The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.43% today, now at 81.897. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.4% at 630.47. WTI crude oil closed up 1.1%, at $96.62 a barrel, following today’s report on inventories (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 0.2% at $104.21 a barrel, creating the lowest spread between WTI and Brent in recent memory. Natural gas is up 1.4% today at about $3.98 per million BTUs. Gold settled up 1.7% today at $1,473.70.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 48 points to 15,104.97 (0.32%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 17 points (0.49%) to 3,413.27, and the S&P 500 rose 0.41% or nearly 7 points to 1,632.68.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including:

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) cut to ‘cautiousl’ at ISI group;
• Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Raised to ‘buy’ at Sterne Agee;
• U.S. Auto Parts Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS) raised to ‘buy’ at Roth Capital;
• Plains All American Pipeline LP (NYSE: PAA) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; and
• Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) cut to ‘underperform at Baird.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading:

• American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) is down 0.9% at $41.61;
• Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD) is up 2.9% at $8.83;
• Fuel Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) is down 10.3% at $3.59;
• Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) is up 6.3% at $5.62;
• Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) is up 0.9% at $34.65;
• SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) is down 3.5% at $5.20;
• Zillow Inc. (NYSE: Z) is down 9.9% at $56.70;
• AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL) is down 9.8% at $37.36 (more coverage here);
• Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB) is up fractionally at $47.34;
• The Wendy’s Co. (NYSE: WEN) is down 5.7% at $5.77; and
• Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is up 10.5% at $13.30.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN), Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR), Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST), Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX), Rackspace Hosting Inc. (NYSE: RAX), Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG), Agrium Inc. (NYSE: AGU), Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC), Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE), and Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Affymax Inc. (NASDAQ: AFFY) is up 18.9% at $1.37. The biopharmaceutical firm had no news today, but seemed to catch a wave from Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN).

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is up 17.3% at $21.59, a new 52-week high. The video game company posted good results and forecast a strong current quarter.

Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) is down 19.4% at $14.51. The storage company’s CEO and founder resigned today.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are giving speeches. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:00 a.m. – Wholesale trade
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 30-year bond auction
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

With inflation below Federal Reserve targets, the central bank may have to increase bond buying. (Reuters)

Some hedge funds move into Detroit debt. (Reuters)

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) will use Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) to offer shoppers discounts. (Reuters)

Softbank management will meet Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) investors and might raise its bid for the carrier. (Reuters)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) says better game products should increase sales next year. (Reuters)

American use of credit begins to improve from a six-year slump. (WSJ)

Airline mergers substantially cut routes served. (WSJ)

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) says sales fell sharply in the first quarter. (WSJ)

Carl Icahn and Southeastern, both large Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) shareholders, may challenge to get board seats. (WSJ)

The Dow closes above 15,000 for the first time. (WSJ)

More people from recession-racked nations move to Germany for jobs. (WSJ)

Start-ups based on Bitcoin e-commerce begin to raise large sums of money. (WSJ)

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) tries unsuccessfully to pull out of its search partnership with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). (WSJ)

The share price of Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) may have risen too quickly in the past several months. (WSJ)

A second proxy firm supports a split in the roles of chairman and CEO at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM). (FT)

“Iron Man 3″ is expected to greatly help the earnings of Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS). (FT)

Gold prices have their biggest drop in 30 years, but that does not dissuaded some investors. (Bloomberg)

The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.06% today, now at 82.265. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.3% at 632.74. WTI crude oil closed down 0.6%, at $95.62 a barrel, following a report that Saudi Arabian production rose in April and that demand in the U.S. will be lower this year (more coverage here). Brent crude trades down 1% at $104.39 a barrel. Natural gas is down 2.1% today at about $3.93 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 1.3% today at $1,448.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 87 points to 15,056.28 (0.58%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 4 points (0.11%) to 3,396.63, and the S&P 500 rose 0.52% or more than 8 points to 1,625.96.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including:

Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) cut to ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs;
J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) started as ‘underperform’ at Wells Fargo;
Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) resumed as ‘sell’ at Goldman Sachs;
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; and
Sanchez Energy Corp. (NYSE: SN) started as ‘buy’ at SunTrust.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night resulted in some price moves today, including these as of the last half hour of trading:

• Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC) is down 1% at $86.79 after posting a new 52-week high of $89.72 earlier today;
• First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is down 8.9% at $43.43 (more coverage here);
• Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is up 1.9% at $58.32 after posting a new 52-week high of $58.51 earlier today;
• Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) is down 1.3% at $86.72;
• Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) is up 1.8% at $26.42;
• Checkpoint Systems Inc. (NYSE: CKP) is up 4.1% at $12.10;
• DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) is up 6.6% at $61.80 after posting a new 52-week high of $62.06 earlier today (more coverage here);and
• Fossil Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is up 9.1% at $107.93.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings reports from American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK), Demand Media Inc. (NYSE: DMD), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), Fuel Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK), Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC), Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD), Zillow Inc. (NASDAQ: Z), AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL), Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB), Wendy’s Co. (NASDAQ: WEN) and Vivus Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Aruba Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: ARUN) is down 23% at $16.99. The network equipment maker warned on earnings this morning.

