The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up about 46 points to 12,625.19 (0.37%), the NASDAQ rose more than 18 points (0.67%) to 2,788.33, and the S&P 500 rose 0.5% or more than 6 points to 1,314.52.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA) started as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) maintained ‘sell’ at Argus; Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) maintained as ‘buy’ with target price of $130 but lowered estimates at Argus; and Air Products and Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) cut to ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is up nearly 4% at $31.55; Sealy Corp. Inc. (NYSE: ZZ) is down nearly -18% at $1.51; Blackrock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) is down -0.75% at $186.39; Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is up 2.65% at $6.98; Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS) is down -3.51% at $14.02; Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) is down -0.22% at $44.37; Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is up 5.42% at $18.29; and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is up 3.33% at $9.32.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

8×8 Inc. (NASDAQ: EGHT) is up more than 26% at $4.30. The telecom services company reported much better-than-expected earnings for its third fiscal quarter.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is down more than -15% at $8.32. The solar panel maker is falling following Germany’s announcement that it will begin lowering its solar subsidies.

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down nearly -15% at $$1.80. This Chinese solar panel maker is suffering from the German subsidy cut as well.

Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -14% at $3.18. Another Chinese solar maker hit by the cuts to German subsidies. The list could go on, but you get the idea.

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

• 10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales

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Paul Ausick

Read the ten most hated companies in America

Research about companies comes in two sets. One is public research about consumer satisfaction, customer care, pricing of products and services, and brand impressions. Wall St. research takes into account another set of factors, which include present earnings, profit forecasts, product development and quality, and brand valuations.

Some of the companies on this list are widely despised because of the businesses that they are in. In an economic environment where resources are stretched, an airline or retail operation that has millions of customers is likely to make a lot of enemies. Similarly, banks and other corporations with a large number of retail outlets are at a disadvantage compared with businesses with few customers. Some of the corporations on this list also have had to fire significant numbers of employees due to the recession. Downsizing causes poor morale, increases the workload of the remaining staff and affects customer satisfaction when service is poorer.

We examined each company based on several criteria. We considered total return to shareholders in comparison to the broader market and other companies in the same sector during the last year. We reviewed financial analyst opinions on those companies that are public. We analyzed data from a broad array of sources, including Consumer Reports, JD Power, the MSN/Zogby Poll, ForeSee and the University of Michigan American Customer Satisfaction Index. We also considered negative press based on 24/7 Wall St.’s analysis of media coverage and the Flame Index, which uses a proprietary algorithm to review more than 12,000 websites and ranks companies based on the frequency of negative words. Finally, we considered the views of taxpayers, Congress and the White House — where applicable.

Several companies that should have been on the list based on performance and public perception during the financial crisis did not make it. For example, it would be easy to argue that mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be here. The bankruptcy and maintenance of the two by the federal government will cost taxpayers between $224 billion and $360 billion, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). But, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer stand-alone companies in any normal sense. Their shares have been delisted. Each is in effect a ward of the U.S. government with no ability to control its own fate through the actions of management or public shareholders.

The U.S. Postal Service could also be a candidate for the list. It has cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and it lost $5.1 billion in its last fiscal year alone. However, the Postmaster General and his staff have little or no control over the eventual fate of the USPS. Congress decides how and to what extent it will be funded. That means Congress essentially controls how many workers and offices will exist, and even, based on funding, how often the mail will be delivered.

It is worth noting that some of the companies on the list may have done very poorly by some measures, and well by others. A few of the most hated companies have had good stock performances. Others may have satisfied customers. All of this was taken into account when the decisions for the final list were made.

The following are 24/7 Wall St.’s 10 Most Hated Companies for 2011, in no particular order.

Congress reaches a tentative deal to keep the government open. (Reuters)

Bill Gross’s PIMCO Total Return Fund continues to do poorly. (Reuters)

The maker of Angry Birds may have its IPO in Hong Kong. (Reuters)

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) will begin the sale of its asset management business. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) delays its QNX system until 2012, an unexpected development. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) struggles to gain market share in China. (Reuters)

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) enters the HR software industry. (Reuters)

Sony (NYSE: SNE) will launch its Vita device. (WSJ)

Battelle Memorial Institute reports that R&D spending should increase next year. (WSJ)

The International Monetary Fund’s Lagarde says all major nations must help Europe. (WSJ)

