The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 7 points to 12,890.61 (0.05%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.39%) to 2,927.23, and the S&P 500 rose 0.15% or 2 points to 1,351.96.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) cut to ‘sell’ at Wunderlich; Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) cut to ‘hold’ at S&P Capital IQ; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) reiterated as ‘hold’ with $15 target price at Cannacord Genuity; Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) cut to ‘perform’ at Oppenheimer and named ‘Bull of the Day’ at Zacks; and 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) cut to ‘hold’ at Deutsche Bank. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) got a lift from a target price increase to $665, which we cover here. We’ve also got a story on how Apple gets 80% of the operating profit among all the phone makers.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is down -2.1% at $20.00 (here’s our coverage); American Superconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: AMSC) is down -8.74% at $5.50; Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) is up 5.9% at $63.25; Dunkin’ Brands Inc. (NASDAQ: DNKN) is down -2.35% at $28.33; Lorillard Inc. (NYSE: LO) is up 9.8% at $124.46 after posting a new 52-week high of $127.68 earlier today; Pepsico Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is down -3.6% at $64.37 (our coverage here); Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is up 2.8% at $80.08 after setting a new 52-week high of $80.99 earlier today; Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is nearly flat at $2.19 (additional coverage here); and Teradata Corp. (NYSE: TDC) is up 10% at $63.85 after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $64.97.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Imperial Sugar Co. (NASDAQ: IPSU) is up more than 79% at $6.02. The sugar refiner and marketer said it is nearing a sale of one of its divisions.

Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) is up 20% at $11.08. The solar panel maker is getting a big boost from a report that China will add about 3,000 megawatts of solar PV generation this year, although some analysts think the total will be double that. Other Chinese solar panel makers are also getting a nice bump from the news. We have another view of the sudden rise here.

Diamond Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) is down more than -36% at $23.36 after posting a new 52-week low of $21.44 earlier today. The snack food maker will re-state accounting and that jeopardizes the deal to purchase the Pringles brand from Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). See our coverage here.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is down more than -15% at $20.82. The Internet coupon company posted weak earnings last night. See our coverage here.

Taleo Corp. (NASDAQ: TLEO) is up more than 17% at $45.62 after posting a new 52-week high of $45.71. The maker of cloud-based software is being acquired by Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL). More coverage here and here.

Ceasars Entertainment Corp. (NASDAQ: CZR) is down about -3.8% at $14.80. The share price nearly doubled at yesterday’s IPO, to a high of $17.90, but the stock is coming back to earth today.

Stay tuned for Friday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Cleveland Fed president Sandra Pianalto are speakingWe have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – International trade report
• 9:55 a.m. – Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment report
• 2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget report

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Paul Ausick

Handset makers Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI), Sony Ericsson, LG Electronics, and HTC Corp. trail far behind in profits, with only Nokia, Samsung, and HTC posting any profit at all. Sony Ericsson posted an operating loss of -$317 million in 2011 and Motorola lost -$19 million. LG managed to break even.

In market share by operating system, Apple’s iOS trails the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), with 19% to Android’s 48% at the end of 2011. Canaccord Genuity estimates that at the end of this year, Android will hold 57% share to Apple’s 22%. The wild card here is Nokia’s coming introduction of new smartphones using the Windows Phone operating system from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Compared with profits, though, operating system market share doesn’t mean much, especially because Google distributes Android for free. And that free software is probably the only thing that allows Samsung and HTC to make a profit at all.

What gives Apple its staggering profit share is the company’s ability to price its iPhones at a premium other vendors’ offerings. Apple is clearly forcing its competitors to race to the bottom and compete with one another on price. Ericsson has already abandoned its joint venture with Sony. Why Sony plans to continue losing money probably has more to do with management egos than anything else.

Motorola, which is about to be acquired by Google, is also in a precarious position. Because Android doesn’t cost any of its competitors anything, the Google/Moto tie-up gains no advantage from the acquisition. HTC, which has fouled up its inventory management, might not have enough time to sort itself out. LG can hold on for a while because it is large enough to absorb some losses (-$266 million in the first 3 quarters of 2011), but there’s really no reason for the company to continue to bleed to death.

Samsung saw its share of the industry’s total operating profits fall from 26% in the third quarter of 2011 to 15% in the fourth quarter. And it looks like the third quarter was the aberration, probably due to impatient consumers who would have bought the iPhone 4S if it had been available by late September.

Samsung is expected to grow its market share from 19.5% in 2011 to 26.3% in 2012. That doesn’t really help much though, as Samsung’s problem is that its profit share is quite vulnerable. The company simply doesn’t have the thought leadership position in the smartphone marketplace and there is no way for the company to price its phones to yield maximum operating profits. Its position remains at the front of the line of also-rans.

Canaccord Genuity raised its price target for Apple to $665/share today, and we have more coverage on that here. Apple shares are up about 3.6% just before noon today, at $493.72 after posting a new 52-week high of $495.12.