Alcatel-Lucent S.A. (NYSE: ALU) is up 9.5% at $1.44. The networking company held its annual meeting today and shareholders are willing to be patient. More coverage here.

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) is down 3.5% at $3.52. The mobile phone maker’s shareholders are not as patient as Alcatel Lucent’s.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Fed Governor Jeremy Stein is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 10-year note auction

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) plans to upgrade Windows 8 to boost sales. (Reuters)

New York state will file charges against Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) over mortgage instrument abuses. (Reuters)

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) set a partnership for Star Wars games. (Reuters)

Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) makes changes to its Atom chip in a bid for more mobile sales. (Reuters)

The Securities and Exchange Commission charges officials of Harrisburg with misrepresenting the city’s financial state. (WSJ)

Bank of America pays MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) $1.7 billion to settle mortgage-related charges. (WSJ)

European Union officials issue a complaint against Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Motorola over its patent violations of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) intellectual property. (WSJ)

The three largest J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) investors fail to support the plan to allow Jamie Dimon to keep both his chief executive and chairman roles. (WSJ)

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera sues Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) over sales of its drinks to underage children. (WSJ)

The European Union will put tariffs on Chinese solar panels. (WSJ)

Some telecom companies adopt mobile OS products that compete with Apple’s iOS and Google Android. (WSJ)

To fight online sales of fake drugs, among other things, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) will sell Viagra online. (NYT)

Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, begins to manufacture its own TVs. (NYT)

Google’s YouTube will allow some providers of content to charge subscription fees. (NYT)

Slow increases in health care costs could be due to the recession and higher co-pay charges. (NYT)

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) will introduce video ads. (FT)

Swiss unemployment reaches a two-year high. (Bloomberg)

While financial terms were not disclosed, EA is going to develop and publish new Star Wars titles on all interactive platforms and the most popular game genres. Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.

Disney has gone out of its way to indicate that there will be many more Star Wars efforts launched other than just Episodes 7,8, and 9. We called this a multi-generational win for Disney and the EA deal only goes to show that Disney is not lightening up on its efforts here.

EA even shows that DICE and Visceral will produce new games, while BioWare continues to develop for the Star Wars franchise. As a reminder, it was only about 14 months ago that EA showed that more than 2 million of the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG sales had been seen.

This may just be a continued expansion of the past to some, but this and a new wave of consoles coming to market in time for Christmas should offer some added support for what is currently a turnaround situation for EA.

EA has been unable to make the transition from a company that makes games for old-style consoles to one that makes versions for the growing portable device market, although it has tried. In the fourth quarter of last year, EA revenue fell from $1.06 billion in the period a year ago to $922 million. EA lost $45 million. Mobile revenue was only $86 million.

EA’s layoff announcement said:

In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees — those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.

These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.

24/7 Wall St. praises dividends. We also want to call out the myriad of great companies that need to realize that times demand investor payouts. A few companies are still buying growth, and we have identified some of these players as well. The thesis behind offering a solid dividend is that it instills confidence in investors that the company has earnings visibility for years even when the business cycle slows.

Having a real dividend policy may also be the key to keeping nervous investors from fleeing and going into cash or Treasury bonds, which pay almost nothing these days. There are just still too many companies in denial that they are still growth companies when they need to start directly rewarding shareholders. Some companies can get away without paying out a single cent to owners because the value of growth is so strong. That list is shrinking these days. Most companies we identified are in what we would call the “Dividend Sinners” category.

Our review focuses on Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY), Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A), Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG), Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), Express Scripts Inc. (NASDAQ: ESRX), Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), Teradyne Inc. (NYSE: TER), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA). We have handicapped whether investors might expect a dividend in the near-term or long-term from each of these as well.

The first order of business is to identify some of the great companies that have started paying a dividend since we (and others) have called for them to act with dividend payments in the past year or two. A few would include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) and NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ).

