The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 83 points to 12,716.31 (0.66%), the NASDAQ rose more than 34 points (1.22%) to 2,848.27, and the S&P 500 rose 0.89% or nearly 12 points to 1,324.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus (see our coverage here); and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) cut to ‘perform at Oppenheimer. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had three ratings changes today: maintained as ‘neutral’ with target price cut to $190 at Credit Suisse; maintained ‘outperform’ but estimates cut at Baird; and target price lowered to $225 at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is down -8.2% at $178.51; Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) is up 8.24% at $37.18; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 3.3% at $45.13; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is up nearly 34% at $4.05; Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is up 3.8% at $50.13, after posting a new 52-week high of $50.35 earlier today; Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is up nearly 14% at $45.70; Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is up nearly 10% at $41.98; Northrup Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) is up 2.22% at $59.34; and Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) is up 14% at $61.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Key Tronic Corp. (NASDAQ: KTCC) is up nearly 37% at $8.53, after posting a new 52-week high of $8.74 earlier today. The computer peripherals maker posted better-than-expected earnings and revenues after markets closed last night.

Sangamo BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) is up more than 21% at $4.19. The pharmaceutical maker has announced a collaboration with Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to develop a hemophilia treatment.

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up more than 21% at $67.26, after posting a new 52-week high of $70.87 earlier today. The development stage drug maker has reported highly positive results on a test of its late-stage prostate cancer treatment. We have more coverage here.

JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is down more than -17% at $24.39. The software maker issued a fairly weak quarterly report and continuing investor wariness remains over an SEC investigation of the company’s accounting practices.

IXYS Corp. (NASDAQ: IXYS) is down more than 14% at $11.76. The integrated circuit maker posted poor quarterly numbers after markets closed last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking at 10:00 a.m. and Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher is speaking in the evening. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:30 a.m. – Challenger Job-cut data
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve money supply and balance sheet reports

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Paul Ausick

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $190 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Outperform but lowered estimates at Baird; Lowered target to $225 at Jefferies.
Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ: AMCC) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) named as the Value Stock of the Day at Zack.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) named as Bear of the Day with under current price objective target by Zacks.
Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE: CAT) named as Bull of the Day with way above-consensus price target at Zacks.
Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
SunCoke Energy Inc. (NYSE: SXC) Reinstated as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Websense Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Reiterated Outperform and raised target at $42 at Credit Suisse. 

If you enjoyed the top analyst calls, you can sign up in the box below to join our morning email list to receive news directly in your inbox each morning. We include major analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO and M&A news, special situation developments, observations on Warren Buffett and key market gurus, as well as special exclusive feature stories.

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JON C. OGG

Silver Wheaton Corporation (NYSE: SLW) is up 6.7% at $34.07, and the 52-week trading range is $25.84 to $47.60.

Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ: PAAS) is still only flat at $21.85 but it was lower before the FOMC comments today. The 52-week trading range is $19.93 to $43.06.

Goldcorp Incorporated (NYSE: GG) is up 5.2% at $46.70, and the 52-week trading range is $39.93 to $56.31.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) is up 3.4% at $59.43, and the 52-week trading range is $50.05 to $72.42.

Kinross Gold Corporation (NYSE: KGC) up over 6% at $11.23, and the 52-week trading range is $9.96 to $18.25.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (NYSE: AEM) up 8% at $37.23, and the 52-week trading range is $34.36 to $76.49.

ETFs are rocking as well.  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up 5.3% at $54.58 against a 52-week range of $49.22 to $66.98.  Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners (NYSE: GDXJ) is up 6.5% at $28.66 against a 52-week range of $22.58 to $42.97.  The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) is up 3.9% at $23.69 and the 52-week range is $19.05 to $31.34.

The logic is simple enough… This signals extremely low interest rates and low costs of borrowing.  It also signals that investors will have to look elsewhere yet again to seek higher returns than short-term and intermediate-term Treasuries.  As this means that rates will be low in the U.S. for longer than expected, that is going to drive a weak dollar policy as long as things remain static in Europe and in other major economic zones.  That is the perfect storm for gold and silver as they are often inversely correlated to the dollar.

JON C. OGG

Kinross is making a bit of a comeback on speculation that the company may now be a takeover target. Larger Canadian gold miners Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) and Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) are included in the number of possible buyers, as are Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) and AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU). Another potential buyer is London-traded Polyus Gold International Ltd. according to a report at Bloomberg News.

Kinross acquired Canadian miner Red Back in 2010 for $7.8 billion, and the deal included the Tasiast mine in Tanzania. The Tanzanian mine is the cause of the goodwill writedown, but the simple fact is that Kinross paid way too much for Red Back. Kinross has admitted that itself.

