The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 180 points to 12.397.46 (1.47%), the NASDAQ rose more than 43 points (1.67%) to 2,648.72, and the S&P 500 rose 1.55% or more than 19 points to 1,277.05.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had its target price lowered to $513 at Morgan Keegan; General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) cut from ‘outperform’ to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; Under Armour Inc. (NYSE: UA) raised to ‘outperform’ with a target price of $90 at Baird; Prologis Inc. (NYSE: PLD) started as ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) cut from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’ at Janney Capital Markets; and Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) cut to ‘sell’ at Janney.

There were no earnings reports of note scheduled today. Progress Software Corp. (NASDAQ: PRGS) is scheduled to report earnings at 4:30 p.m. today.

Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. (NASDAQ: OSH) completed an IPO today. Shares were initially priced at $25 and rose as high as $60 during the day before settling to $27.05, up more than 8% with less than half an hour of trading time left.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Aveo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: AVEO) is down more than -19% at $13.90. The pharmaceutical maker reported that its liver cancer drug performed better than a competitor in late-stage trials, but investors were expecting a larger improvement.

Kior Corp. (NASDAQ: KIOR) is down more than -10% at $9.12. The alternative fuel maker had no news, but is likely getting bashed on the expiration of US ethanol subsidies.

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (AMEX: ASM) is up nearly 17% at $1.66. The junior miner is riding the coattails of an overall upsurge in materials stocks today, which have been leading the markets higher all day.

A123 Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is up more than 24% at $2.00. The battery maker is a partner with Satcon Technology Corp. (NASDAQ: SATC) in a demonstration project on micro-grid energy storage for the US Department of Defense.

American Realty Investors Inc. (NYSE: ARL) is up more than 12% at $2.10. The real estate investment company has no news, but continues to rise on upbeat news about the housing market.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Automakers are scheduled to release sales data throughout the day. US seasonally adjusted annual sales are expected to remain at 13.6 million cars and light trucks. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders report for November (consensus estimate for gain of 2%)
• 11:30 a.m. – 4-week Treasury bill auction

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Paul Ausick

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) Cut to Neutral from Buy at Janney Capital Markets. 
Angie’s List, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANGI) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus; Started as Perform at Oppenheimer; Started as Buy at Janney Capital Markets.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) lowered price target to $513 from $530 at Morgan Keegan.
Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Fusion-io, Inc. (NYSE: FIO) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Guess?, Inc. (NYSE: GES) Cut to Underperform from Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Petroleum Development Corporation (NASDAQ: PETD) Cut to Hold at Canaccord Genuity.
PMC-Sierra Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCS) Cut to Neutral with $6 target at Goldman Sachs.
Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) Cut to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company (NYSE: RS) named as value stock of the day at Zacks Investment Research.
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UA) Raised to Outperform with $90 target at Baird.
Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ: PANL) maintained Hold and lowered estimates and target to $35 at Canaccord Genuity.
Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) Raised to Long-Term Outperform and named as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) Cut to Sell at Janney Capital Markets.

Read Also: DJIA Stocks Now Expected To Rise 12% in 2012

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JON C. OGG

Earlier this year came reports that the publicly hated Troubled Asset Relief Program (the TARP) was going to generate some $24 billion in profits for the Treasury Department.  Some immediately challenged the math on how that profit was tallied up, but the wave of bankruptcies in DOE-backed loan guarantees is currently creating a dilemma that only heats up the debate between environmental issues and capitalism.  With the exception of American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG), the “too big to fail” institutions have by and large paid Uncle Sam back what was borrowed under the TARP.

The DOE website shows some $35.9 billion in total loans over nearly 40 projects since 2009 which were listed as being able to create some 60,000 jobs, and which could provide enough clean electricity to power three-million homes with a claim of saving some 300-million gallons of gasoline each year.

The problem is that the half-billion dollar loan to Solyndra in California was the worst investment made in alternative energy.  Other bankruptcies from Evergreen Solar and Beacon Power Corporation (NASDAQ: BCON) have only added more public scrutiny over how financially feasible many alternative energy companies are.

Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD) may be an unlikely “green company” in office warehouse operations, but it was adding solar panels to the roofs of its warehouses throughout most of the nation where it could generate power for use or resale back into the grid. These projects appear all over the DOE loan guarantee map of the United States.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is supposed to be the most publicly appreciated car company in America because it did not take any government bailouts while General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) still has Uncle Sam owning a large part of the company.  Under the ATVM loan guarantees seen, Ford was listed on the DOE program site as having had just over $5.9 billion from a 2009 guarantee and Tesla Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) was given part of an ATVM loan program in early 2010, .