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), which recently dumped its chief executive officer, has decided to cut a large number of workers as well. EA has been unable to make the transition from a company that makes games for old-style consoles to one that makes versions for the growing portable device market, although it has tried. In the fourth quarter of last year, EA revenue fell from $1.06 billion in the period a year ago to $922 million. EA lost $45 million. Mobile revenue was only $86 million. EA’s layoff announcement said:

In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees – those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.

These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.

Gas Prices Boost the Economy

Gasoline prices continue to tick down, and more experts have commented that this should help improve mediocre gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the United States. CNN Money offered a story that said this about gas prices and the economy:

If prices stay that low, the savings for drivers over the course of a year could top $80 billion. That’s $80 billion to spend on other things like clothes, electronics or entertainment.

“To put that into context, it is roughly the same size as the sequestration spending cuts that took effect at the start of last month,” researchers at Capital Economics wrote in a recent note. As a result, economic growth “might not be as bad as we had initially feared.”

AAA Fuel Gauge numbers show that the price of a gallon of regular gas nationwide was $3.505 yesterday, compared with $3.650 a month ago and $3.830 a year ago. The price of premium based on the national average is down to $3.841 from a year-ago price of $4.108. In several states, a gallon of regular has dropped below $3.30.

Air Traffic Controller Furloughs End

The U.S. Senate has passed a bill to end the furloughs of air traffic controllers. This should halt a long series of flight delays that have threatened to gridlock the ability of airlines to have on-time flights. In some cases, carriers have had to cancel service. Fox News reported on the Senate bill to end the furloughs:

The bill passed late Thursday without even a roll call vote, and House officials indicated it likely would be brought up for quick approval there.

Under the legislation, the Federal Aviation Administration would gain authority to transfer up to $253 million from accounts that are flush into other programs, to “prevent reduced operations and staffing” through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, Senate officials said the available funds should be ample enough to prevent the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA has said it will shut the facilities as it makes its share of $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts — known as the sequester — that took effect last month at numerous government agencies.

According to Joystiq:

“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization,” the company told Joystiq. “These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world.”

We continue to work on finding out the extent of today’s impact, but we believe we have a better grip on today’s layoffs at EA Mobile Montreal. Our understanding is that 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go, along with over 100 people working under EA’s contract system. These are mostly quality assurance testers. We’re told by one source, “If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks.”

Bloomberg points out that the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) Dreamliner 787 may not be back in service as fast as the press and many airlines expect. The sticking point is that American regulators worry about making a mistake that will haunt them and cause a wrathful reaction from Congress. The news service reports:

The Federal Aviation Administration is under scrutiny for clearing the 787 in 2007, only to reverse itself after lithium-ion batteries overheated on two jets. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, whose agency includes the FAA, declared the planes safe days before they were ordered parked. FAA officials will face the National Transportation Safety Board this month to explain their initial decision.

Boeing needs the FAA to end a Jan. 16 grounding order so deliveries can resume from an order book valued at almost $190 billion. Politics, not just safety, will weigh on the agency as it reviews the Dreamliner’s battery redesign and test-flight data, said John McGraw, an aerospace consultant

Microsoft Management Shakeup?

For the hundredth time, analysts speculated that Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer will be pushed out because of the failure of Windows 8 to quickly gain sales. A recent IDC report blamed a poor reaction to the operating system for a 14% drop in PC sales in the first quarter. The news dragged down the shares of PC manufacturers and chip providers. The Windows 8 case against Ballmer can be added to Microsoft’s late entry into search and its lack of success in the mobile markets. The speculation gets married with more speculation about who would take Ballmer’s job. Much of the guessing centers around Microsoft chairman and founder Bill Gates. He left day-to-day responsibilities behind when he retired more than a decade ago. He currently spends much of his time giving away his fortune. However, Gates may feel that his legacy is at stake as Microsoft flounders. Wall St. would not accept many of the other alternatives because few people have the background to turn around the world’s largest software company. The best candidates, including Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt, are not going to leave their current positions.

Electronic Arts Downsizing

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) continues to struggle with the fact that its legacy console-based games have lost ground to products that run on smartphones, many of which are free or priced at a few dollars. The company’s CEO resigned recently as weak earnings were announced. Wall St. does not expect a recovery, which leaves EA with few options. It demonstrated one of those options when it laid off a portion of its product staff. According to Joystiq:

“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization,” the company told Joystiq. “These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world.”

We continue to work on finding out the extent of today’s impact, but we believe we have a better grip on today’s layoffs at EA Mobile Montreal. Our understanding is that 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go, along with over 100 people working under EA’s contract system. These are mostly quality assurance testers. We’re told by one source, “If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks.”