Charles River Labs International Inc. (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded to Sell from an already cautious Neutral with a lower $38 price target at Goldman Sachs.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform with a $34 to $37 valuation at Wells Fargo.

Flir Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Market Perform with a new $33 price target at Raymond James.

Genomic Health Inc. (NASDAQ: GHDX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup.

Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) was started as Outperform at Wedbush Securities.

Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NYSE: PANW) was maintained as Buy but removed from the prized Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (NYSE: TD) downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) was started as Hold at Canaccord Genuity.

Wisdom Tree Investments (NASDAQ: WETF) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup.

The Williams siblings took a downgrade by Goldman Sachs: Williams Partners L.P. (NYSE: WPZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy and Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB) was maintained as Buy but removed from the prized Conviction Buy List.

Deutsche Bank has its Tech 8 list of stocks to buy in technology with dividends and growth.

UBS listed its Q-GARP list for quality growth stocks at a reasonable price.

Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc. (NYSE: Q) saw its quiet period end and here is the full summary of analyst ratings.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) recalls 242,000 hybrids because of brake problems. (Reuters)

Samsung Electronics wins a key patent ruling against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) in an ITC case. (Reuters)

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) will offer groceries online. (Reuters)

The Fed’s Richard Fisher says the agency might reevaluate its bond-buying program. (Reuters)

HTC makes management changes as the cellphone firm flounders. (Reuters)

The European Central Bank may not employ policy to add stimulus to the recession-plagued region. (WSJ)

Chrysler rejects a federal recall of 2.7 million Jeeps. (WSJ)

Verizon Wireless will pay $1 billion to give its wireless subscribers more access to NFL games. (WSJ)

German car sales drop 10% last month. (WSJ)

FHA’s projected losses could reach $115 billion over 30 years, if some stress test data is accurate. (WSJ)

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) will sell virtual goods on Facebook. (WSJ)

Jefferson County will emerge from Chapter 11 due to negotiations of bond payments. (WSJ)

Pilots who work for JAL and ANA are skeptical of new repairs to the Boeing (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner. (NYT)

Amazon.com expects to bring in $800 million in ad revenue as its sets programs to take business from Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) and Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). (FT)

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) may have ignored foreclosure laws. (FT)

Proxy firm Glass Lewis suggests investors reserve judgment about Softbank’s buyout of Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S). (Bloomberg)

The European Union sets tariffs for China’s solar product dumping. (Bloomberg)

HSBC Holdings PLC said Wednesday it will cut around 14,000 more jobs.

The bank will shave up to $3 billion from its cost base and increase shareholder dividends.

In a strategy update, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said the bank may struggle to meet its 12%-15% return-on-equity target for full-year 2013 because of the squeeze on revenue from a weakened global economy, but that the target is achievable in the 2014-16 period as the bank makes fresh investments in growing markets and commercial banking.

He said the bank wants to increase dividends to shareholders within a continuing target range of 40%-60% of earnings, and could buy back shares to counteract the dilutive effect from some shareholders collecting their dividends in the form of more shares. HSBC paid out 55.4% of its earnings last year in dividends.

One of the ironies of the current economic situation is that slow economies around the world have pushed the price of oil lower, and consequently with it, the future price of gasoline. The bad news about European gross domestic product (GDP) knocked crude well below $94. News that shale oil will substantially increase global supply in the next five years also added pressure. Low gasoline prices are supposed to help consumer spending, which many economists argue is two-thirds of GDP. If that is so, the consumer’s discretionary income will continue to rise, at least among those who have cars. The national average price of a gallon of regular was only $3.588 yesterday, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge. That compared with $3.727 a year ago. With the exception of Hawaii, Alaska and California, no other state has an average price above $4. The reasons for oil prices to continue to drop grow almost every day.

Baggage Fees and Airline Losses

Losses among U.S. airlines improved in the fourth quarter. That news mostly got buried because of astonishingly high baggage fees. But the focus on those fees misses the main point. Due to mergers and better load and route management, carriers have been helped at the bottom line. Declines in fuel prices also have been essential. The government agency that tracks the carriers said of fourth-quarter airlines losses:

The largest scheduled passenger airlines reported a net loss of $145 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, improved from a loss of $602 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today in a release of preliminary data.