US Geothermal Inc. (AMEX: HTM) is another troubled sub-$1.00 stock and it has received $97 million in DOE loan guarantees.  It was as recently as the end of this August that the company noted the first funding drawdown under the $96.8-million loan guarantee to construct its planned 23-megawatt-net power plant at Neal Hot Springs in Eastern Oregon.

Others in Solar deals which have either directly received loan guarantees or which were shown to be working in the projects over the last year or so were SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) and First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR).  First Solar noted at the end of September that the Topaz Solar Farm project will not meet the statutory deadline to receive a federal loan guarantee from the DOE.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) does not have any of that TARP money in it, and its shares are the worst performing by far of all of the money-center banks deemed as “too big to fail” with a drop of 56% from its 52-week high.  First Solar is down about 74% from its 52-week high and SunPower is down about 60% from its 52-week high.  Those losses are quite common throughout almost the entire solar and alternative energy sector.

The U.S. Green Building Council touts on its website that a study from Booz Allen Hamilton was released by USGBC in November 2009 predicting that green building would support or create 7.9 million jobs between 2009 and 2013 and would contribute $554 billion to the gross domestic product.  That seems a bit impossible now… Doesn’t it?

It has been sad to see and it is nearly painful to say, but Uncle Sam has at least so far proven to be a better fiduciary of investing in the banking sector than it has in picking alternative energy companies.  Maybe that will change in the quarters ahead, or maybe not.  We are talking about the government after all.

JON C. OGG

The loans approved yesterday include a $737 million guarantee to privately held SolarReserve LLC, a joint venture between United Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UTX) and private  equity firm US Renewables Group. The second approval, for $337 million, was awarded to Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), which plans to use solar panels manufactured in Arizona by China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP).

To date the US DoE has invested some $40 billion in 40 clean energy projects, including solar PV and solar thermal, geothermal, wind, and a new nuclear power plant. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) lost a $1.9 billion federal guarantee for its Topaz project when it apparently let its application lapse as it negotiates a deal for private capital.

SolarReserve’s Crescent Dunes project is a 110-megawatt concentrating solar power tower that will use molten salt as its heat transfer and storage medium. The molten salt allows the plant to store heat generated by the sun during the day and then use the heat at night to generate steam  to produce electricity. The project is expected to employ 600 people during construction and 45 people in permanent positions once the plant is operational. The project is located near Tonopah, Nevada. SolarReserve has a power purchase agreement with NV Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NVE).

Sempra’s Mesquite Solar project is a 150-megawatt solar PV farm located near Phoenix, Arizona. It is expected to provide about 300 construction jobs and will purchase at least a portion of the required panels from the recently opened Suntech manufacturing plant. Sempra has a 20-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

Of the projects awaiting decisions from the DoE, SolarCity’s $344 million project to install rooftop solar panels on military base housing will not meet tomorrow’s deadline. Two more projects from First Solar remain in the running. Both the 230-megawatt Antelope Valley project, with a conditional guarantee of $680 million, and the 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight project, with a partial guarantee of $1.88 billion, are still in the running. Sunpower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA) is seeking a guarantee of nearly $1.2 billion for its 250-megawatt California Valley Solar Ranch project.

Perhaps the most interesting project remaining in play is Project Amp, a $2.6 billion project to finance solar installations on US commercial and industrial rooftops. The project is owned by ProLogis (NYSE: PLD), and is seeking a guarantee of up to 80% on $1.4 billion in debt financing that is being underwritten by Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).

It’s also worth noting that tomorrow’s deadline for federal action applies only to so-called Section 1705 projects. Newer technologies like concentrating solar PV fall under Section 1703 of the law and will still be eligible for consideration.

The barometer for solar is often in the Guggenheim Solar (NYSE: TAN) ETF and it is more of an agnostic solar player that wins only if the whole sector (or its largest components) have share gains.  Its shares are up 0.6% at $3.45 today, but shares also hit a new 52-week low of $3.40 and are down from over $9.00.  This has been brutal so far, and things aren’t getting better for the solar makers.

Paul Ausick

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) Maintained Buy with $48 target at Argus.
Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $91 at Credit Suisse.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) Maintained Outperform but Cut target to $27 at Credit Suisse.
France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN) Cut to Sell at S&P Equity Research (late Wednesday call).
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Neutral as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) Raised to Outperform at Oppenheimer.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (NASDAQ: TEVA) Started as Outperform at Leerink Swann.

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JON C. OGG

The public offering is set to be for up to $1.1 billion in common stock, including shares to be sold pursuant to its distribution reinvestment plan.