Paul Ausick

Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
AU Optronics Corporation (NYSE: AUO) targets raised by Nomura and also by Credit Suisse.
A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) Cut to Sell at Wunderlich.
Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN) Cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) Cut to Hold at S&P Capital IQ.
Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE: IR) Raised to Outperform at Wells Fargo.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Montpelier Re Holdings (NYSE: MRH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) Resumed as Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Post Holdings Inc. (NYSE: POST) Started as Overweight at Barclays.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Reiterated Hold with $15 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHU) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

See the new high $665 price target on Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) from this morning.

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

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 157 points to 12,862.23 (1.23%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 46 points (1.61%) to 2,905.66, and the S&P 500 rose 1.46% or more than 19 points to 1,344.90.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus; Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) raised to ‘outperform’ at Baird; Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) cut to ‘underperform’ at Jefferies; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) raised to ‘buy’ at Janney Capital; and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) started as ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) is up more than 11% at $54.83 after posting a new 52-week high of $54.90 earlier (see our coverage here); Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is up more than 13% at $9.12; PC Connection Inc. (NASDAQ: PCCC) is down nearly -20% at $10.22; Novellus Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: NVLS) is down -0.73% at $48.98, but posted a new 52-week high of $49.92 earlier in the day; PerkinElmer Inc. (NYSE: PKI) is up more than 6% at $26.21; Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) is up 2.4% at $54.28; Estee Lauder Cos. Inc. (NYSE: EL) is down -3.64% at $56.71 (more coverage here); and Weyerhaeuser Co. (NYSE: WY) is up more than 5% at $21.19.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: THLD) is up nearly 115% at $2.77. The pharmaceuticals firm has announced a global development deal with Germany’s Merck.

Tudou Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is up nearly 19% at $16.66. The Chinese online video company has signed a deal with Sina Corp. (NASDAQ: SINA) to provide a video platform for Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like social site.

Zoltek Cos. Inc. (NASDAQ: ZOLT) is up nearly 39% at $13.14. The specialty fibers maker posted good earnings number and forecast continued growth in the market for wind turbines which use its carbon fibers in blade construction.

STR Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: STRI) is down nearly -20% at $9.08. The company manufactures materials used in solar PV modules, and lowered its fourth-quarter guidance this morning.

Mannkind Corp. (NASDAQ: MNKD) is down nearly -13% at $2.15 after posting a new 52-week low of $2.14 earlier. The biotech company has priced its public offering of units containing one share of stock and warrant to purchase another 0.6 shares. More coverage here.

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

• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction
• 3:00 p.m. – Treasury STRIPS

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Have a great weekend.

Paul Ausick

Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
BB&T Corp. (NYSE: BBT) Raised to Equal-Weight at Barclays.
Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) Started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.
Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE: EMN) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEET) Raised to Outperform at Baird.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
SLM Corp. (NYSE: SLM) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Raised to Buy from Neutral at Janney Capital.

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.

JON C. OGG

Sony named Kazuo Hirai as president and CEO. He replaces Sir Howard Stringer, who has run the corporation since 2005, and over the past seven years has run it into the ground.

Stringer’s biggest mistake has been to stay in two segments of the consumer electronics industry. The first is the manufacturing and marketing of LCD screens, which is a low-margin business, if not a losing one. The other is that Sony continues to make PCs, although there are a number of other PC makers with much larger market share. And, of course, there is the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Mac.

During Stringer’s tenure, he was slow to get a world-class video game console into the market. PS3 sales have not been a disaster, but Sony has allowed its PS2 sales advantage to wither as Nintendo and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) have made market share gains. Whether Hirai’s engineers can upgrade the PS3 enough to take substantial market share, particularly from Microsoft, is an open question. Certainly, the process will be hard.

Stinger also made the odd move of taking over the half of the Sony Ericsson smartphone joint venture that Sony did not already own. Sony Ericsson sits in the market well behind the Apple iPhone, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and a number of Android-powered products from electronics giant Samsung and nimble operators such as HTC. Even Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) has a better share than Sony Ericsson, which is extraordinary, given the Canadian company’s missteps. Stringer believes that Sony smartphones somehow can be tethered to its content and consumer electronics products. In other words, there is a hidden synergy between Sony’s current businesses and the smartphone company it has taken over in full.

Sony lost its lead in a number of consumer electronics arenas a decade ago. Stringer made the problem worse as Sony’s attempts at innovation failed. Now Hirai has to make Sony a success again, and that is too much to ask of any executive.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Changes at RIM

The independent directors of Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) did what they should have long ago. They decided that the company ought to have one person as CEO and another as chairman. Co-chief executive officers Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis also had control over the board as RIM ruined its own fortunes with a series of bad decisions about how it should evolve from a BlackBerry-driven company to one with a larger set of smartphones. In the meantime, the firm’s share price dropped by more than 80%. There has been little mention of the board’s important but cloaked role in the trouble.

