The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 70 points to 12,907.87 (0.55%), the NASDAQ rose more than 34 points (1.18%) to 2,970.42, and the S&P 500 rose 0.98% or more than 13 points to 1,365.91.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated as ‘buy’ with target price raised from $600 to $660 at Goldman Sachs; ARM Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) raised to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $72 target price at Argus; Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) started as ‘hold’ at Canaccord Genuity; and Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO) started as ‘overweight’ at Barclays.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Coldwater Creek Inc. (NASDAQ: CWTR) is up 0.9% at $1.02; Flotek Industries Inc. (NYSE: FTK) is up 9.7% at $12.11; Hot Topic Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTT) is up 13.4% at $9.97 after posting a new 52-week high of $10.11; Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) is up 0.3% at $15.33; A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is down -2.5% at $1.56; Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHN) is up 5.2% at $10.76; Fuel Systems Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: FSYS) is down -2.2% at $25.74; JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) is down -6.9% at $5.54 (more coverage here); Navistar International Corp. (NYSE: NAV) is down -2% at $39.25 (more coverage here); NeurogesX Inc. (NASDAQ: NGSX) is down -20% at $0.53 (more coverage here); Smithfield Foods Inc. (NYSE: SFD) is down -2.2% at $22.31 (more coverage here); Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) is down -8.6% at $6.38 (more coverage here); and Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is down -1.4% at $2.89.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE: VRS) is up 77% at $2.16. The paper maker will issue new debt of $345 in senior secured notes and has issued a tender offer for $315 million in 11.5% senior unsecured notes outstanding.

Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: STLY) is up about 20% at $4.29. The wood furniture maker has announced that it expects to receive a payment of about $40 million as a result of an anti-dumping ruling against Chinese furniture makers.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) is up more than 21% at $3.46. The maker of water transmission, distribution, and measurement products is selling its pipe and foundry business for about $100 million in cash and other considerations. More coverage here.

Sunshine Heart Inc. (NASDAQ: SSH) is down more than -8% at $11.00. The medical device maker came public on February 16th, and is nearing the dreaded busted IPO line.

Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. (NASDAQ: ZLTQ) is down more than -13% at $5.65 after posting a new 52-week low of $5.60 earlier. The medical technology company posted a dismal fourth-quarter earnings report earlier this week and has just set its second record-low of the week as well.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm employment report
• 8:30 a.m. – International trade report
• 10.00 a.m. – Wholesale trade report

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Paul Ausick

Among the major movers at around noon today are Verso Paper Corp. (NYSE: VRS), Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: STLY), Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA), Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), and Clovis Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: CLVS).

Verso Paper is up nearly 79% at $2.18. Volume is already more than 6x the daily average of about 86,000 shares traded. The paper maker will issue new debt of $345 in senior secured notes and has issued a tender offer for $315 million in 11.5% senior unsecured notes outstanding.

Stanley Furniture is up about 22% at $4.36. Volume is already more than 4x the daily average of about 38,000 shares traded. The wood furniture maker has announced that it expects to receive a payment of about $40 million as a result of an anti-dumping ruling against Chinese furniture makers.

Mueller Water Products is up about 18% at $3.36. Volume is already nearly 3x the daily average of around 1.15 million shares traded. The maker of water transmission, distribution, and measurement products is selling its pipe and foundry business for about $100 million in cash and other considerations.

Dendreon is down about -10% at $9.74. Volume is already about double the daily average of around 10 million shares traded. The drug maker’s prostate cancer treatment Provenge is being challenged following results of good test results for competing drug from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

Clovis Oncology is down about -11% at $20.47. Volume totals about a third of the daily average of around 82,000 shares traded. The maker of anti-cancer drugs reported poor quarterly earnings after markets closed yesterday.

Paul Ausick

There are several stocks trading more heavily than usual this morning, and also experiencing large gains or drops in share prices. These include the Stanley Furniture Co. Inc. (NASDAQ: STLY), Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU), Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA), Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), and JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS).

