The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 72 points to 11,504.70, the NASDAQ fell more than 53 points (2.01%) to2,604.04, and the S&P 500 fell 1.26% or more than 15 points to 1,209.89.

Today’s top analyst upgrade and downgrade calls were numerous and included Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Whole Foods Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM), and about a dozen other companies.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reported better than expected earnings for the quarter, following  yesterday’s positive report from Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC).  Morgan Stanley got a big lift from an accounting gain that lowered the value of its debt by $3.4 billion, thus boosting the bank’s revenue to $9.9 billion. Even without the gain, MS posted EPS of $0.02, There has been a turnaround from the indicated loss in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) after its earnings showed that book value managed to actually grow and the stock was up almost 10% at $6.63 late in the session.

As far as the other big earnings report reactions today (prices within 20 minutes of the closing bell): Apple is down more than -5.5%, at $398.78; Morgan Stanley up 0.3%, at $16.68; Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) is up about 3.5%, at $24.22; Yahoo is up 2.78%, at $15.90.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE: WMB) rose again by another 1.7%, to $29.55, after investors are considering it a cheap merger alternative to the El Paso buyout by Kinder Morgan this week.

Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: HGSI) had another big day on merger speculation up, up nearly 8%, at $13.83, and here is how it ranks with analysts other price targets for biotechs ahead of the biotech earnings floodgates.

Abbot Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) rose 1.62%, to $53.29, following the announcement of the company’s intention to split its branded drug business from its other product lines.

Oxigene, Inc. (NASDAQ: OXGN)  got a nice boost of about 12.55%, to $1.59, following good data on the survival benefits of its anti-thyroid cancer drug.

Powerwave Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: PWAV) warned of a revenue shortfall of more than 50% for its third quarter. The shares lost nearly -42% of their value, to fall to $0.85, after posting a new 52-week low of $0.68 earlier in the day.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE: AEM) has suspended operations indefinitely at its mine in Val d’Or, Quebec, due to unstable ground and inflows of water. The stock has fallen by -19%, to $46.21.

Stay tuned for Thursday.  We have speeches to watch from Lockhart and Kocherlakota on the docket as well as a 30-year TIPS auction.  Here are some economic releases due in the morning and throughout the day:

• 8:30 Unemployment Benefits Claims for last week
• 8:30 Existing Home Sales
• 10:00 Conference Board’s Index of Leading Economic Indicators
• 10:30 Natural Gas Report
• 4:30 PM Federal Reserve Balance Sheet

Paul Ausick

Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) said earnings were helped out on a note exchange gain; orders were up 49% and its cancellations fell; but the real issue is a secondary offering: a 12.5 million share secondary offering along with 3.5 million tangible equity units and $300 million aggregate principal in unsecured notes due in 2018.  Shares were down 5.5% last night on last look and the stock was down 6.7% at $6.42 on about 35,000 shares.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (NYSE: BHP) is getting clipped again on a day-two move after the Australians decided to propose a new tax specifically on miners.  ADR shares were down $1.35 at $71.44 yesterday, and shares are indicated down 1.8% at $70.17 pre-market this morning on almost 50,000 shares.

BP plc (NYSE: BP) was down again yesterday and on volume not seen in ages of 156 million shares.  Some may be hoping that yesterday’s $1.96 drop to $50.19 was the capitulation as this was a $60 stock on April 21.  Shares are indicated up 0.8% at $50.58 on about 1 million shares in pre-market trading.

General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE: GGP) is up only marginally, but that may be because of its rally very late Monday.  Shares appear up 0.1% at $16.80 on thin volume despite the bid being listed as $18.25 per share.

Impax Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: IPXL) is having a solid morning.  Shares closed at $17.96 but this morning the stock is up 8.5% at $19.50 on over 75,000 shares.  This is on strong first quarter revenue on generic Flomax launch, and anything above $18.74 is to be considered a new 52-week high today.

Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: LF) was down last night despite a sales gain of more than 40% because it lost $23 million in its latest quarter.  Shares were down 18% last night, but this morning the stock is down 15.7% at $6.00 on about 25,000 shares.

NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI) caught the bears looking in the diet food… It beat earnings last night and we have now seen at least one analyst upgrade.  Shares were trading up 9.9% at $20.34 last night, but now shares are indicated up 16% at $21.53 on volume approaching 100,000 shares.

Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) is down after reported $0.55 EPS vs. $0.54 estimates; revenue fell 2% To $1.35 billion rather than $1.377 billion expected from Thomson Reuters.  It also reaffirmed a range of $2.30 to $2.50 EPS vs. the $2.40 estimates.  Shares were down over 7% at $24.00 on last look in the evening, but PBI is down “only 5.3%” at $24.50 on thin volume.

Powerwave Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PWAV) originally fell last night after it reported -$0.05 EPS vs. $0.00 estimates from Thomson Reuters and revenues were down over 20% to $114.5 million versus estimates of $130+ million. Now shares are up over 12% at $2.02 on about 600,000 shares of stock.  The old 52-week high was $1.91.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOR) closed down 5% at $9.28 yesterday and the after-hours session has shares down 3% at $9.00 when we looked.  This morning the stock is off by 8.8%and down to $8.46 ahead of next week’s FDA panel.  Volume is rather thin.

SIRIUS XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) was up earlier this morning after it posted $157.8 million in adjusted operating income and backed approximately $550 million in pro forma adjusted income for 2010.  Revenues were $670 million.  Shares were indicated up about 1% at $1.24+ this morning versus the $1.25 52-week high yesterday.  Now that earnings are digested, the SIRIUS is down a serious 6.5% at $1.15 on over 6 million shares.

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

Sponsor: 5 best investments for 2010 – The next nine months represent a bold new era for investors.

We ran a screen for NASDAQ stocks with active trading volume, share prices under $1.00, and those which have traded over $1.00 in the last 52-weeks.  Some of the most usual suspects here are as follows:

Name        Symbol                        Price    Mkt Cap   Avg Vol       52-wk Range
Autobytel Inc. (ABTL)                    $0.40    18.09M    255,678        0.31 – 3.30
Beacon Power Corporation (BCON) $0.62    61.40M    973,758       0.50 – 2.18
BankUnited Financial (BKUNA)       $0.24    8.61M    612,080         0.24 – 8.00
Charter Communications (CHTR)    $0.13    53.58M    5,062,670     0.11 – 1.68
Candela Corporation (CLZR)           $0.53    12.12M    195,383        0.31 – 5.93
Cosi, Inc. (COSI)                           $0.25    10.19M    197,683        0.25 – 3.24
Eddie Bauer Holdings (EBHI)          $0.51    15.72M    288,632        0.30 – 8.72
8×8 Inc (EGHT)                              $0.47    29.30M    157,789        0.40 – 1.30
Emmis Communications (EMMS)    $0.41    14.91M    202,774        0.25 – 4.27
Finisar Corporation (FNSR)             $0.40    171.83M   3,241,740     0.29 – 1.96
Glu Mobile Inc. (GLUU)                   $0.44    13.02M    92,946.2       0.22 – 5.77
Globalstar, Inc. (GSAT)                   $0.22    26.35M    634,428        0.17 – 9.50
ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES (IMOS) $0.19    15.95M    538,883        0.18 – 4.39
Jones Soda Co. (JSDA)                  $0.38    10.02M    154,182        0.31 – 8.20
Jupitermedia Corporation (JUPM)     $0.44    15.83M    112,874        0.20 – 4.03
SourceForge, Inc. (LNUX)                $0.96    61.58M    345,160        0.32 – 2.59
Level 3 Communications (LVLT)       $0.70    1.13B    25,960,200      0.60 – 4.48
MRV Communications (MRVC)        $0.80    125.74M    522,931      0.21 – 2.57
Openwave Systems Inc (OPWV)      $0.64    52.99M    400,640        0.45 – 2.89
Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (PEIX)              $0.72    41.59M    591,114        0.50 – 9.88
Powerwave Technologies (PWAV)    $0.48    64.25M    2,752,260     0.35 – 5.30
RF Micro Devices, Inc. (RFMD)        $0.94    247.34M    5,364,060    0.70 – 6.00
Sanmina-SCI Corporation (SANM)    $0.52    279.31M    5,529,640    0.27 – 2.66
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI)               $0.14    491.88M    55,366,100  0.08 – 3.89
Spansion Inc. (SPSN)                      $0.22    35.81M    1,428,130     0.20 – 4.29
NextWave Wireless Inc (WAVE)       $0.10    9.90M       577,515       0.07 – 7.59
Xinhua Finance Media (XFML)           $0.61    43.60M    333,146        0.31 – 6.71

If you think about this, there is also a financial incentive.  Ifhundreds of stocks magically get sent to the minor leagues of theOTC-BB or the Pink Sheets, then NASDAQ would lose a substantial amountof revenue.  It would also lose a significant amount of daily exchangevolume.

