A House committee pushes through plans for a reconsideration of the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

The chairman of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to leave. (Reuters)

Nissan posts better earnings on strong sales. (Reuters)

An attempt to bolster money market funds may involve setting up a capital buffer and blocking redemptions for 30 days. (Reuters)

A hacker releases source code from security firm Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC). (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Viacom (NYSE: VIA) may close a transaction to allow the e-commerce company to stream premium video from Viacom properties. (Reuters)

The European Central Bank will change the treatment of its Greek debt to try to salvage a bailout deal. (WSJ)

Some large investors disapprove of a merger deal between Glencore and Xtrata. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) will again try to cut workers at Opel. (WSJ)

UBS (NYSE: UBS) to cut bonuses by 60%. (WSJ)

CalSTRS says it has concerns about the diversity of Facebook’s board. (WSJ)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) asks the European Telecommunications Standards Institute to set rules for patent licensing among mobile device companies. (WSJ)

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti believes Europe must move beyond austerity to plans that will help create growth. (WSJ)

U.S. businesses upgrade plants and move jobs back to the U.S. (WSJ)

European sales of U.S. companies rose in the fourth quarter, which may cause a problem this year as the region’s economy slows. (WSJ)

Six Spanish banks to set aside €11.8 billion because of real estate trouble in the country. (WSJ)

India becomes more open to foreign investment as its economy slows. (NYT)

As Greece fails to set a deal on its debt, more workers go on strike. (NYT)

U.S. stocks reach a six-month high. (FT)

Collateralized mortgage obligations, one of the causes of the credit crisis, are again popular investments for banks. (FT)

Prices for Canadian oil drop sharply as supplies surge. (FT)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to fire 4,000 and move more production to Asia. (Bloomberg)

The Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) board rejects a $5.7 billion offer from Roche. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

NEC to cut 10,000 workers. (Reuters)

Nintendo posts poor earnings and cuts forecasts. (Reuters)

Warren Buffett says higher taxes on the rich are a way to bring the burden on Americans back inline. (Reuters)

George Soros criticizes efforts to put austerity over growth in Europe. (Reuters)

Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) shares rise on news its subscriber base rose sharply. (Reuters)

Tokyo Electric Power will get a $13 billion bailout. (Reuters)

George Soros buys Italian bonds because of high yields coupled with deflation. (Reuters)

U.S. officials are looking at HSBC (NYSE: HBC) for money laundering. (Reuters)

German consumer morale reaches a 10-month high. (Reuters)

Creditors may accept a lower yield on Greek bonds to end negotiations to keep the nation out of default. (Reuters)

The International Monetary Fund says a halt to Iran’s oil flow would push crude prices up 30%. (Reuters)

Nintendo will have the new Wii in markets before the end of the year. (Reuters)

Strategy Analytics says Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-based tablets have narrowed the sales gap with Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad. (Reuters)

SAP (NYSE: SAP) says it will do more to target Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) customers. (Reuters)

Public pensions have increased their investment in private equity, according to the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. (WSJ)

Roche’s offer for Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) is based on the belief that doctors will use genetic products on a more regular basis. (WSJ)

U.S. bond yields reached near record lows. (WSJ)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases data that show winters have been warmer recently. (WSJ)

A new Wall Street Journal poll shows better results for Obama. (WSJ)

Merkel says labor reforms and closer ties among EU nations were key to the success of austerity programs to close national deficits. (WSJ)

A drop in output shows the UK is closer to recession. (WSJ)

U.S. auto makers have returned to U.S. labor because of foreign exchange rates and low wages. (WSJ)

Samsung’s chip business is growing even faster than its cellphone division. (WSJ)

Farmers are planting more wheat despite droughts. (WSJ)

The Fed’s message is that a recovery may be years away. (NYT)

There is an oversupply of freighters, in part because it takes so long to make them. (NYT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) says EU banks have raised $52.8 billion in new capital since the third quarter to meet regulatory demands. (NYT)

Hedge funds are dumping Greek debt. (NYT)

Apple thinks the Chinese market could sharply increase its sales. (FT)

Iran may block oil exports ahead of sanctions. (FT)