As far as a use of proceeds, the REIT intends to use the net proceeds from its offering to invest primarily in what it calls “high-quality, income-producing industrial warehouse properties that are net leased to credit worthy tenants and located in and around strategic geographic distribution hubs.”

The shares are being priced at $10.00 per share and will be made available through SC Distributors, LLC, the affiliated dealer manager to the offering and a FINRA member.

This sounds a lot like ProLogis (NYSE: PLD), except smaller.  ProLogis has a $13.2 billion market cap and at $28.80, its 52-week range is $22.97 to $37.46.

JON C. OGG

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) Raised to Buy at Gleacher & Co.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: CTB) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) Raised to Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Ener1, Inc. (NASDAQ: HEV) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Monsanto Co. (NYSE: MON) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: MWW) Cut to Hold at Citigroup.
Mosaic Co. (NYSE: MOS) Raised to Buy at Ticonderoga.
Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
Western Refining, Inc. (NYSE: WNR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

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

Adtran Inc. (NASDAQ: ADTN) Reiterated Buy with $49 target at Argus.
BioMed Realty (NYSE: BMR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Central European Media Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ: CETV) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Reiterated Hold at Argus.
El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EPB) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Lloyds Banking Group plc (NYSE: LYG) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Netgear Inc. (NASDAQ: NTGR) Cut to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Protective Life Corp. (NYSE: PL) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
Stillwater Mining Co. (NYSE: SWC) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: VRTX) Started as Underperform at Credit Suisse.
Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM) Raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

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

What’s interesting about this deal, from an alternative energy standpoint, is that it shines a light on efforts to allow alt-energy companies to adopt the MLP structure as a way to attract private investment into the sector. This could be a very interesting way to get government out of the business of financing clean energy projects.

A report issued last November by the Center for American Progress and the Coalition for Green Capital recommended that allowing renewable energy to form partnerships similar to MLPs and REITs.  By law, MLPs must derive at least 90% of their income from eligible investments in natural resources, commodities, or real estate. The report argues that renewable energy sources such as wind and sunshine are among the natural resources that should be considered for inclusion.

The problems that the recommendation is trying to solve are the lack of certainty in both the tax code and public policy related to renewable energy financing, and the lack of long-term, low-cost financing available to renewable energy businesses. Allowing MLP structures is only a piece of a the report’s overall recommendations for financing renewable energy, but it’s worth a closer look by itself.

One benefit of this approach is that it does not rely on setting a price for carbon. Cap-and-trade proposals have gotten no traction in Congress and proposals for a carbon tax are even less popular. Where the clean energy MLP idea may have the best application is in the transmission and distribution of renewably-generated electricity. In other words, the grid.

The estimated cost to upgrade the US grid ranges from $500 billion on up. Any chance that the federal government will be able to provide that amount of support directly or in the form of loan guarantees is certainly no better than 50-50. More likely is that concern about federal deficits and debt will push renovation and construction of the grid out for years.

Allowing an MLP/REIT-type setup could serve two purposes. First, it is effectively a corporate tax cut. This concept is very popular with some politicians. Second, it is a tax increase on investors, a concept which is quite popular with other politicians. Both sides could claim victory. From a political perspective, what could be finer?

Second, it could lead to a privatization of the national grid. That may not be a universally popular idea, but its merit is that it eliminates the federal government’s responsibility for paying out gobs of money it does not have and it would instill some certainty into renewable energy projects. Federal and state regulation would still exist, of course, but the virtually guaranteed return on investment that comes with MLPs and REITs could be very attractive to investors.

There probably won’t be much action on this idea until after the 2012 elections. But its simplicity and attractiveness to both ends of the political spectrum may give it a chance of being adopted.

If you think that alternative energy financing is dead, let us consider this week’s other big deal.  With a Department of Energy-backed loan, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) is financing a massive project that is being undertaken in solar where PV modules are being installed on top of buildings owned and operated by Prologis (NYSE: PLD) and being installed by NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG).  The beat goes on.

Paul Ausick

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Reiterated Buy with $415 target at Argus; Reiterated Buy and raised target to $485 at Canaccord Genuity.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Reiterated Buy with $17 target at Gleacher & Co.
Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan after being raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day on Monday by Zacks.
Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) Maintained Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ENZN) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (NASDAQ: PFCB) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) Started as Underweight at Barclays.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Company (NYSE: RS) Maintained Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE: SCCO) Cut to Hold at Citi.
Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) Cut to Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) Reiterated Buy with $43 target at Gleacher & Co.
Xilinx Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

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