Of the potential buyers, Polyus might be the one to take most seriously. The Russian company has said that it wants to become one of the three largest gold miners in the world. Acquiring Kinross would achieve that goal.

Kinross might also be a good acquisition for Newmont, which currently has few growth prospects according to an industry analyst cited by Bloomberg: “Newmont has no growth, whereas Kinross has plenty of growth projects.”

Kinross is now trading at around $10/share though its asset value is about double that. That’s still a $20 billion+ deal at a time when production costs are rising and the price of gold going forward is unclear.

Shares of Kinross are up about 1.5% at noon today at $10.25 in a 52-week range of $9.96-$18.25. Shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) are up 0.27% at $161.65 in a 52-week range of $127.80-$185.85.

Paul Ausick

Gold prices have gained about $60/ounce, about 3.6%. Silver prices are up roughly 9%. Copper prices are up by about 8.6%. Titanium prices are unchanged, steel prices have been drifting though more varieties appear to be selling at lower prices, and rare earth minerals vary widely depending on the particular mineral. Lanthanum oxides are selling for about $61/kilogram, while terbium oxide goes for $605/kilogram.

All stock data comes from Yahoo! Finance and current prices were gathered in the early afternoon today.

Of the companies we survey, all but one enjoys a higher stock price today than they did last month. The single exception is Molycorp, which is getting punished today for missing both EPS and revenue estimates. At yesterday’s closing price of $38.70, Molycorp’s share price was higher than it was a month ago.

More interesting, perhaps, were recent changes in median price targets. Only Nucor and Titanium’s price targets have remained the same in the last month. Two stocks, Newmont and Barrick, had their price targets raised and the other seven had price targets lowered.

Newmont’s target price was raised from $77 to $81. At the new target price and a current price of $70.41, Newmont’s implied gain is $10.59, or 15%. The stock put up a new 52-week high last week, and its forward P/E also rose from 10.2 to 11.47. In the past month, shares have gained more than $7, or 11%. The company’s pledge to raise dividends if gold price targets are met is another reason to look carefully at this stock.

Barrick’s target price was raised from $66.50 to $68. At the new target price and a current price of $52.61, Barrick’s implied gain is $15.39, or 29%. Shares are trading at less than 6% away from the 52-week high of $55.95. Over the past month, Barrick’s shares have gained 12%.

The largest drop in target price was settled on Molycorp, which saw its target price fall from $80- to $70. Even at that, the implied gain for the shares, based on today’s price of $34.04, is 106%. The wide gap is due not so much to any failure on Molycorp’s part but to what might be “irrational exuberance” for the stock by investors. There is also the fact that Molycorp’s mineral reserves tend to be heavy on the lower-priced rare earths and light on the higher-priced metals.

The largest percentage drop in target price was claimed by US Steel, which saw its target price fall from $40 to $34.50, nearly 14%. The company posted a new 52-week low on October 3rd. At the current price of $26.08, the implied gain is $8.42, or 32%. US Steel is widely expected to be acquired — and fairly soon — which is attracting short sellers in droves.

Freeport-McMoran’s target price fell from $55 to $53 in the past month, even though shares have added $5.05, or about 15%, in the same period. The implied gain based on the new target price and the current price of $39.83 is 33%. Freeport’s problem is that demand for copper might be stagnating or worse, given the construction slowdown in China.

Silver Wheaton’s target price fell from $51.50 to $49.50, while the share price has gained 17%. At the new target price and based on today’s price of $36.18, the implied gain here is 37%. There is plenty of headroom for Silver Wheaton’s share price to continue rising, but demand for silver will be the driver.

Alcoa’s target price dropped from $15.50 to $13 in the last month, even as the share price has risen by about 8%. At the new target price and based on the current price of $10.58, the implied gain in Alcoa stock is nearly 23%. Given that shares rose by 8% in the last month, anything’s possible, even that Alcoa may hit the lower target.

The target price for Steel Dynamics fell from $18 to $16, while share prices gained a substantial 23% in the same period. At the new target price and a current price of $13.51, the implied gain in the stock is 18%. EPS estimates for the current quarter have fallen by nearly -20% in the past month, following lowered guidance from the company.

Southern Copper’s target price fell from from $36.75 to $36.25 in the past month, even though the share price rose by 21%. At the new target and at the current price of $32.41, the implied gain for Southern Copper is nearly 12%.

Paul Ausick

AFLAC Inc. (NYSE: AFL) boosted its dividend after beating earnings estimates.  The payout went up by 10% to $0.33 EPS. The prior payout was $0.30.

Atlas Pipeline Partners LP (NYSE: APL) came in for the MLP lovers.  It jacked its quarterly distribution by 15% to $0.54 per quarter from $0.47 per quarter.

Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) is loving high gold prices… It turned in a 25% hike to its dividend to $0.15 per quarter.  This is still only a 1.25% dividend yield.

Holly Energy Partners, LP (NYSE: HEP) came through for the MLP faithful.  The company slightly boosted its quarterly distribution payout to $0.875 per quarter.  This may only be a penny per quarter per share but it is a continuous distribution hike with 28 straight hikes.

Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) may be in the defense sector and tied to the age of austerity, but it sees enough earnings ahead to boost its payout: its dividend was jacked up by 33% to $1.00 per share for a yield of 5.2%.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: MPC) had a huge day with a 5.3% gain after it jacked up its dividend to $0.25 per quarter from $0.20 per quarter and even after the price jump its new dividend yield is almost 2.9%.

Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) came through with its higher payout due to gold prices.  The gold leader hiked its dividend by 17% to $0.35 per share, which is more than double that of a year ago.  The yield went from about 1.9% to 2.12%.  That might not sound like much, but it is almost as high as the 10-year Treasury note.

NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV) has only paid special dividends if we look back at the payout history over the last few years.  The company declared a special dividend of $0.25 for its shareholders.  Since it is special, we are not tallying up an implied yield.

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United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) has a median target price of $40.00 from 14 brokers. Shares are trading today at $23.52, for an implied gain of $16.48, or 41.2%. US Steel’s forward P/E is 6.46 and the company’s dividend yield is 0.90%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $18.85-$64.03, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above its 52-week low and 63% below the 52-week high. The huge difference between US Steel’s 52-week high and its current price indicates a substantial opportunity here, if the company can get its act together. It owns its own sources of iron ore and coke, so it is relatively insulated from the higher costs faced by many other steel makers. The company should be doing better than this, but it’s a tough market out there.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) has a median target price of $45.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $34.85, for an implied gain of $10.15, or 22.6%. Nucor’s forward P/E is 10.34 and the company’s dividend yield is 4.20%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $29.82-$49.24, and at today’s price that’s about 17% above the 52-week low and 29% below the 52-week high. Nucor stock recently took a hit when the company lowered third-quarter EPS estimates to $0.45-$0.55 compared with analysts’ expectation of $0.64. Demand for raw materials raises costs for Nucor, at the same time that demand in the US has fallen.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) has a median target price of $18.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $10.95, for an implied gain of $7.05, or 39.2%. Steel Dynamics’ forward P/E is 6.49 and the company’s dividend yield is 3.70%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $8.78-$20.70, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above the 52-week low and 47% below the 52-week high. Like Nucor, Steel Dynamics revised EPS expectations downward last month by at least a third compared with analysts expectations.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) has a median target price of $77.00 from 16 brokers. Shares are trading today at $63.24, for an implied gain of $13.76, or 17.9%. Newmont’s forward P/E is 10.2 and the company’s dividend yield is 1.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $50.05-$71.25, and at today’s price that’s about 26% above the 52-week low and 11% below the 52-week high. Newmont is the largest gold miner in the world and its dividend yield is also the highest among the miners. The company has committed to raising dividends if certain gold price targets are hit, making life even tougher for competitors.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) has a median price target of $66.50 from 20 brokers. Shares traded today at $46.93, for an implied gain of $19.57, or 29.4%. Barrick’s forward P/E is 7.67 and the company’s dividend yield is 1%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $42.50-$55.95, and at today’s price that’s about 10% above the 52-week low and 16% below the 52-week high. Gold mining stocks have not been able to keep up with the rising price of gold mainly because the miners’ costs keep rising even as gold prices rise. Barrick is one of the lowest cost producers among the big gold mining companies, and that’s a real positive for the company.

Copper prices have dropped by more than $1/pound from around $4.50/pound at the beginning of August. CME raised the copper margin by 18% on September 24th, so this is the second rise in just over two weeks. At the same time as the last rise, CME also raised the margin requirements on gold by 21% and silver by 16%. CME’s rationale for raising margin requirements is based on what it calls a “normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.”

CME’s move has probably played a part in lifting copper mining stocks Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX) and Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO), as well as gold miners Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) and Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX), and silver miner Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW).

If copper margins are rising today, can requirements on gold and silver be far behind? The margin requirement for a speculative trader to open a position on a 100-ounce gold contract is $11,475. At today’s price of around $1,648/ounce, that is just 7% of the value of the contract.

The margin requirement for a speculative 5,000-ounce silver contract is $24,875. At today’s silver price of nearly $32/ounce, the value of a contract is $160,000. That calculates to a margin requirement of about 15.5%.

