The U.S. dollar index is trading down 0.73% today, now at 83.7360. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.8% at 625.96. WTI crude oil closed down fractionally, at $94.25 a barrel. Brent crude trades down 0.1% at $102.46 a barrel. Natural gas is up 1.7% today at about $4.26 per million BTUs following a relatively small addition to the nation’s inventories<<LINK>>. Gold settled up 1.8% today at $1,391.80.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 13 points to 15,294.50 (-0.08%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 4 points (-0.11%) to 3,459.42, and the S&P 500 fell -0.29% or nearly 5 points to 1,650.53.

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

• Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) cut to ‘sell’ at Deutsche Bank;
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) started as ‘underperform’ at Credit Suisse;
• Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank;
• VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) raised to ‘buy’ at SunTrust; and
• Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) raised to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have resulted in some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today:

• DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is down 6.2% at $1.96;
• L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD) is down 0.4% at $X51.25X;
• PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is up 1.9% at $70.35;
• SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS) is down 1.3% at $37.24;
• Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY) is up 0.9% at $66.34;
• Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) is up 4% at $50.29;
• GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is down 1.1% at $35.85;
• Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) is down 2.5% at $183.46; and
• Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) is up 4.8% at $12.28, a new 52-week high.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings from Aeropostale Inc. (NYSE: ARO), America’s Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: CRMT), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL), Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P), Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST), Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM), Zumiez Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ), Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF), and Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) is up 16.8% at $24.79 after posting a new 52-week high of $24.91 earlier today. The printer and computer maker posted better-than-expected earnings last night.

MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) is up 8.1% at $6.74 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.99 earlier today. The biopharmaceuticals firm continues to see shares rise following a report yesterday that the company is a likely takeover target.

Cirrus Logic Inc. (NASDAQ: CRUS) is down 19.8% at $17.70. The semiconductor maker lowered its outlook, this morning.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders

Atwood Oceanics Inc. (NYSE: ATW) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Credit Suisse has a list of MLPs for investors to buy on weakness.

Demandware Inc. (NYSE: DWRE) was maintained at Buy but added to the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) was raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Statoil ASA (NYSE: STO) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: HOT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA/MerrilL Lynch.

Thomson Reuters Corp. (NYSE: TRI) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Jaffray.

UBS gave a list of retail REIT stocks to buy for the rest of 2013.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

PropThink has issued a speculative list of biotech stocks to buy for large upside.

Read also: Top Analyst Downgrades and Stocks to Sell

[T]he world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, reported a 90 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit after increasing its market share and boosting smartphone sales.

Net income climbed to $126.9 million in the three months ended March, from $66.8 million a year earlier, Lenovo said in a statement today. That beat the $108.1 million average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Lenovo is developing mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as it seeks to lure customers from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. and weather a global slump in demand for PCs. The company maintained PC sales and expanded market share in the quarter, even as global shipments dropped 13.9 percent, researcher International Data Corp. reported in April.

The news about Hewlett-Packard Co.’s (NYSE: HPQ) earnings may have been better than expected, but they cannot compare nearly to PC maker rival Lenovo. For some reason it has managed to dodge much of the downturn in global personal computer sales, perhaps because its costs of labor are low. The China-based company reported, according to Bloomberg:

[T]he world’s second-biggest maker of personal computers, reported a 90 percent gain in fourth-quarter profit after increasing its market share and boosting smartphone sales.

Net income climbed to $126.9 million in the three months ended March, from $66.8 million a year earlier, Lenovo said in a statement today. That beat the $108.1 million average of eight analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Lenovo is developing mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as it seeks to lure customers from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. and weather a global slump in demand for PCs. The company maintained PC sales and expanded market share in the quarter, even as global shipments dropped 13.9 percent, researcher International Data Corp. reported in April.