As EU-based banks keep cash on their balance sheets, more companies may default because of lack of capital. (Bloomberg)

Geithner says he will leave office after Obama’s first term. (Bloomberg)

Airbus begins to fix cracks in wings of its A380. (Bloombeg)

Ford (NYSE: F) may post its largest profit since 1998. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 83 points to 12,758.85 (0.66%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 32 points (1.14%) to 2,818.31, and the S&P 500 rose 0.87% or more than 11 points to 1,326.06.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan; Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) cut to ‘neutral’ at Macquarie; and Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) raised to ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital and cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch. Znyga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) gets starting calls from four brokers: ‘overweight’ at Barclays and JPMorgan; ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; and ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Earnings reports since markets closed on last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Apple is up 6.4% at $447.17, after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $454.45; Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) is up nearly 3% at $6.72; Altera Corp. (NASDAQ: ALTR) is up 1% at $40.54; Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is down -0.6% at $15.60; ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is down -0.9% at $70.01; Praxair Inc. (NYSE: PX) is down -2.8% at $106.05; Wellpoint Inc. (NYSE: WLP) is down -4.9% at $66.01; US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) is up more than 18% at $7.59; and Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is down nearly -10% at $7.81.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is up more than 46% at $55.16. The genetic testing instrument maker is the target of a $5.7 billion hostile takeover offer from Roche Holdings AG.

Rubicon Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN) is down nearly -12% at $10.66. The LED lighting maker was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘hold’ at Needham yesterday on low demand.

Indiana Community Bancorp (NASDAQ: INCB) is up about 44% at $20.90 after posting a new 52-week high of $21.34 earlier. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Old National Bancorp (NYSE: ONB) in an all-stock transaction.

Complete Genomics Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOM) is up 19% to $2.98. The DNA-sequencing company is getting a boost from the hostile takeover bid for Illumina.

NuVasive Inc. (NASDAQ: NUVA) is up about 19% at $16.31. The medical device maker had its shares stopped today following a report that it would not receive an injunction against selling a disputed product.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:00 a.m. – New home sales
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply reports

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Paul Ausick

After the first half-hour of trading, Illumina is up nearly 39% at $52.35. Volume is about 6x the daily average of about 2.8 million shares traded.The genetic testing instrument maker is the target of a $5.7 billion hostile takeover offer from Roche Holdings AG.

LM Ericsson is down more than -15% at $8.68 after posting a new 52-week low of $8.67 earlier. Volume is already greater than the daily average of 4.3 million shares traded. The telecommunications company reported a huge profit drop on much weaker sales.

Corning is down nearly -10% at $13.19. Volume is already about 75% of the average daily volume of 20.5 million shares traded. The specialty glass and ceramics maker reported so-so earnings this morning, but forecast weaker prices for the year ahead.

Piper Jaffray is down more than -10% at $22.22. Volume is about 50% of the daily average of about 200,000 shares traded. The investment broker missed both earnings and revenue estimates in the fourth quarter.

Indiana Community Bancorp is up nearly 45% at $21.03, a new 52-week high. Volume is already more than 40x the daily average of just 1,700 shares traded. The bank holding company has agreed to be acquired by Old National Bancorp (NYSE: ONB) in an all-stock transaction.

Paul Ausick

Japan has its first trade deficit since 1980. (Reuters)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) posts weak earnings on a revenue drop. (Reuters)

International Monetary Fund’s Lagarde says that if Europe combined the ESFS and ESM rescue funds, it would raise confidence in the chance that a bailout of weak economies would work. (Reuters)

A PricewaterhouseCoopers study shows CEOs are concerned about a negative reaction to the  situation in Europe. (Reuters)

More cracks are found in the wings of Airbus A380 super jumbos. (Reuters)

Roche offers $5.7 billion to buy gene map firm Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN). (Reuters)

The Baltic Exchange’s measure of the cost of shipping commodities plunges, an indication of a slow economy. (Reuters)

Ericsson’s (NASDAQ: ERIC) shares plunge after it said profit for Q4 dropped sharply. (Reuters)

Facebook will suspend trading in its shares for three days, but does not explain why. (Reuters)