Buried much further down in the data:

Total revenue for all passenger airlines in the fourth-quarter of 2012 was $37.6 billion. All U.S. passenger airlines collected a total of $841 million in baggage fees and $610 million from reservation change fees from October through December 2012. Fees are included for calculations of Net Income, Operating Revenue and Operating Profit or Loss.

Total revenue for all passenger airlines for the full year 2012 was $159.5 billion. All U.S. passenger airlines collected a total in 2012 of $3.5 billion in baggage fees and $2.6 billion from reservation change fees.

Better to have the fees than another wave of huge airline losses.

HSBC Job Cuts

The brutal drive toward operating efficiency that many large companies adopted during the recession continues, despite what most economists call a recovery. Cost cuts are not any more evident than at banks, which for the most part, took the brunt of the financial meltdown. HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) was the latest to say it would slash what it cost to run the bank, according to The Wall Street Journal:

HSBC Holdings PLC said Wednesday it will cut around 14,000 more jobs across its global empire as part of an effort to shave up to $3 billion from its cost base and increase shareholder dividends.

In a strategy update, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said the bank may struggle to meet its 12%-15% return-on-equity target for full-year 2013 because of the squeeze on revenue from a weakened global economy, but that the target is achievable in the 2014-16 period as the bank makes fresh investments in growing markets and commercial banking.

He said the bank wants to increase dividends to shareholders within a continuing target range of 40%-60% of earnings, and could buy back shares to counteract the dilutive effect from some shareholders collecting their dividends in the form of more shares. HSBC paid out 55.4% of its earnings last year in dividends.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) starts to deliver the 787 Dreamliner again. (Reuters)

Amazon.com Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AMZN) efforts to get companies to use its cloud computing service begins to use outside consultants to make the case to corporations. (Reuters)

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) plans to cut another $2 billion to $3 billion in costs by 2016. (Reuters)

Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and Sharp must contend with shareholder and bond holder concerns about their futures. (WSJ)

The U.S. deficit falls below Congressional Budget Office estimates because of tax receipts, lower federal costs and dividends from firms such as Fannie Mae. (WSJ)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) will start to improve safety at its Bangladesh suppliers. (WSJ)

Votes from shareholders show that Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is likely to hold both the chairman and CEO jobs. (WSJ)

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) will start a streaming music business. (WSJ)

Blackberry (NASDAQ: BBRY) targets emerging markets with its new phones. (WSJ)

T-Mobile US Inc. (NYSE: TMUS) raises the price of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5. (WSJ)

Governor Jerry Brown claims California will have a $1.1 billion surplus this year. (WSJ)

Data from China prompt some economists to cut growth forecasts. (WSJ)

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) CEO Marillyn Hewson presses critics of the F-35, saying many of the development troubles have improved. (WSJ)

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) is expected to report lower-than-estimated profits. (WSJ)

The European Union is looking into charges that oil firms set published prices of crude. (WSJ)

Revenue growth at Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) drops sharply recently. (WSJ)

The Justice Department claims Apple was a central player in e-book price fixing. (NYT)

China’s corporate debt market could match that of the United States in size. (FT)

Large Japanese carriers ANA Holdings and Japan Airlines are in talks with Airbus about the A350. (Bloomberg)

HSBC may cut 14,000 jobs. (Bloomberg)

The Financial Times this morning is citing “two people familiar with the situation” who say that Softbank, which owns about one-third of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba, has been telling investment bankers that if they want a piece of Alibaba’s coming initial public offering (IPO), the banks had better pass on helping fund an offer from Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ: DISH) for Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S). Softbank’s $20.1 billion offer for Sprint has been topped by an offer of $25.5 billion from Dish.

Alibaba’s IPO is the hottest thing on Wall Street since the IPO of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB). The IPO is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year or early next year at a valuation in the neighborhood of $60 billion to $80 billion. Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) sold about half of its 40% stake in Alibaba back to the Chinese firm late last year for total consideration of about $7.6 billion. That placed a valuation of around $40 billion on Alibaba.