Jon C. Ogg
December 19, 2008

Eastman Kodak (EK) Weak forecast. Sells down to $8.94 from 52-week high of $29.08.

Powerwave (PWAV) Poor earnings and downgrade. The daily double. Plunges to $.78 from 52-week high of $5.52.

Bare Escentuals (BARE) Downgraded after missing earnings estimates.

Douglas A. McIntyre

A 33% run-up in Bankrate (RATE),  for more details.

Thoratec (THOR) up 12%, details.

Powerwave (PWAV) drops 45%, details.

Gramercy Park (GKK) up 55%, details.

Douglas A. McIntyre

• Diamond Offshore (DO) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
• Ensco (ESV) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
• HSBC (HBC) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.
• Morningstar (MORN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
• Polypore International (PPO) Cut to Hold at BB&T.
• Powerwave (PWAV) Cut to Neutral at Baird.
• Rowan Companies (RDC) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
• Tidewater (TDW) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
• T. Rowe Price (TROW) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.

Jon C. Ogg
October 31, 2008

• Barrick Gold (ABX) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
• Cablevision (CVC) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
• EMC (EMC) Raised to Outperform at FBR.
• Motorola (MOT) Raised to Neutral from Sell at Piper Jaffray.
• Omnicare (OCR) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• Powerwave (PWAV) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
• RehabCare (RHB) Raised to Outperform at Morgan Keegan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 1, 2008

Specifically, Goldman Sachs noted that it is maintaining a bias toward the large-cap stocks in the communications tech universe with stocks like Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM).  The firm is starting to see some opportunities in small-caps in the sector and the firm has listed Powerwave (NASDAQ: PWAV) as its top idea.

PowerWave was RAISED TO BUY FROM NEUTRAL and it has a premium over Wall Street’s consensus estimates for 2008 and 2009.  The firm believes that PowerWave can grow its top-line at least 10% over the next 2 to 3 years. Price target is $5.30, about 30% above current levels.

The firm noted that Small-cap stocks in its CommTech coverage are down 36% so far in 2008 and down 19% in June. Goldman Sachs believes this current underperformance is due to their greater sensitivity to macro headwinds as customers consolidate around larger vendors, and rising investor risk aversion.

Jon C. Ogg
June 30, 2008

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) was maintained as a Buy, but it was also added to The Conviction List as its 15.9 P/E is attractive and estimates are close to a bottom.  Juniper Networks (NASDAQ: JNPR) was also switched to a new analyst and given a Neutral rating, down from a Buy rating.  Despite a Neutral rating, Goldman Sachs does maintain a favorable long-term view of the stock.  Research-in-Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) were given Buy rating in interim coverage.

Here were some of the other major coverage changes: 

• Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) was downgraded to Sell.
• Netgear (NASDAQ: NTGR) and Powerwave (NASDAQ: PWAV) were maintained Neutral.
• Starent (NASDAQ: STAR) was downgraded to Neutral.

Jon C. Ogg
March 27, 2008

The top 10 individual analysts calls 24/7 Wall St. is looking at today:

• AbitibiBowater (ABH) started as Sell at Banc of America.
• Alkermes (ALKS) started as Overweight at J.P.Morgan.
• Applied Materials (AMAT) raised to Overweight at J.P.Morgan; raised to Buy at Citigroup; positive notes from Banc of America; stock up 3.5% pre-market.
• Diageo plc (DEO) started as Underweight at J.P.Morgan.
• eBay (EBAY) raised to Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
• Kanexa (KNXA) raised to Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald after major downgrades yesterday; stock indicated up 2% after yesterday’s mammoth drop.
• 3M (MMM) cut to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs; stock indicated down 4%.
• Powerwave (PWAV) raised to Outperform at Piper Jaffray.
• Turkcell (TKC) cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS; stock indicated down 0.75% pre-market.

Jon C. Ogg
November 9, 2007