EU executives will block an NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) merger with Deutsche Borse. (Reuters)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to combine information on users, which will make it harder for them to keep private. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) presses to lead the Facebook IPO. (WSJ)

The parent company of British Air may be part of an AMR buyout. (WSJ)

The IMF cuts its forecasts for most nations around the world. (WSJ)

AMD (NYSE: AMD) shows a loss on large write-downs. (WSJ)

The Defense Department to reveal its plans for budget cuts. (WSJ)

The PMI of many parts of Europe rises. (WSJ)

EU finance ministers press Greece and its private creditors to settle differences on refinancing. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) is accused of using the government bailout as the means to make the Chevy Volt. (WSJ)

McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) quarter is driven in part by late-night food sales. (WSJ)

Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group plans to go public to raise $100 million. (WSJ)

Olympus is in talks with Sony (NYSE: SNE) to raise $1.3 billion. (WSJ)

The Avenue Capital Group will take over Quiznos as part of a debt restructure. (WSJ)

Gannett (NYSE: GCI) buys Fantasy Sports Ventures so that it can focus more on sports news. (WSJ)

Daniel Mudd, CEO of Fortress (NYSE: FIG), leaves after charges of securities fraud. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley makes only a small number of its executives new managing directors. (WSJ)

European banks restructure to improve balance sheets, but some moves may be blocked by regulators worried the changes could hurt the financial system. (NYT)

The European Central Bank faces losses on Greek bonds that could reach 55 billion euro. (NYT)

Oil imports helped drive Japan’s rare trade deficit. (NYT)

The IMF presses the ECB to take larger losses on Greek bonds. (FT)

Citigroup (NYSE: C) may make more spending cuts in its securities group. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Our screen process did not limit the scope to positive earnings, but we did use a minimum market valuation of $1 billion to avoid the smaller and even more speculative names in an already speculative sector.  The companies are all expected to rise 20% more and include the following stocks tied to biotech and the biohealth sectors: ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA); Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN); Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD); Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI); Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN); Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY); Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAZZ); Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE); and Theravance, Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX).

Unfortunately, some of these are biotech implosions where companies have run into problems. Others are pre-revenue and could be tomorrow’s drug giants in cancer and other indicated treatments.  Some may even be acquired.  We have included the current share price and recent price history, as well as based the implied upside upon the consensus price target objective from Thomson Reuters.  Recent fundamental data and color has been added on each if applicable.

There are also the ETF products via the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology (NASDAQ: IBB) and the SPDR S&P Biotech (NYSE: XBI).  The iShares variation trades at $104.30 and its 52-week range is $83.96 to $110.02.  Gilead (and Pharmasset) would be the largest implied holding of the iShares ETF with almost 16% weighting combined.  The SPDR variation trades at $66.48 and its 52-week range is $47.01 to $75.17. The SPDR also only contains ARIAD (and Pharmasset) of the biotechs with the most implied upside below. 

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARIA) currently trades around $12.50, has a market cap of about $1.65 billion, and the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $15.91 leaves an implied upside of about 27%.  Its 52-week trading range is $5.04 to $13.50 and 2011 has been a year where the company’s share price has come close to challenging the prior highs from 1999 to 2000. It is still pre-revenue for the most part and losses are expected to continue at least through 2012.  ARIAD is focused around oncology and its shares are up from a $10.42 per share offering of almost 25 million shares that raised nearly $250 million for the company.  This was one of the good secondary offerings that allows the company to raise development and commercialization funds without becoming dependent solely upon a single partner.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is another implosion story due to lower adoption rates of PROVENGE for prostate cancer, although some are hoping and expecting that the new reimbursement rates (and physician clarity) may help the company regain some of its lost footing.  At $7.58, the market cap is barely $1.1 billion and the $11.05 Thomson Reuters price target leaves an implied upside of over 45%.  To show just how bad this one has gone, the 52-week trading range is $6.46 to $43.96.