Stanley Furniture is up about 20% at $4.31. Volume is already more than 3x the daily average of about 38,000 shares traded. The wood furniture maker has announced that it expects to receive a payment of about $40 million as a result of an anti-dumping ruling against Chinese furniture makers.

Imperial Sugar is up more than 17% at $6.46. Volume is already nearly 3x the daily average of about 800,000 shares traded. The sugar processing company is selling its 50% interest in Wholesome Sweeteners Inc. for $$55-$60 million in cash.

Mueller Water Products is up more than 19% at $3.40. Volume is already double the daily average of around 1.15 million shares traded. The maker of water transmission, distribution, and measurement products is selling its pipe and foundry business for about $100 million in cash and other considerations.

Dendreon is down about -15% at $9.25. Volume is already about higher than the daily average of around 10 million shares traded. The drug maker’s prostate cancer treatment Provenge is being challenged following results of good test results for competing drug from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

JinkoSolar is down about -7% at $5.55. Volume is already about double the daily average of around 734,000 shares traded. The Chinese solar panel maker reported very poor earnings this morning and its outlook is also weak. Panel maker Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP) also reported poor earnings this morning.

Paul Ausick

Agrium (NYSE: AGU) has seen targets raised at CIBC, Canaccord, and TD.
American Capital (NASDAQ: ACAS) Raised to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Bancolombia (NYSE: CIB) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Neutral at Devenport.
Kinross Gold Corp. (NYSE: KGC) Raised to Perform at CIBC.
Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Raised to Buy with $335 target at Stifel Nicolaus.
Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) Reiterated Overweight Overweight (raised EU target) at JPMorgan.
SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) Raised to Buy with $1.50 target at Wunderlich.

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

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.
Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised to Buy at Auriga.
KB Home (NYSE: KBH) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Mueller Water (NYSE: MWA) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) Cut to Conviction Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.

You are invited to join our free daily email distribution list to hear about top analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPOs and secondary offerings, ongoing day trader and options trader alerts, stock and market rumors, Buffett and guru investor news, M&A and more.

JON C. OGG
FEBRUARY 16, 2010

Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSE: FSP) is trading down by about 10 after its 8 million share secondary offering priced at $13.00 through Robert W. Baird.  This is after closing at $14.76 yesterday and was increased from a previously announced offering size of 6,000,000 shares. The use of proceeds will be for the repayment of outstanding debt.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) was supposed to sell 78 million shares oif common stock in a public secondary offering, but the size was bumped up.  It sold 95.2 million shares of its common stock at $4.20 per shares  a price to the public of $4.20 per share after closing at $4.51 Thursday.  Goldman Sachs is the book-running manager and Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. is co-manager.

Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE: MWA) is trading up after it priced a 32.28 million share secondary offering of common stock at $4.75 through BofA Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.  The original amount of shares was to be 27.5 million shares and gross proceeds is to be used to purchase additional shares and to repay a portion of indebtedness outstanding under its credit agreement.

Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM) priced its 2,800,000 common units public offering of limited partnership interests at $12.21 per unit, down from a $13.06 closing price on Thursday. Navios Partners expects to use the proceeds to fund its fleet expansion and for general partnership purposes.  Joint book running managers for this offering are Citi and J.P. Morgan, while co-managers are listed as S. Goldman Advisors LLC, DVB Capital Markets, and Cantor Fitzgerald.  Shares are down 9% at $11.85 and the market cap here is listed as $293 million after the drop and before the effects of this offering.

SmartHeat Inc. (NASDAQ: HEAT) sold 7,246,087 shares of common stock at $9.00 per share after closing at $10.06 yesterday.  The size of the offering was increased from 5,000,000 shares based on strong demand and it granted the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase 1,086,913 additional shares of common stock.  William Blair is the sole book-running manager and BMO Capital Markets is co-lead manager.  This is an interesting and under-followed company in China’s clean technology, energy savings industry as it makes standard plate heat exchangers, custom plate heat exchanger units and heat meters.  They must like it a lot because shares are up 13% at $11.44 on almost 2 million shares right after the open.  This even hit a 52-week high of $11.59 this morning.

