Bill Gross’s PIMCO Total Return Fund has $1.4 billion in outflows in December, according to Morningstar. (Reuters)

MF Global sold some assets to Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) before its collapsed. (Reuters)

As a move toward making its activities more public, the Federal Reserve will publish its rate forecasts. (Reuters)

BP (NYSE: BP) stops payments from its Gulf Coast Claims Facility as it waits for a court hearing on how some outlays should be made. (Reuters)

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) says small business payrolls rose by 55,000 in December. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may take the chairman title away from its co-CEOs. (Reuters)

Samsung expects a good Q4 because of rising smartphone sales. (Reuters)

PayPal President Scott Thompson will be named Yahoo!’s (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO. (AllThingsD)

Venture capitalists cut investment activity after a torrid 2011. (WSJ)

Banks grow concerned about investments in Asia as the economy there slows. (WSJ)

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) wins a ruling in its mortgage suit against Bank of America’s (NYSE: BAC) Countrywide. (WSJ)

Toyota’s (NYSE: TM) earnings power will be challenged by the value of the yen. (WSJ)

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD) hires the CEO of Brookstone to help resurrect Kmart. (WSJ)

Farmers and the food industry want relief from new government rules on consumer intake of dioxins. (WSJ)

The French government will increase its VAT. (WSJ)

Oprah Winfrey’s new TV show has a poor start. (WSJ)

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to raise prices in some parts of the country. (WSJ)

Athabasca Oil Sands will sell 40% of one of its oil sands products to PetroChina (NYSE: PTR). (WSJ)

AT&T (NYSE: T) will pay TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) $125 million for a license to some of its technology. (WSJ)

Ford (NYSE: F) to launch a new SUV in India. (WSJ)

Online sales help the results of UPS (NYSE: UPS) and American Express (NYSE: AXP). (NYT)

The jobless rate in Germany falls to 6.8%. (NYT)

As Spain’s unemployment reaches 23%, evidence grows that Europe has been divided into financial “haves” and “have not” nations. (FT)

Mobile research firm Flurry says that more than 1.2 billion apps were downloaded the week of Christmas. (FT)

Due to a slow global economy, Fiat may be well short of its goal to sell 6 million cars,  between its main unit and Chrysler, by 2014. (Bloomberg)

Shares of Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) fall as investors worry about the future of online daily deals. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

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Accounting problems at Olympus may make it a takeover target. (Reuters)

Italian bond yields hit a eurozone record. (Reuters)

Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) replaces its CEO. (Reuters)

China vows to keep its economy growing despite difficulties elsewhere. (Reuters)

HTC says a ruling on IP issues with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been delayed. (Reuters)

The euro hits an 11-month low. (WSJ)

Olympus restates earnings. (WSJ)

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) earnings come in below expectations, due in part to competition with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN). (WSJ)

General Electric (NYSE: GE) will find its earnings undermined in Europe. (WSJ)

The head of AMD (NYSE: AMD) plays down parts shortages after Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) warns on earnings. (WSJ)

The National Transportation Safety Board calls for a ban on cellphone use and text devices in cars. (WSJ)

A fight about payroll taxes delays the federal budget bill. (WSJ)

California must make $981 million in mid-term budget cuts. (WSJ)

Chrysler’s CEO says the company could make a $3 billion operating profit next year. (WSJ)

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) must return about $700 million to investors in its flagship global real-estate fund.  (WSJ)

MBIA (NYSE: MBI) will pay Morgan Stanley $1.1 billion to settle allegations of selling guarantees on real estate. (WSJ)

Commerzbank may have too small a capital reserve if eurozone financial problems worsen. (NYT)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says members must defend internet freedoms. (NYT)

International Monetary Fund officials urge more austerity for Greece. (NYT)

EU officials say the a new treaty already is beset by political arguments. (FT)

GE’s Immelt says the company could have double-digit growth if its industrial operations do well. (FT)

EBay’s (NASDAQ: EBAY) PayPal will challenge Groupon (NYSE: GRPN) and LivingSocial. (Bloomberg)

Members of OPEC, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, agree the group should set a production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day.  (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

A judge blocks the $285 million settlement between Citigroup (NYSE: C) and the SEC. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) says Kindle sales rose 4X on Black Friday compared to the same day a year ago. (Reuters)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) offers loaner cars to Chevy Volt owners. (Reuters)

Thomas H. Lee Partners may bid for the U.S. operations of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). (Reuters)

Some MF Global customer money may have been found in Europe. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) may offer some of its BlackBerry security features on the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android devices. (Reuters)