Airline Travel Ratings

Consumer Reports released its new ratings of the best and worst airlines. Virgin America was at the top of the list. Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) was at the bottom. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) was in second place among the winners. On the wrong end of the list, United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) and American Airlines were in second-worst and third-worst place. The research organization reported on its airline travel ratings:

More than 16,000 readers told us about their experiences on 31,732 domestic round-trip flights in the previous 12 months. Seven of the 11 airlines they rated received low scores for seating comfort. Only JetBlue, Hawaiian, Southwest, and Virgin America did better. They also topped our list overall. Other quality-of-flight measures also got low marks from readers who flew on lower-rated airlines, including cabin-crew service, cleanliness, and in-flight entertainment. The proliferation of added fees further contributes to passengers’ low opinion of today’s flying experience.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Sales

The Samsung Galaxy S4, often considered the only real rival to the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5, may be posting sales that are even more impressive that the iPhone’s. The South Korean company said of the first month of Galaxy S4 sales:

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that global channel sales of its GALAXY S4, a life companion for a richer, fuller, simpler life, has surpassed 10 million units sold in less than one month after its commercial debut. Launched globally on April 27, the phone is estimated to be selling at a rate of four units per second. The GALAXY S4 sets a new record for Samsung, generating sales quicker than any of its predecessors. Sales of the GALAXY S III reached the 10-million mark 50 days after its launch in 2012, while the GALAXY S II took five months and the GALAXY S seven months to reach the same milestone.

The announcement, and the wait for the iPhone 5S, could further dent Apple’s reputation and its share price.

The European Union may allow Greece more time to reach its budget targets. (Reuters)

After a number of attacks on its media sites, Twitter tries to do a better job of stopping them. (Reuters)

Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) probably will face shareholder revolts over the amount Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) has offered to buy it. (Reuters)

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) gets a green light from Chinese officials to sell airplanes to local carriers. (WSJ)

Softbank agrees the federal government may appoint a member of Sprint’s board to track possible Japanese influence. (WSJ)

Discovery Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: DISCA) will begin to offer streaming video services, including some original programs. (WSJ)

KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE: KKR) may invest in Saks Inc. (NYSE: SKS) and combine it with Neiman Marcus. (WSJ)

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) may sell some of its financial operations. (WSJ)

A proposal by investor Daniel Loeb would have Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) spin out or sell off its studios. (WSJ)

Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) repays $465 million from the Energy Department well before its was due. (NYT)

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) will close operations in Australia because of losses. (FT)

European Union leaders seem to back away from austerity measures, but they fail to make money available for expansion in the region. (Bloomberg)

The PC and IT-services giant has reported earnings of $0.87 EPS and revenue was down 10% to $27.6 billion. Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.81 EPS and $28.12 billion in revenue. Next quarter’s earnings were put at $0.84 to $0.87 per share on an adjusted basis versus a consensus estimate of $0.84 EPS. The company’s adjusted guidance for 2013 is $3.50 to $3.60 in earnings per share versus a consensus of $3.49 per share.

Cash flow from operations rose 44% to $3.6 billion and the company spent $1.1 billion in capital returns on dividends and buybacks. Inventory ended the quarter at $6.0 billion, down 2 days year over year to 26 days. Accounts receivable of $14.6 billion, down 1 day year over year to 48 days. Accounts payable ended the quarter at $12.3 billion, up 4 days year over year to 53 days.

Meg Whitman is maintaining that HP’s turnaround is not going to occur quickly. She said, “I am encouraged by our performance in the second quarter, and I feel good about the rest of the year. As I have said many times before, this is a multi-year journey. We have a long way to go, but we are on track to deliver on our fiscal 2013 non-GAAP diluted earnings per share outlook.”

The sales declines will make you realize that the challenges facing Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) are not company specific. Personal Systems revenue was down 20% year over year with a 3.2% operating margin, with total units down 21%: desktop units -18% and notebooks -24%. Printing was down only 1% and a 15.8% operating margin even though total printing units were down 11% from a year ago. Enterprise group revenue was down 10% and enterprise services revenue was down 8%.

SOmetimes bad news is just much better than what the market was bracing for. HP closed up 0.6% at $21.25 on the day versus a 52-week range of $11.35 to $24.05. HP shares are up about 9% at $23.45 in the after-hours trading session.