Sonic Automotive Corp. (NYSE: SAH) priced two offerings, one debt and one stock.  It is selling 9 million shares at $10.10 through J.P. Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch.  It is concurrently selling $150,000,000 aggregate principal amount of convertible senior notes due October 1, 2029.  The total gross proceeds from the offerings will be approximately $240.9 million and its current market cap before the effect of the offering is listed as $421 million.  Interestingly enough, Sonic Automotive is up almost 3% at $10.45 this morning.

SXC Health Solutions (NASDAQ: SXCI) sold 4,500,000 shares of common stock in a public secondary offering that priced at $41.50 per share.  This deal was sold through J.P. Morgan, Dougherty, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, and Versant, and the offering size was originally supposed to only be 3.5 million shares.  The $176 million in gross proceeds is earmarked for general corporate purposes.  Its market cap before this offering was listed as $1 billion, but shares are up 5% at $43.87 and the 52-week high is $44.67.

VIVUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) is trading up after it priced a 9,000,000 share public secondary offering at $10.50 through J.P. Morgan, and JMP Securities, Lazard Capital Markets, and Merriman Curhan Ford are acting as co-managers.  Based upon the rise seen already, we expect that the 30-day overallotment option to purchase up to  1,350,000 shares will be exercised.  Shares are up 8% at $11.45 and this gives more R&D and launch capital for its obesity drug that is expected to be approved in 2010.

We have also seen a filing out of Bruker Corporation (NASDAQ: BRKR) for a proposed public secondary offering of 12,000,000 shares of common stock being sold by two members of the Laukien family not involved in the company’s business.  Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Deutsche Bank are listed as joint book-running managers.

This is not even the full tally as there are several much smaller deals on the books as well.  Today’s deals that priced came to a total of right at $1.475 billion, and that is before the effects of any over-allotments.

You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for updates on IPO’s and key secondary offerings, top analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader alerts, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG
September 18, 2009

athenahealth (ATHN) Raised to Outperform at Blair.
Broadpoint Securities (BPSG) Started as Outperform at KBW.
Forward Air (FWRD) Raised to Buy at KeyBanc.
JDA Software (JDAS) Started as Outperform at JMP Securities.
Marvell (MRVL) Raised to Outperform at JMP Securities.
Mueller Water (MWA) Raised to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Safeway (SWY) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
State Street (STT) Started as Outperform at Bernstein.

JON C. OGG

• ASM Intl NV (NASDAQ: ASMI) raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) Raised to Overweight from Equalweight at Lehman.
• Carnival (NYSE: CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL) were both Downgraded to Hold from Buy at ABN AMRO.
• EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) cut to Neutral at Bernstein.
• EW Scripps (NYSE: SSP) raised to Outperform at Bear Stearns.
• Mueller Water Products (NYSE: MWA) Raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• National Semi (NYSE: NSM) raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
• NStar (NYSE: NST) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• Scana Corp. (NYSE: SCG) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
• WebMD Health (NASDAQ: WBMD) Cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

Jon C. Ogg
June 18, 2008

“A merger almost inevitably is going to cause some service problems,” said Philip A. Baggaley, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s told The New York Times.

Mergers also do nothing to address high fuel costs, infrastructure, and aircraft maintenance expenses.

False economies may drive another round of carrier mergers, but they won’t keep airlines out of bankruptcy court if fuel costs stay high and the economy is weak.

The reasons that airline boards are looking at big combinations is that hope springs eternal. A merger may bring some short-term savings and "buy time" for an upturn in the economy to lift all boats.

The big airlines have another alternative. Do the hard thing. Get with labor. Cut costs. Or have another wreck in which jobs are lost more randomly because they cannot be supported by revenue.

Douglas A. McIntyre