Also Read: Small Caps With 50% Upside in 2012

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) recently traded at $39.88 and it is one of the biotech giants with a market cap of about $30 billion. THe 52-week trading range is $34.45 to $43.49 and the Thomson Reuters consensus price target of $48.86 leaves an implied upside of 22.5%. The last time Gilead was above $50.00 was in early 2009.  Gilead is somewhat surprising to see on the list considering its controversial $11 billion acquisition of Pharmasset when that target acquisition is not expected to generate sales for at least another year.  The company has new HIV medication that is helping to boost the value but the company is diversifying to include more target markets.

E Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is up more than 6% before market open to $9.40, relative to a 52-week range of $7.74 – $18.13.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is down 33% premarket to $26.57, relative to a 52-week range of $ 37.12 – $79.40.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is down more than 1% premarket to $121.64, relative to a 52-week range of 107.63 – $304.79

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down 2.75% premarket to $15.84, relative to a 52-week range of $14.78-$26.00.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is down nearly 10% premarket to $62.80, relative to a 52-week range of $41.15-$79.40.

Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) is down more than 3% before market open to $2.15, relative to a 52-week range of $0.83-$2.67.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (NASDAQ: PFCB) is down more than 11% premarket to $34.80, relative to a 52-week range of $37.38-$53.39.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) managed to blow past earnings and guide revenues higher.  All this while margins continue to be overlooked.  Shares were up and are up even more now at all-time highs… The gain is up 6.7% at $228.65 on nearly 3 million shares since the 4PM bell.

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AMEX: AVL) is getting squashed after a filing for the sale of 7 million shares of common stock “to complete a bankable feasibility study on the Thor Lake Project and for working capital and general corporate purposes.”  Shares rose 6.9^ today to $6.81 and shares are almost giving it all back with a 6% drop to $6.81 in the after-hours.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) fell 3.6% today to $69.65 ahead of earnings.  It beat estimates but gave light guidance for 2011 after having seen such a big run before.  Shares are down over 9% at $63.25 right before the closing bell.

Internet HOLDRs (NYSE: HHH) has traded an unusual 13,000 shares and is up 3.3% at $81.98 in the after-hours session.  The reason is simple: the weighting is over 48.5% Amazon.com.

Networking equipment makers be damned!  Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) is down over 13% at $27.04 on more than 3.4 million after-hours shares.  The “little-Cisco” turned in light earnings for the second quarter and guidance for the third quarter looked light as well after blaming deployment timing delays of service provider.

Speaking of Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), if things are soft at Juniper the idea is that there is no way things are great before the company has even implemented a turnaround and restructuring yet.  Cisco is down 1.7% at $16.01 on nearly 1 million shares since the 4PM bell.  Elsewhere, CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) is down 5% at $16.70 after the closing bell.

Keynote Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: KEYN) beat earnings and raised its guidance for sales and earnings in Q3… Shares are up 10% at $24.00, above the 52-week range of $9.00 to $23.75.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) beat estimates, in part from Asian operations, and shares are up 5.4% at $48.75 on more than 1.8 million shares in the after-hours session.

Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: LLTC) may have grown revenues 27% but the focus and emphasis is on light guidance for the next quarter.  Shares are down right at 5% at $29.65 in the after-hours session this evening.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOR) managed to turn in above-estimate earnings sales after the close, sending shares up 8.8% at $28.30.  Keep in mind that the 52-week range before this was $9.01 to $28.20.

Tempur Pedic International Inc. (NYSE: TPX) was halted, a fear, but the fear was unwarranted… The company beat earnings, raised guidance, and started a share buyback plan.  Shares closed down 1% today but the after-hours session has shares up 6.4% at $66.02.

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

The big winners of 2010 have so far included shares of Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN), InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN), Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY), Theravance Inc. (NASDAQ: THRX), and ViroPharma Inc. (NASDAQ: VPHM). We have taken a look at what has driven the gains as well as what the prospects are for 2011 and beyond.  FULL REPORT

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) appears to have the most implied upside of the $1 billion and higher catgory, but others included are Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN), Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD), Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI), Incyte Corporation (NASDAQ: INCY), and Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACOR).  The full list is available showing the implied upside and we have added color and commentary on each.  FULL REPORT

Stay tuned for many more sector updates in many sectors with winners of 2010 and the outlook for 2011 and beyond!

JON C. OGG