Aol (NYSE: AOL) says it does not compete with Yahoo!, but still could hire good talent. (Reuters)

Facebook may launch an IPO in the spring that would raise $10 billion and value the company at $100 billion. (WSJ)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and other financial firms are in settlement talks with MBIA (NYSE: MBI) over losses incurred during the financial crisis. (WSJ)

Amazon.com’s Kindle emerges as the primary competition to the Apple iPad. (WSJ)

Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) increases its forecast for annual earnings. (WSJ)

Toyota (NYSE: TM), a huge employer in Japan, may move production because of the value of the yen. (WSJ)

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York says Americans cut debt 0.6% in the third quarter, mostly through defaults and debt repayment. (WSJ)

The National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers say state budget deficits have improved. (WSJ)

The OECD says global growth will slow. (WSJ)

Cyber Monday sales rise 18% by some measures. (WSJ)

Black Friday sales may not help forecasts for the balance of the holiday season. (WSJ)

Summit Entertainment and Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) are in M&A talks. (WSJ)

Icahn Enterprises (NYSE: IEP) offers to buy Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) for $1.73 billion. (WSJ)

The UK will increase its bank levy to raise $3.9 billion. (WSJ)

Nomura Holdings (NYSE: NMR) sharply decreases its exposure to eurozone paper. (WSJ)

Bets against the euro hit a 17-month high. (WSJ)

Tightened credit at EU banks hampers business growth. (NYT)

Silver Lake and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may bid for a stake in Yahoo! (NYT)

Tokyo Electric Power Company will sell assets to raise $3.2 billion. (NYT)

The Polish foreign minister says that only Germany can save the eurozone. (FT)

The FHFA Office of Inspector-General says that mortgage companies often press his agency in a way that hurts its financial position. (FT)

Moody’s may cut the ratings of a number of European banks. (Bloomberg)

The Fiscal Policy Institute says most New York State growth since 2008 has come in low-level jobs. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Concern about China growth and the EU disaster push global stocks lower. (Reuters)

Federal Reserve officials argue about the future rate of inflation. (Reuters)

IBM (NYSE: IBM) earnings send its stock lower. (Reuters)

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) may beat earnings forecasts by double digits. (Reuters)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) hurt by cancellations of 787 Dreamliner orders. (Reuters)

The government may settle some mortgage claims with big banks in a deal that would see more underwater mortgages refinanced, which would help housing. (WSJ)

Hedges that involved MBIA (NYSE: MBI) hurt Morgan Stanley’s (NYSE: MS) balance sheet. (WSJ)

Angela Merkel of Germany smothers hopes of a quick and comprehensive resolution of EU financial problems. (WSJ)

ITC says Apple’s iPhone does not violate HTC patents. (WSJ)

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) cuts some advertising prices by 5% to 15%. (WSJ)

Portugal announces plans for significant government expense cuts to bring down its deficit over the next two years. (WSJ)

Anadarko (NYSE: APC) to pay BP (NYSE: BP) $4 billion to settle claims from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (WSJ)

Apple sells four million iPhone 4S models in the first three days it is available. (WSJ)

Wall St. still wonders what Apple will do with its $70 billion plus in cash. (WSJ)

Hedge fund manager David Einhorn attacks business practices at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR). (WSJ)

Banks begin to make more loans. (NYT)

Global climate change allows cargo ships to use an Arctic passage to cut their times to certain ports. (NYT)

The Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) deal to buy El Paso (NYSE: EP) may have antitrust implications. (NYT)

Bank results raise the question of whether mortgage delinquencies have worsened. (FT)

France may lose its Aaa rating, based on comments by Moody’s. (Bloomberg)

Car sales in Europe rise as Volkswagen and BMW post strong results. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) was up almost 1% at $7.66 in the after-hours session on more than 15 million shares in the hour after the close.  CEO Brian Moynihan defended the bank’s finances and the bank’s capital on a CNBC interview, but keep in mind that the rally back was 16% today during normal trading hours.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) is higher after beating earnings even though guidance looked soft on first look. Shares rose 10% to $29.49 today and the after-hours reaction to the earnings was up 5.8% to $31.30 this evening.

Demand Media, Inc. (NYSE: DMD) enjoyed a 7% gain on the day, but it announced after the close that it was extending its advertising relationship with Google and that had shares up almost 17% at $10.50 as many have feared that Google would penalize it for accusations of content farming. The post-IPO range is $7.65 to $27.38.

MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) has moved around a bit after a near-90% drop in earnings.  The numbers were distorted due to prior gains and aided by cost cuts in the current quarter.  Shares were up 2,9% today and the after-hours reaction has shares down 1.3% at $6.65.

Motricity, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOTR) has been a rough stock and the rough patch is getting even rougher.  The company missed earnings expectations and announced a CFO transition… Shares appear to be down by HALF… That is -55% at $2.05 versus a prior 52-week range of $4.18 to $31.95.

Vitesse Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ: VTSS) rose substantially in the after-hours.  While revenues were lower, the company returned to profitability and margin rose.  Shares were up 19% at $3.92 in the after-hours session.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) managed to perform on earnings growth of 11%, but the studio segment decline on Cars 2 cancelled out the gains of theme parks and TV.  Shares were down almost 2% at $34.10 in the after-hours session but that was on the heels of a 5% gain with a strong DJIA on Tuesday.

JON C. OGG

The company reported earnings of -$0.75 EPS on a near 10% drop in revenues to $367 million.  Thomson Reuters had estimates of $0.13 EPS and $351.6 million in revenues.  The net loss came to $151.7 million for the quarter versus net income of $24.6 million in the same quarter a year ago; new insurance written in Q2 was $3.1 billion versus $2.7 billion a year earlier.

MGIC did note, “the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) accounted for $583.1 million of insurance that is not included in the new insurance written total for the quarter due to these transactions being treated as a modification of the coverage on existing insurance in force.”

The banks and credit card companies might be reporting that delinquencies and charge-offs continue to improve, but it turns out that if you need to carry mortgage insurance it seems you really have to have mortgage insurance.  The company’s June 30 delinquent loan rate, outside of its bulk loans, was 13.4%.  The good news is that was nearly 15% delinquent at the end of 2010 and a year ago.  If you tally in the bulk loans then the June 30 rate is 15.80% delinquent versus an average of about 17.5% at the end of 2010 and a year ago.

Losses incurred during the second quarter were $459.6 million versus $320.1 million in the same quarter a year ago, “due to new notices exceeding cures.”  MGIC also said that its net quarterly underwriting and other expenses were $54.0 million versus $54.1 million a year earlier.

When a company has delinquency rates this high, how can it possibly make money?  Even with the improvements seen it could be many quarters out before profits are seen again.

We already saw the banks trade at a discount to book value, and they are profitable.  MGIC listed its book value per shares at $7.52 as of June 30.  That figure was $8.33 per share one quarter back and $9.84 a year ago.

MGIC shares closed at $6.00 on Friday and shares just opened down about 9% at $5.47 this morning.  At 9:36 AM EST we have shares at $5.50 and the 52-week trading range is $5.41 to $11.79.

PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI) is down 6.3% at $1.19 in sympathy against a 52-week range of $1.01 to $4.68.  MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) may have rallied on reports of a BofA settlement last week, but its shares are down 3.2% at $9.87 this morning.

JON C. OGG

BP plc (NYSE: BP) Cut to Hold at Societe Generale.
CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.
International Gaming Technology (NYSE: IGT) Raised to Hold at Argus.
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) Cut to Neutral at Collins Stewart.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late Tuesday call)..
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Raised to Buy at Roth Capital.
Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE: STM) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research.
Strayer Education Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) Cut to Underperform and listed as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Tellabs Inc. (NASDAQ: TLAB) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Tesoro Corporation (NYSE: TSO) Raised to Outperform and called Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

You can 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

MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) rose 16% to $13.00 today.  Of the insurers, it is considered one of the survivors or one of the less-weak.  Shares rose yesterday as well, but the stock was under $10.50 briefly this week.

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is still a company that is at-risk and its future is still uncertain.  The amazing part of the mortgage foreclosure cessation is that this all give Ambac that much more legal strength in the suits against banks showing that documentation was error-ridden all throughout the mortgage industry.  Shares rose 18% to $0.95 today and the after-hours session has it even higher.  The tally including trading after the close is now more than 57 million shares. Shares rose yesterday as well, but the stock had traded under $0.75 earlier in the week.

Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN) shares rose 6.8% to $9.01 today on about 150% of normal volume after more than 10 million shares traded hands.  The highs today traded above the $9.00 prints from earlier in the week.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE: MTG) was up the least today of the group.  Shares were up nearly 5% at $10.51 on more than 9.2 million shares.

Bank of America closed down 5% at $12.60 on about 500 million shares today.  It also saw more than 447,000 contracts trade in the put options versus over 303,000 call options.