United, Delta (NYSE: DAL)  and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) begin to challenge Southwest (NYSE: LUV) at the low end of the price market. (WSJ)

The CEO of the New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) departs. (WSJ)

Investors in Sino-Forest ask the CEO to leave. (WSJ)

Facebook will release new software to make it easier for advertisers to use the social network. (WSJ)

MF Global’s Jon Corzine says he knew about fund transfers to Europe. (WSJ)

Japanese regulators again attack Citigroup (NYSE: C) over its mutual fund sales. (WSJ)

Property prices in Asia fall quickly. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) cuts 1,600 jobs. (WSJ)

Some retailers will have “Super Saturday” before Christmas. (NYT)

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) to bet its $21 billion buyout of El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP) will give it a chance to enter the booming natural gas market. (NYT)

Russia may invest $20 billion in an EU bailout, with the money moving through the IMF. (NYT)

The co-CEOs of RIM will cut their salaries to $1. (FT)

Fitch cuts the ratings of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Barclays (NYSE: BCS). (Bloomberg)

PSA Peugeot Citroen , Fiat SpA and General Motors (NYSE: GM) lead a drop in European car sales. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

McKinsey, MITRE, and Shalom Consulting were all among the top 10. Tech leaders were also near the top of the list. These included Facebook, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Rackspace, and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM).

Widely regarded companies which make many “most admired” lists also topped the list. These included Costco (NASDAQ: COST), Southwest Air (NYSE: LUV), and Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX)

Douglas A. McIntyre

HIGHLIGHTS from this year’s top 50 Best Places to Work list, which is solely based on employee reviews: Top 5 Best Places to Work: Bain & Company (Rank: 1, Rating: 4.7), McKinsey & Company (Rank: 2, Rating: 4.3), Facebook (Rank: 3, Rating: 4.3), MITRE (Rank: 4, Rating: 4.1), Google (Rank: 5, Rating: 4.0) (Company ratings based on a 5-point scale: 5=very satisfied, 3=OK, 1=very dissatisfied).

·         Most Improved Company: McKinsey & Company is the most improved company among winners appearing on both the 2012 and 2011 list. The company garners a 4.3 rating among employees in 2012, up .6 from last year’s 3.7 rating. (McKinsey ranked #18 on the 2011 list)

·         Company to see the Biggest Decline: Southwest Airlines saw the biggest decline — the airline dropped from #2 last year to #17 in 2012, as the company rating fell from 4.4 to 3.8.

·         Most Consistent Best Places to Work: 13 companies on the 2012 list have made it on all previous Best Places to Work lists (2009, 2010 & 2011), including Apple (Rank: 10, Rating: 3.9), Bain & Company, Chevron (Rank: 16, Rating 3.8), Google, and Procter & Gamble (Rank: 25, Rating 3.7), among others.

·         New to the Best Places to Work list: 17 companies are making their debut as a Best Place to Work, including , J.Crew (Rank: 24, Rating 3.8), Disney Parks & Resorts (Rank 33, Rating 3.6), Starbucks (Rank: 34, Rating 3.6), Cleveland Clinic (Rank: 36, Rating 3.6) & Coach (Rank: 37, Rating 3.6), among others.

Douglas A. McIntyre

With American Airlines on the sidelines, we’ve looked at the stocks of several other US carriers in a search for some hidden value: Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC), JetBlue Airways Corp. (NYSE: LCC), Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK), Hawaiian Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: HA), and Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE).

Delta Air Lines has a median target price of $18.00 and is trading at $8.39 around noon today. The implied gain here is about 115%. Delta’s share price is about -1.5% lower than it was on October 21st, so the implied gain is growing because the share price is falling. The target price is unchanged since October.

US Airways has a median target price of $10.00 and is trading today at $5.36, about -7.6% lower than the share price in late October. The implied gain is about 86.6%, and the target price is unchanged since October.

United Airlines has a median target price of $32.50 and is trading today at $19.94, yielding a potential upside of nearly 63%. The stock’s target price rose by $0.50 in the past six weeks, but the share price has fallen by about -1.4% in the same period.

Every one of the nine stocks we looked at has an implied gain of greater than 20%, proving once again that numbers often don’t tell the whole story. The only stock with a chance of offering investors some value is Alaska Air. But the chance is a very slim one.

