director not to receive $927,100 was Blake Kirkorian, who joined the board of directors in Sept. 2011. He was paid $786,564.

1. Hewlett-Packard
> Average Compensation: $941,802
> 2-Year Stock Change: -54.23%
> Net Earnings FY 2011: $7.07 billion
> Net Earnings FY 2010: $8.76 billion

Hewlett-Packard is an unlikely company to be at the top of companies with highest-board pay. HP shares plummeted more than 50% in the past two years. Part of the company’s woes stem from a decline in demand for many of HP’s products, notably its PCs. Furthermore, the company has struggled to keep a permanent slate of executive and board members. Former HP CEO Mark Hurd was fired in Aug. 2010, following discrepancies in his expense accounts. Former CEO Leo Apotheker served less than a year in his position before being terminated by the board in Sept. 2011.

Board members have shifted just as quickly as the CEOs have. Four members resigned shortly after the Hurd scandal, while directors Lawrence Babbio and Sari Baldauf both departed earlier this year. The average compensation is greatly inflated due to Executive Chairman Ray Lane’s payment of $10,648,366 in fiscal year 2011.

Douglas A. McIntyre and Samuel Weigley

Source: Jon Ogg

Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Carrizo Oil & Gas (NASDAQ: CRZO) is named as a top small cap idea with multiple ways to win and with a “valuation too tepid” and firm reiterated a Buy rating and gave a new target of $49.00 by Canaccord Genuity.
DENTSPLY International (NASDAQ: XRAY) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) Cut to Average at Caris & Co.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.
IAMGOLD Corp (NYSE: IAG) Started as Outperform with $25.00 price target objective at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) Cut to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.
Seagate Technology PLC (NYSE: STX) Raised to Buy at Argus.
Signet Jewelers Limited (NYSE: SIG) named as value stock of the day at Zacks.
VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) named as aggressive growth stock of the day at Zacks.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) maintained Buy with an $18.00 price target objective at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

In the field of satellite imaging, Canaccord Genuity cut its ambitions due to austerity cuts: DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI) was maintained at Buy but the target was cut to $23.50; GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY) was maintained as Hold and the target wass lowered to $22.00 per share.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than -389 points to 11,780.94 (-3.2%), the NASDAQ fell nearly -106 points (-3.88%) to 2,621.65, and the S&P 500 fell -3.67% or nearly -47 points to 1,229.10.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) cut to ‘sell’ at Janney; H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) raised to ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is up down about -10%, at $22.48; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is down less than -1%, at $3.09; IntraLinks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: IL) is down more than -37%, at $5.50, after posting a new 52-week low of $5.44 earlier today; Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) is down nearly -16%, at $33.24; Harvest Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: HNR) is down more than -19%, at $8.80; and Neenah Paper, Inc. (NYSE: NP) is up more than 12%, at $18.84.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENER) is down more than -32%, to $0.41. The company has said that it will suspend manufacturing and cut 500 jobs. Excess inventory of solar panels gets the blame.

U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS)  is down  more than -22%, at $3.94, after posting a new 52-week low of $3.66 earlier in the day. The company received a waiver from one of its lenders for failing to meet coverage ratio requirements.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) is down about -1.1%, at $76.44, after posting a new 52-week high of $77.95 earlier today. We noted the company’s performance earlier today in an article on auto sector implied gains.

American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC)) is up nearly 10%, to $4.49. The company reported earnings today, and its growing order backlog indicates a possible turnaround following the loss of its biggest customer earlier this year.

Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. (NYSE: NOR) is down more than -16%, at $8.51. The company will pay a special dividend of $1/share to shareholders of record as of yesterday’s close. That pushed the shares down a buck this morning, and the rest is due to the overall market decline today.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) is down more than -8%, at $28.78. The bank claimed the largest decline among the big US banks today.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is down nearly -8%, at $2.17. There was no special news from Beazer today, but the threatened burst of new foreclosures soon to hit the housing market have had a nasty effect on this lower-priced builder.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech in the morning and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a town hall meeting with soldiers and their families at Fort Bliss, Texas, at 11:45 a.m. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – International trade balance report
• 8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
• 8:30 a.m. – Monthly import/export price report
• 9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas inventory report
• 2:00 p.m. – Monthly US Treasury budget report
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply report

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Paul Ausick

Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ALSK) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Blue Nile Inc. (NASDAQ: NILE) Cut to Sell at Deutsche Bank.
China Automotive Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CAAS) Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) Cut to Sell at Janney.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Raised to Buy at Argus.
H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Cut to Hold at S&P Capital IQ (late-Tuesday).
Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Rovi Corporation (NASDAQ: ROVI) has seen at least three downgrades: Collins Stewart, CLSA, Brean Murray.
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPPI) named Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.
Textainer Group Holdings Limited (NYSE: TGH) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

Sony claims that these glasses can cost studios $5 to $10 million per blockbuster release.  The move is expected to come on May 1, 2012, right before the summer film rush that usually has many 3D movie options.  MIB III and another Spider Man are coming in 2012.