JON C. OGG

AgFeed Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: FEED) is down 10% this morning after its earnings showed “an extremely difficult operating environment as a result of a series of severe floods throughout its area of operations.”  Shares are down 10.8% at $2.46 on over 65,000 shares.

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is getting crushed after earnings because it disclosed that it is working on a bankruptcy filing as a contingency.  Shares are down 23% at $0.69 on over 1.5 million shares.

Capital Product Partners L.P. (NASDAQ: CPLP) is trading lower on a secondary offering as it plans to offer 5.5 million units to acquire MR Tanker M/T Assos for $43.5 million in proceeds.  Shares are down 7% at $8.48 on about 25,000 units.

Fossil, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) is rising on stronger than expected second quarter earnings and a raised 2010 outlook.  Shares are up 7.5% at $45.65 on almost 40,000 shares.

Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: LOPE) beat earnings estimates, but its guidance was short of estimates.  Can that be a shock considering the attack on for-profi education?  Apparently it is an excuse to sell the stock all over again.  Shares are down over 8% at $18.50 on thin volume.  The 52-week trading range is $15.87 to $28.46.

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is getting roasted in the sun a bit after posting a profit and raising its sales views.  Shares are down 3.3% at $6.35 on about 200,000 shares.  The 52-week range is $3.22 to $6.95.

MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) is trading up after it reported a profit in the quarter.  Shares were up over 7% at $9.90 on over 400,000 shares.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is trading lower after signing a deal with EPIX where Netflix members can “instantly watch an array of new releases and library titles from EPIX streamed over the Internet from Netflix.”  Shares are down 1.8% at $114.80 on over 30,000 shares.

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) had soft earnings and guided in-line for the quarter ahead.  It is an earnings nuance… Shares of the speech recognition software leader are down 9.4% at $15.74 on over 200,000 shares.

Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (NASDAQ: PPCO) is trading up only marginally after its Endo Pharmaceuticals buyout news.  Shares are up almost 5% at $4.96 on the deal that gives the company almost no premium.  The 52-week trading range was $1.80 to $4.89.

Qiagen NV (NASDAQ: QGEN) beat earnings but said it is eyeing large acquisitions.  The ADRs are down 3.7% at $18.82 on 139,000 shares and the 52-week trading range is $18.06 to $24.00.

QuinStreet, Inc. (NASDAQ: QNST) is a recent IPO and it is surging after earnings.  Shares are up 14.5% at $11.46 on only about 5,000 shares.  Its post-IPO trading range is $9.91 to $18.25.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) is up after beating earnings last night and on a demand increase of 12% versus a earlier expectations of a 10% gain offsetting the price drop in tonnage. Alcoa is up 3.7% at $11.28 on now more than 500,000 shares.  Century Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ: CENX) is on the move as well and up even more because it is NASDAQ and it is deemed more leveraged by some traders.  Shares are up 4.9% at $10.06 on light trading volume; average volume on CENX is about 4 million shares per day.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) is up after it installed a new cap over the Gulf well disaster, which still has to be tested.  Shares are up almost 3% at $37.84 on strong volume this pre-market session.

CommVault Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CVLT) is getting crushed this morning after its preliminary earnings report failed to make the grade.  Shares are down about 24% at $17.85 on well over 200,000 pre-market shares.  The 52-week range is $15.60 to $24.51 and the average volume is about 535,000 shares.

MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) is after Bruce Berkowitz’ Fairholme disclosed a new stake of 11% in the financial guaranty company.  This makes a new largest single holder of MBIA.  Shares are up a sharp 10.5% at $7.11 on almost 400,000 shares.  Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK) is the surprise as this was not a Berkowitz pick but is just a troubled competitor rising with the tide (on a leveraged basis).  Shares are up over 13% at $0.74 on over 100,000 shares.

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OREX) is up in sympathy with VIVUS, although it does not have any fresh news of its own.  Its weight loss pill is expected to be reviewed later in the year.  Shares are up almost 10% at $4.55, but volume is much less at under 50,000 shares so far in the pre-market.

Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) is one of the larger drops this morning.  Shares are down 5% at $5.37 on over 50,000 shares.

VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is trading higher and will be one to watch for stock and options today and this week on its Qnexa FDA panel review.  Options are calling for a huge move in the stock.  The company is up on word that its data shows that the pill works, and the counter-measure is that the FDA is asking about its side-effects.  Shares are up 16% at $12.40 already on almost 2 million shares.

JON C. OGG