The rise in margin requirements last month put a damper on prices for all three of the metals. That is not happening with copper today, as the price is up nearly 5%. The news that the European Central Bank is offering essentially unlimited additional emergency loans to eurozone banks is putting some air under all markets today, and the commodities markets are not excepted.

Still, there is a nearly certain chance that CME will lift its gold and silver margin requirements again. The margin on gold contracts seems particularly out of kilter given the 15% requirement for both silver and copper. But if today’s market reaction is any indication, margin requirement increases do not play as big a role in metals trading as might be thought.

Freeport’s shares are up about 1.5%, at $34.97, in a 52-week range of $28.85 – $61.35. Southern Copper’s shares are up nearly 2.5%, at $27.04, in a 52-week range of $22.58 – $50.35. The iPath DJ-UBS Copper Total Return Subindex ETN (NYSE: JJC) is up nearly 3%, at $41.95, in a 52-week range of $38.99 – $61.69.

Gold miner Newmont’s shares are up about 0.5%, at $63.33, in a 52-week range of $50.05 – $71.25 and Barrick’s shares are up about 1.5%, at $46.98, in a 52-week range of $42.50 – $55.95. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) is up about 0.2%, at $159.74, in a 52-week range of $127.80-$185.85. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up about 0.7%, at $55.28, in a 52-week range of $50.42 – $66.98. The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) is up more than 3.5%, at $29.21, in a 52-week range of $25.22 – $44.86.

Silver Wheaton shares are up about 5%, at $30.81, in a 52-week range of $25.35 – $47.60. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) is up more than 3.5%, at $30.75, in a 52-week range of $21.97 – $48.35. The Global X Silver Minters ETF (NYSE: SIL) is up nearly 4.5%, at $21.93, in a 52-week range of $18.74 – $31.34.

Paul Ausick

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair.
Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) Cut to Market Perform at William Blair; Reiterated Outperform at Credit Suisse; Raised target to $90 at Argus.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Maintained Neutral but cut estimates and target to $87 at Credit Suisse.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) maintained Neutral but target to $4 from $10 at Credit Suisse.
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS.A) Removed from the Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) Reiterated Outperform on Focus List at Credit Suisse.
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) Raised to Buy at Argus.
PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) Cut to UNderperform at BofA/ML.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

Other gainers early this morning are Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN), Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (AMEX: NAK), and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM).

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is getting a boost from statements from China’s Jack Ma, founder of the Alibaba e-commerce site. Yahoo owns about 40% of Alibaba and Ma has made several offers to buy back that stake, all of which have been rebuffed by Yahoo. Alibaba would acquire all of Yahoo if Ma has his way. Yahoo’s shares opened up 4%, at $13.70, in a 52-week range of $11.09-$18.84. Volume is fairly heavy.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) opened higher this morning as well, following a Morgan Stanley analyst’s ‘tactical Buy’ on Netflix shares. The shares were already rated at long-term ‘Overweight’, but the recent dumping of Netflix shares has strengthened the stock’s valuation. The stock’s forward P/E is 17.91, much lower than its trailing P/E of 29.63, and the price/book ratio is 17.82. Not exactly bargain rates, but getting there if investors believe that Netflix’s streaming plan is going to be a winner. Shares opened up nearly 2%, and are trading up about 2.7% a half-hour later, at $116.34, in a 52-week range of $107.63-$304.79. Volume is heavy.

Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN) reaffirmed its third-quarter guidance and increased its share buyback program from $450 million to $650 million through December 2013. The Chinese media company guided net revenues at $175-$177 million and non-GAAP net income at $68-$70 million. The stock opened up about 3.5% and is trading now at $18.21, up more than 8%, in a 52-week range of $16.54-$37.58. Volume is very heavy.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) opened about 2.3% higher this morning on higher gold prices. Gold is up more than $35/ounce, to $1,656/ounce. One analyst thinks that gold prices have hit bottom and are on their way back up, with large miners like Newmont best positioned to benefit. Newmont shares are now trading up nearly 4%, at $65.45, in a 52-week range of $50.05-$71.25. Volume is about normal.

Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (AMEX: NAK) opened nearly flat this morning, but has since risen by about 1.5%. Another gold miner, although a much more prospective stock than Newmont, that is getting a boost from rising gold prices. The stock is trading at $5.44, after tumbling to a new 52-week low this morning of $5.34. The 52-week high is $21.76.

Just for comparison, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) is up about 1.8%, at $56.19, in a 52-week range of $51.10-$66.98. The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) is up about 1.7%, at $28.62, in a 52-week range of $27.44-$44.86. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) is up about 1.8% as well, to $160.86, in a 52-week range of $127.80-$185.85.

Paul Ausick