Alaska Air’s median target price was raised from $80.00 to $83.00, and the share price has increased by about 5% since late October. It’s the only one of these nine to perform that combined feat. The stock’s potential upside is 22% and its forward P/E is 7.39. The company does not pay a dividend.

Alaska has ordered 15 new 737s from Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2012. Thirteen of the new planes will be 737-900ERs, which carry a list price of $89.6 million each. That’s a total of about $1.2 billion, which is roughly equal to both the company’s long-term debt and to its available cash.

The company does not indicate how it will finance the purchase of these planes, but a recent report in the Financial Times indicates that European banks, the main lenders to global airlines, have cut back lending for commercial aircraft purchases. That means the airlines will have to issue debt or perhaps resort to leasing new planes.

The impact on aircraft makers like Boeing is likely to be greater than the impact on airlines, but what’s reasonably certain is that the cost of capital for aircraft is going to rise. For that reason, if for no other, investing in any airline stock now is a speculative play rather than a value play.

Paul Ausick

France and Germany continue to press new eurozone treaty measures that would help trigger new financing for the region. (Reuters)

Japan says it is not aware of a $600 billion IMF plan for Europe. (Reuters)

The Department of Health blocks wider distribution of the morning-after birth control pill. (Reuters)

Japan’s government may set a bailout fund from crippled TEPCO. The fund may be as high as $19 billion. (Reuters)

Two large electronics retailers in China increase e-commerce efforts. (Reuters)

Nintendo says its lead game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, will not leave. (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) says it will continue its campaign to buy T-Mobile. (Reuters)

A Wall Street Journal analysis shows the SEC allowed 50 money managers to avoid disclosing ownership in corporations. (WSJ)

Natural gas will replace coal as the primary means to generate electricity in the U.S. by 2025. (WSJ)

Regulators may decide U.S. banks do not have to set risk parameters based on credit rating agency opinions. (WSJ)

A deal between Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) faces more regulator scrutiny. (WSJ)

Macy’s (NYSE: M) may try to block a deal between Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (NYSE: MSO) and JCPenney (NYSE: JCP). (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) says Volt fires were cause by welded parts in the cars. (WSJ)

Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) 4G network not working in some areas. (WSJ)

Some central banks in Europe set plans in the event the eurozone does not survive. (WSJ)

New York State raises a tax on the wealthy. (WSJ)

Avon (NYSE: AVP) has a gap between earnings and free cash flow that limits its operations. (WSJ)

Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: DISCA) says its investment in the Oprah network continues to rise. (WSJ)

Pacific Sunware of California (NASDAQ: PSUN) will close 200 stores. (WSJ)

Southwest Air (NYSE: LUV) is close to a transaction to buy 100 Boeing (NYSE: BA) planes. (WSJ)

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has advanced approval of a new kidney cancer drug. (WSJ)

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) says it will cut its U.S. workforce by 24%. (WSJ)

LivingSocial will try to raise $400 million and probably put IPO plans on hold. (WSJ)

Developers buy closed auto plants because of cheap property values. (NYT)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) workers approve a new four-year contract. (NYT)

Genetech and Novartis (NYSE: NVS) develop a drug that may slow the advance of breast cancer. (NYT)

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) may sell its luxury operations. (FT)

JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) says it will increase lending in Europe. (FT)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) loses a key trademark case in China. (FT)

McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP) to cuts jobs in its education unit. (FT)

A Bloomberg poll says investors expect a banking crisis in China. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released this new forecast this morning, and that’s not even the worst news according to the group’s CEO:

The biggest risk facing airline profitability over the next year is the economic turmoil that would result from a failure of governments to resolve the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. Such an outcome could lead to losses of over $8 billion—the largest since the 2008 financial crisis.

There is some slightly positive news for US carriers like Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL), Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), and US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC). North American carriers are expected to generate about $1.7 billion in profits during 2012 primarily due to less capacity growth which will help keep profits up.

But that isn’t enough to keep the global industry on a positive track:

Even if government intervention averts a banking crisis it is unlikely that Europe will avoid a brief recession. Business and consumer confidence has already fallen too far. Global GDP growth forecasts for 2012 have been revised downwards to 2.1%. Historically the airline industry has seen profit turn into loss whenever global GDP growth falls below 2%. This is driving the downgrade in the 2012 outlook.

The IATA expects European-based airlines to lose $600 million next year, mainly due to economic weakness in their home countries and higher passenger taxes. Asia-Pacific carriers, including China, are expected to post a profit of $2.1 billion, down from an estimated $3.3 billion profit this year.