The U.S. dollar index is trading up 0.55% today, now at 84.3240. The GSCI commodity index is down 0.6% at 631.02. WTI crude oil closed down 2%, at $94.28 a barrel on the first day of trading the July contract and following another large rise in U.S. gasoline inventories. Brent crude trades down 1.4% at $102.51 a barrel. Natural gas is down 0.1% today at about $4.19 per million BTUs. Gold settled down 0.6% today at $1,370.10.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 80 points to 15,307.56 (-0.52%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 39 points (-1.11%) to 3,463.30, and the S&P 500 fell -0.83% or nearly 14 points to 1,655.35.

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

• SodaStream International Ltd (NASDAQ: SODA) cut to ‘neutral’ at J.P. Morgan;
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) cut to ‘neutral’ at HSBC;
• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup;
• Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) started as ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital Markets; and
• Popular Inc. (NASDAQ: BPOP) started as ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have resulted in some price changes for reporting companies as of the last half hour of trading today:

• Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) is up 0.4% at $58.14;
• NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) is up 1.2% at $37.05;
• American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) is up 1% at $20.51;
• Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is up 0.6% at $42.71 after posting a new 52-week high of $43.84 earlier today;
• Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) is up 2% at $15.05 after posting a new 52-week high of $15.50 earlier today;;
• Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is down 4.6% at $67.96; and
• Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is up 2.8% at $37.00 after posting a new 52-week high of $39.25 earlier today.

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear earnings from DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS), Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), L Brands Inc. (NYSE: LTD), PetSmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM), SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: SEAS), Workday Inc. (NYSE: WDAY), Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR), GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), and Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

MannKind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) is up 15.1% at $6.17 after posting a new 52-week high of $6.54 earlier today. The biopharmaceuticals firm was touted as a likely takeover target.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is up 1.7% at $29.26. The drugmaker said it plans to sell its majority holding in animal drug spinoff Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS).

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down 22.9% at $0.99. The solar energy PV maker has sold one of its projects to another company at a steep discount, and the local government of Wuxi province, where Suntech has its main manufacturing plant, has filed a $2.5 billion claim against the company on behalf of more than 500 creditors.

Stay tuned for Thursday. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 8:58 a.m. – Flash PMI manufacturing index
• 9:00 a.m. – FHFA house price index
• 10:00 a.m. – New home sales
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 11:00 a.m. – Kansas City Fed manufacturing index
• 1:00 p.m. – Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) auction
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

The U.S.-China Business Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes trade between the two nations, has released data on exports to China from each state. Last year, Texas exported more than $10 billion in goods to the country. California exported more than $13 billion. Based on the gross export data provided by the U.S.-China Business Council, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 states exporting the most goods to China.’

Click here to see which states send the most goods to China

While U.S. exports to China grew by nearly 300% in the past 10 years, the growth has slowed substantially in the past several years as China’s economic growth suffered from the global recession. U.S. exports to China increased by just 6.5% last year. Despite the slowing growth, it was still better than nearly all other export partners, said Daniel Anthony, research director at Trade Partnership, a Washington D.C. economic research consulting firm.

For the first couple of months of this year, U.S. exports to China rose by 4.3%. While it was far less than previous years, “the rest of the world are up 0.2%.” explained Anthony. “So, in a lot of ways, at least for the first couple months of 2013, export Growth to China is really the only game in town.”

The states that export the most goods benefit from demand that remains strong in China but is weak in most other countries. According to Anthony, in the first few months of this year, machinery exports to China rose by 13% and declined by 7% to the rest of the world. Computers and electronics exports to China increased by 18% and fell by 3.4% to the rest of the world. This benefits states like California, which alone accounts for well more than a quarter of all U.S. computer and electronics shipped to China.

Other states that have benefited from growing Chinese demand include Washington, due to increased demand for its aerospace industry. Ohio and Illinois are profiting from increased demand of soybeans and other crops. Michigan has benefited from rising auto shipments to China, which grew 23% in the first few months of 2013.

Not all evidence suggests that trade with China is unconditionally positive for all Americans. According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2011, America’s trade deficit with China led to the displacement of 2.87% of all jobs in California. In Minnesota, another top exporter, this figure was 2.66%. However, Anthony notes, “it doesn’t make sense for the U.S. to hang on to low-value jobs.” Instead, he argues, Americans should focus on promoting jobs that utilize the U.S.’s relative strengths and advantages, while exporting less valuable work.