What is amazing is that it was just yesterday that Merriman Capital outlined buyout speculation regarding RealD.  Talk about bad timing.  

The report in question from Tuesday also notes that exhibitors (theaters) are not going to react well (duh!) and it also noted that many other studios are likely considering a similar move.  The estimate is that these glasses can cost up to $0.50 per film.

News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWS) has reportedly tried to pass this cost on to exhibitors but that was fought hard.  With Avatar, that could have been one major cost.  And what about the on-again off-again reports of the Star Wars episode(s) being recut for 3D? 

IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX) also runs many of the popular blockbuster 3-D films.  Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) is down over 3% at $12.28.  Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) us down 2% at $19.32.

Oddly enough, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) is up 0.4% today at $19.53.

RealD Inc. (NYSE: RLD) is down 15% at $10.38 today and shares appear to have hit a new post-IPO low of $8.89 earlier this morning as the panic grew that 3D films might be taking a hit.  Unfortunately for RealD, its entire business model revolves around the proliferation of 3D films.  Live by the sword, die by the sword.

As a reminder, there is no assurance that this move will actually stick.  Some international markets already charge for this.

JON C. OGG

Amazon.com’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) new tablet PC may be a serious challenge to the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad. (Reuters)

Boeing’s (NYSE: BA) Dreamliner finally delivered to its first customer. (Reuters)

Legal problems to affect sales of tablet PCs and chips. (Reuters)

The timing of Groupon’s IPO is now uncertain. (WSJ)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) CEO Oswald Grübel’s resignation to cause problems as the firm tries to restructure its investment bank. (WSJ)

Academy of Management Journal says CEOs who are overpaid when they step down remain overpaid later. (WSJ)

Apple’s growth in China slows considerably. (WSJ)

European officials still cannot reach consensus about the region’s troubles. (WSJ)

China says it will not help a EU bailout. (WSJ)

Social unrest begins to grow in China due to inflation and struggles by workers for higher wages. (WSJ)

Chrysler’s talks with the UAW on minimum wages for new workers have stalled as the union begins talks with Ford (NYSE: F). (WSJ)

Todd Bradley, head of the Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) PC division, still does not know the fate of his unit. (WSJ)

A rising dollar could hurt U.S. economic growth. (WSJ)

Several oil and gas companies prepare IPOs. (WSJ)

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) sets a deal to stream DreamWorks (NASDAQ: DWA) movies, besting Time Warner’s (NYSE: TWX) HBO. (NYT)

The Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that many consumers look to local newspapers and TV stations for some critical information. The Pew Internet & American Life Project also worked on the study. (NYT)

Work by the Congressional Super Committee to reduce the deficit has slowed quickly. (NYT)

Gold prices hurt as investors move into cash. (FT)

U.S. tax authorities to look to cross-board bank transactions for money. (FT)

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) cuts some top management jobs. (FT)

Large U.S. and international banks, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), differed on how to address the EU crisis as they met on the subject last week. (Bloomberg)

Apple cuts orders for the iPad for the fourth quarter, according to suppliers. (Bloomberg)

PIMCO forecasts a recession in Europe next year. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Aeropostale, Inc. (NYSE: ARO) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks.
Allergan Inc. (NYSE: AGN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
GLG Life Tech Corporation (NASDAQ: GLGL) maintained Buy but cut estimates and target to $7.50 at Canaccord Genuity.
Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) Cut to Sell at Argus; Cut to Underperform at Raymond James; Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs; Raised to Market Perform at BMO.
Research-in-Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Sell at Societe Generale.
Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) Raised to Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Sky-mobi Limited (NASDAQ: MOBI) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) Raised to Buy at Collins Stewart.
Transocean Ltd. (RIG : NYSE) maintained HOLD but raised target to $69 at Canaccord Genuity.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) Cut to Neutral 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

Many events are ongoing and some are carryover events to consider, and we have added color on each if applicable.  On a separate note, we did compile what is a detailed preview of the top earnings this coming week as well as the top ten analyst calls of this last week.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE: AMD) was one of the top gainers on Friday after it reported positive earnings.  The 19%+ gain to $7.75 puts it back in the middle of its 52-week trading range of $5.53 to $9.58. The 85+ million shares traded appears to be the biggest one-day share volume back to November of 2009.  Forbes is calling for a run to $10 even with its CEO overhang issues.