A consortium of nine banks, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB), HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) recently refinanced $8 billion in Alibaba debt at lower interest, and the nine are believed to have the inside track on the coming IPO.

How credible is a threat from Softbank to withhold the IPO from banks that cooperate with Dish? Investment banks are almost desperate for profitable Asian business and Softbank’s message is pretty clear, even if the Japanese company has not said as much directly. But even though Softbank owns a big chunk of Alibaba, the Japanese probably cannot tell the Chinese which banks to use. The banks will get the message without having to be told.

The 11 servicers that will be making payments include Aurora, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET), PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE: PNC), Sovereign, SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). Payment information for the remaining two banks, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), is still to be announced.

The payments are part of an $8.5 billion settlement of claims related to shoddy mortgage foreclosure procedures, including the notorious robo-signing practice. The remainder of the settlement amount will be used to resolve other issues, including loan modifications. The settlement, which was announced in January, was made in addition to a $26 billion settlement the banks and servicers reached in 2012.

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC’s chief executive, said when he announced annual results last week that he would “fixate on costs” over the coming year and promised to find a further $1 billion of annual savings in 2013.

The job cuts target has still to be fixed but people close to the bank suggested up to 5,000 staff could go as part of the $1 billion savings plan. If HSBC maintained the recent rate of staff cuts to cost savings, the number would be closer to 10,000.

Shares of HSBC are down fractionally in premarket trading, to $54.40 in a 52-week range of $38.56 to $57.37.

The restructuring of the financial services industry, which has ranged from 30,000 layoffs at Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) to cuts at Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) and Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), has reached multinational HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC). According to the Financial Times:

Stuart Gulliver, HSBC’s chief executive, said when he announced annual results last week that he would “fixate on costs” over the coming year and promised to find a further $1 billion of annual savings in 2013.

The job cuts target has still to be fixed but people close to the bank suggested up to 5,000 staff could go as part of the $1 billion savings plan. If HSBC maintained the recent rate of staff cuts to cost savings, the number would be closer to 10,000.

Chinese Home Prices

One of the most substantial concerns about the Chinese economy is that inflation in securities, food prices and real estate could create bubbles. The central government has hoped to keep this under control with mortgage rules. Recent data show that has not worked. Bloomberg reports:

China’s new home prices posted the broadest advance since December 2011, a test for new Premier Li Keqiang as he seeks to prevent a bubble without damping economic growth.

Prices climbed in 62 cities of the 70 the government tracks in February from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. Beijing prices jumped 5.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest since February 2011, while they advanced 8.1 percent in Guangzhou, the most since January 2011.

Brand new efforts to cool the market go into effect this month. However, they may be no more effective than the slew of such efforts instituted in the past.

Pay-TV Shake Up

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) wants to turn the model for payment to creators of premium content on its head. Its proposal is to pay based on the audience that shows and movies produce. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Verizon Communications Inc. is proposing to shake up the pay-television business based on a simple premise: it wants to tie the fees it pays to carry TV channels to how many people actually watch them.

Verizon, whose FiOS TV is the nation’s sixth-biggest pay-TV provider, with 4.7 million subscribers, has begun talks with several “midtier and smaller” media companies about paying for their channels based on audience size, according to Terry Denson, the phone company’s chief programming negotiator. He declined to identify any of the media companies.

Under existing arrangements, distributors like cable and satellite operators pay a monthly, per-subscriber fee to carry channels based on the number of homes in which they agree to make the channels available, regardless of how many people watch those channels.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) will measure its batteries by a high standard that it created long ago but never used. (Reuters)

Volkswagen’s China operation is forced to make a major recall. (WSJ)

China’s new premier, Li Keqiang, says his nation has made no cyberattacks on the United States. (WSJ)

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) hopes to tie fees for programming to how many people watch shows. (WSJ)

Trading trouble investigations of J.P. Morgan put pressure back on chief Jamie Dimon. (NYT)

HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) plans to cut a thousand of more jobs as it restructures. (FT)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may raise its dividend more than 50% to make its total payout $16 billion. (Bloomberg)