To determine the 10 states with the most exports to China, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed figures provided by the U.S.-China Business Council, a nonprofit organization that promotes trade relations between China and the U.S. All figures provided by the council are not inflation adjusted. Data on exports for different metropolitan areas comes from the International Trade Administration (ITA) and are for 2011, while figures on crop exports are produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service and are also as of 2011.

These are the 10 states sending the most goods to China.

Despite the Carl Icahn efforts to force a higher price, Dell’s buyout now looks capped at $13.65 rather than floored at $13.65. You have to assume that the earnings results are going to be very weak on Thursday. Still, Michael Dell will face a serious fight on his hands if he were to lower his $13.65 share price buyout offer. His board has been in support of his offer from the start, but pulling out would almost certainly force his board of directors to stage a coup.   That being said, investors just do not expect that a higher buyout is coming here.

Carl Icahn looks like he wet the bed here thinking he could just muscle his way into Dell to force a higher buyout or to force a recapitalization that would leave a large portion of the company public. Remember when we warned you about the activist investor bubble? Now it looks like holders of the Icahn Enterprises, L.P. (NASDAQ: IEP) units under Carl Icahn could lose some of those big profits if Icahn remains unable to shake Michael Dell into working a better deal.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is still tentatively involved in a preferred share of sorts, but The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) backed away when it witnessed the decline of the trends in the PC business.

Dell shares are trading at $13.47, some 1.33% under the $13.65 per share buyout price. That leaves very little room for the so-called merger arbitrage investors who take the risk that a deal cannot close.

Dell shares are up 33% in 2013. Rival shares in Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) are up by 48% so far in 2013. H-P is in a turnaround and is too large to be acquired, yet Dell’s turnaround and buyout only have the stock up by about two-thirds as much as that of H-P.

The IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF (NYSE: MNA) is betting on the Dell buyout and has about 7% of its assets in the fund. Its investors are hoping that all remains well with the Dell buyout after earnings. With a discount of only 1.3% or so, Wall Street’s vote is that Michael Dell is going to close the deal originally proposed and not for a single cent higher.

Bloomberg explains the Icahn counter offer:

Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management Inc., which together own 13 percent of Dell, are offering an alternative to the $13.65-a-share bid by Michael Dell and Silver Lake.

Southeastern and Icahn, in the sharply worded letter, said their proposal gives investors a chance to benefit from potential future growth at Dell and that it is more valuable than the buyout proposal. The two investors plan to take additional stock in the third-largest computer maker, rather than cash, they said.

The value of Icahn’s offer assumes that he can locate new senior management that can do what the other largest PC companies in the world have been unable to do. These companies include, at least, Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), Lenovo, Acer and Asus. Sales of PCs have started to fall due to the popularity of smartphones and tablets. And as the market disintegrates, Dell has fared worse than most. Research firm Gartner reported on global PC shipments:

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 79.2 million units in the first quarter of 2013, a 11.2 percent decline from the first quarter of 2012, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. Global PC shipments went below 80 million units for the first time since the second quarter of 2009. All regions showed a decrease in shipments, with the EMEA region experiencing the steepest decline.

Gartner further reported:

Dell … had a challenging quarter, registering a shipment decline in all regions except Japan. In Gartner’s preliminary view, Dell’s shipment growth in Japan was boosted by moderate demand, driven by a corporate refresh. Dell’s discussions about a possible leveraged buyout impacted shipments, as competitors aggressively attacked Dell’s position in the professional market.

There is no silver lining in the cloud over Dell’s future.

A number of analysts claim that Dell is worth much more than the $13.65 Michael Dell has offered. To support that assumption, one of two things, and probably both, would need to happen. Dell’s operating costs would have to be pared to the bone, though Dell already has cut thousands of people. Dell also would have to enter sectors in which it has little or no market share, or has had the most limited success.

Dell has tried to move into enterprise computing, which would put it head to head with firms that include International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). These companies control the high ground. Dell likely would need a significant position in both smartphones and laptops as well. Each of these sectors is already crowded, and each has powerful market leaders, such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Samsung.

Dell’s future does not offer investors much, which makes the Michael Dell offer attractive, even if it appears low right now.