BankUnited, Inc. (NYSE: BKU) has been public for just about six-months and its IPO lock-up period from insiders and 10% owners is set to end this week. At $25.61, its post-IPO range is $24.88 to $29.90.

Books-A-Million Inc. (NASDAQ: BAMM) may have thin trading volume and may only be worth $53 million in market capitalization, but we believe that this small cap offers a stealthy road to winning from the Borders bankruptcy liquidation.  We featured this as the stealth winner, and for some reason the shares were up 10% on Friday ahead of a Bizjournals.com report that the company submitted bids for 30 of the Borders locations.

Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI) took it on the chin after the close on Friday with a drop of about 6%. The company filed with the SEC to register the resale of 34,589,220 shares of common stock held by Warburg Pincus Private Equity VIII, L.P.  The company has about $1.6 billion in market cap, but at the $30.50 price that comes to a combined share sale of $1.037 billion before the effects of the sell-off.  Can you say dilution to the free float?

CA Inc. (NASDAQ: CA) is slated to have an investor meeting this coming Friday.  With shares trading around $22.60, let’s just go even deeper on record noting that this one has been dead money for about 7 years or so whether it has a $11.5 billion market cap or not.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (NYSE: CLH) is set to trade ex-split on July 27 to reflect its 2-for-1 split.  The stock trades north of $112 and shares hit a high of $114.09 on this last Thursday.  This stock is up about 50-fold in the last ten years and it looks like it is the first split for the $3 billion environmental remediation outfit.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) is in discussions over a streaming movie video rights deal with Netflix.  The move could open up its distribution even more and at $21.05 it is at the bottom of a 52-week range of $19.76 to $37.74.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: ADBE) is so far not moving much but it may be very active today at at its annual analyst meeting.  the company is targeting 10% revenue growth in fiscal year 2011 and gave an intra-quarter business update within the range of its prior guidance: revenue of $950 million to $1 billion, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of $0.48 to $0.54 and a non-GAAP operating margin of 37-38%.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) is doing even better this morning after it beat earnings, announced that it was paying about $86 million to buy Percello Ltd. for its a system on chip (SoC) design targeting femtocells, and announced that it was going to raise $600 million in debt.  The stock was up 5.5% at $39.28 after the close in after-hours trading on last look, but this morning is showing a gain of 10.5% at $41.15 on over 500,000 shares.  This marks a 52-week high as the range was $25.76 to $38.47 before today.

Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD) fell after it beat earnings but same store sales fell rather than gained.  The wings and beer (and more) chain was down almost 6% at $45.65 on last look last night and the stock is down 6.5% at $45.40 in pre-market trading.

Dreamworks Animation SKG, Inc. (NASDAQ: DWA) rose after earnings beat estimates handily.  Shares were up almost 5% at $36.00 on last look last night, but the stock is up 7.7% at $37.00 this morning versus a 52-week range of $26.61 to $44.77.

Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) rose in after-hours after reporting positive earnings.  Shares were up as much as 6.4% at $81.50 last night, but the stock is up about 5.2% at $80.55 on thin volume this morning.

F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: FFIV) looks more like high-five after beating earnings and guidance are helping a surge.   Shares are up 10% at $112.80 on nearly 200,000 shares this morning.  This may be a 52-week high if it holds as the trading range of the last year is $43.50 to $112.05.

GTx, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTXI) is lower again on a proposed secondary stock offering.  Shares were down 10% at $2.87 in after-hours trading, and the stock is still down 10.6% at $2.85 on over 60,000 shares pre-market.  An average day is only about 90,000 shares.

JDA Software Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) rose after earnings on thin trading volume last night and this morning. The after-hours gain was about 8% at $23.95 after having been north of $24.00 briefly last night, but the gain this morning appears to be closer to 14% at $25.25.

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) looked a tad light on the earnings, but it maintained its fiscal year targets and set a $1 billion stock buyback plan.  Shares were up almost 7% at $66.15 on last look this morning.

Panera Bread Co. (NASDAQ: PNRA) fell after the food chain basically met estimates.  Shares were down 4.6% at $89.95 in the after-hours session on last look last night and the move this morning has shares down 5.2% at $89.43 on thin volume.

Silicon Image, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIMG) beat earnings and raised guidance last night.  Shares were up 25% at $5.70 in the after-hours trading and the stock is now up even a bit more as the gain is shown as 30% at $5.95 on nearly 300,000 shares pre-market.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) reported a slightly wider loss than expected, and shares are getting hit.  Shares are down 4.25 at $4.57 and there has already been more than 11 million shares traded this morning with almost an hour left before the open.

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JON C. OGG