The 2011 profit forecasts for Middle Eastern and Latin American fell by $400 million each, to $400 million and $200 million, respectively. African carriers are still expected to break even in 2011. The 2012 forecast for these three regions have all been lowered: Middle Eastern carriers are now expected to post profits of $300 million, down from $700 million; Latin American carriers are expected to post 2012 profits of $100 million, down from $400 million; and African carriers are still expected to lose $100 million.

A bit of hope does exist for fuel prices to be no higher in 2012 than they are this year, and even for prices to fall if the Eurozone debt crisis doesn’t get fixed. Of course, if that fix doesn’t happen the airlines have bigger problems than the price of fuel.

Paul Ausick

It may seem odd, but the AMR bankruptcy is likely a boom for the likes of United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) and US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC), which are up 6% and 10% respectively.  Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) is up 0nly 1 penny at $7.88 and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is up 3.6% at $7.70.  Even JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) is catching a 5.7% pop higher.

All those bankruptcy rumors now turned out to be true.  AMR has noted that it has $4.1 billion cash in the bank and also that it will honor all tickets and reservations for American and American Eagle Flights.

The market is telling you that shareholders will be left with nothing here.  AMR’s stock is down 85% at $0.2311 and the new 52-week trading range is $0.80 to $8.89.

Gerard Arpey has also announced his decision to retire as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  I wonder what his parachute has considering that this wipes out shareholders.

This move will allow other airlines to have a stronger negotiating position, it will also allow for potentially higher ticket prices, and more nickel-and-dime fees.  If this wasn’t true you wouldn’t have the peers up as much as 10%.

Early this morning in the pre-market AMR’s stock was down about 60%.  For it to slide further is a sing of doom heading the way of AMR.  A bankruptcy stock down 60% indicated at least some chance of there being assets left over.  A drop of almost 86% is a sign of a death sentence.

JON C. OGG

Another airline that is also cheap and oversold is United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL), but it is expected to only have breakeven earnings in the March quarter while Southwest is expected to be profitable in the current December and the coming March quarters. Companies like US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC) and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) are both expected to have an operating loss in at least one of the next two quarterly reports.  The rumor mill also has many investors worried of a potential bankruptcy at AMR Corporation (NYSE: AMR).  JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) is attractive on valuations as well, but its problems seem to keep working against it even if its Northeast-dominance leaves it more subject to adverse weather conditions than most rivals. This leaves Southwest as the best of class among the large air carriers even if these other stocks also look oversold on their charts.
 
Southwest remains the most passenger-friendly large air carrier in the sky.  The company is also still digesting the acquisition of Airtran and it is now much more subject to the price of jet fuel that it was from 2006 to 2008.  Shares sold off from $12 to $8 during the summer sell-off and shares went well under $8 during the peak selling in late-September and early October.  After a recover, shares slid from $8.50 just about two weeks ago to end up at $7.73 most recently. 

The airline still sports a relatively young fleet and it still has perhaps the best safety record despite some less than headline-friendly in the last few years.  The company pays only a 0.2% dividend yield, but that is actually one of the few dividends in the airline sector.  With what may be more predictable earnings than peers, we view Southwest as the one airline that wants to be dividend-friendly in the years ahead.

We would consider the current $12.21 consensus analyst target from Thomson Reuters now artificially high even if the 52-week trading range is $7.15 to $13.77 versus a $7.73 price today.  In fact, that target price is high enough that we are even considering that analysts will lower their price targets ahead.  The stock is now trading under its stated book value and it trades at only about 1.1-times tangible book value.  And if it meets Thomson Reuters estimates, then the stock trades at 19-times 2011 and under 10-times 2012 expected earnings. Southwest should recover considerably unless the market tanks or unless an unforseen event occurs. 

We would note, Southwest has what is close to a net-zero exposure to Europe.  The only thing not in its favor is that hedging gasoline prices like it did in years past has been far less prevalent.  The company also has a better labor situation compared to other airlines. 

This was one of seven oversold picks poised for a comeback which was offered recently to our readers who sign up for our free daily newsletter service.  Each morning’s free newsletter is sent by email and includes the top news headlines, shows the top 15 or so analyst upgrades and downgrades, covers activist investor and insider trading, and offer key trading alerts for investors. Sign up in the box below.

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