EU Unemployment

The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat reported that unemployment in the 17-nation area reached 10.4% in December. That is an indication of the struggle the region faces as it tries to repair its finances and stay out of a regionwide recession. Some data show that Germany has dodged the fate of its neighbors, but that is the only bright light among the nations in the alliance. The unemployment number will raise the issue for the 1,000th time about whether austerity can ever be compatible with the actions needed to stimulate economies and employment.

Apple Retail Chief

John Browett of Dixons Retail will join Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as the head of its 361-store retail operations. Why Apple did not promote one of its own executives is a mystery. It hardly matters. Apple’s retail locations are constantly swamped with customers and, even as the company adds stores rapidly, that is not likely to change. Browett will get to ride the wave of that success without the slightest need to do anything but hang on.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Honda (NYSE: HMC) posts a 65% drop in profits and cuts its outlook because of the yen and Thai floods. (Reuters)

Twenty-five nations, led by Germany, sign a bailout fund agreement. (Reuters)

Honda will launch its first business jet next week. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) independent directors agree that the chairman should not be a company executive. (Reuters)

German retail sales fall in December. (Reuters)

The WTO rules against Chinese policies on raw materials, but its rare earth exports are not addressed. (Reuters)

AT&T (NYSE: T) changes the roles of a number of its top managers. (Reuters)

Another director — Larry Babbio Jr. — leaves the Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) board. (Reuters)

New 401(k) rules could help millions of American with savings. (WSJ)

State attorneys general have until the end of the week to join a bank mortgage settlement set by the federal government. (WSJ)

Banco Santander’s (NYSE: STD) profits drop 98% on its real estate holdings. (WSJ)

The vice chairman of Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) loses his job over an overseas bribery probe. (WSJ)

Symphony IRI reports that more shoppers are moving to store brands and away from traditional ones. (WSJ)

RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) shares fall on a profit warning. (WSJ)

Portugal’s borrowing costs rise to euro-area highs. (WSJ)

The Manhattan Institute reports racial segregation reached a 100-year low. (WSJ)

Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) home broadband efforts compete with Verizon Wireless products. (WSJ)

Groupon’s (NASDAQ: GRPN) CEO defends the value of the company’s shares. (WSJ)

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) moves into India. (WSJ)

Pep Boys goes private. (WSJ)

Comscore reports that Facebook increased its display market share lead over Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). (WSJ)

Many European companies begin to prepare for the economic fallout of a troubled Europe. (WSJ)

Moody’s says it was unaware of balance sheet risks taken by MF Global. (WSJ)

BSkyB will launch an online TV service. (NYT)

The Treasury Department investigates whether Freddie Mac invested based on an inability of some Americans to refinance their homes. (NYT)

A bill to curtail insider trading in Congress advances. (NYT)

EU banks may take loans of as much as $1 trillion because of financial trouble in the region. (FT)

Strong R&D and innovation can extend the life cycles of technology companies. (FT)

Greece is near a confrontation with the European Union over a rescue. (Bloomberg)

German unemployment fell more than expected in January, according to the Federal Labor Agency. (Bloomberg)

Portugal will sell more assets to help with its national debt reduction. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

EU leaders probably will create a 20 billion euro fund to help improve unemployment among the young. (Reuters)

Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) reports that small business hiring slowed in January and wages dropped. (Reuters)

The head of Philips warns of challenges in the first half of this year. (Reuters)

Republicans will link a highway spending bill to the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

Much of the missing $1.2 billion from MF Global may never be found. (WSJ)

Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) Richard Parsons may retire as chairman. (WSJ)

Germany warns Greece it may not get bailout funds because of inadequate austerity measures. (WSJ)

The head of the Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) will turn down his bonus because of an uproar about its size. (WSJ)

The IMF will review whether the yuan is still undervalued. (WSJ)

AMR’s nonunion retirees want more say in its Chapter 11. (WSJ)

The Association of Fundraising Professionals says many nonprofits had record years in 2011. (WSJ)

Sarkozy announces plans to improve France’s competitiveness. (WSJ)

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Aol (NYSE: AOL) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) set an alliance to prevent phishing emails. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) will sell some of its Japanese operations. (WSJ)

A new Fed study warns of deflation. (WSJ)

Investors are voicing more concern over Japan’s debt. (WSJ)

Troubles at newspapers caused 71 dailies to be sold last year. (NYT)

Many U.S. banks use CDs to bet for or against Europe’s problems. (NYT)

Research In Motion (NYSE: RIMM), which has done well in Europe, faces more challenges there. (NYT)

Ratings agencies will be questioned about their role in MF Global. (FT)

Exports from industrial companies in the West to China fall. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Spain’s Unemployment

Spain’s unemployment climbed to 22.6%, which is double the eurozone average. The figure is at a 15-year high. It is hard to see how it can be brought down. The Spanish government already has to deal with a budget gap, severe financial problems among its states, a collapsed banking system and a ruined real estate market. Capital markets investors and EU officials expect Spain to show it can produce an austerity-based budget. That leaves no money to stimulate job growth.

Greek Economy Deteriorates

The pressure on Greece to cut government costs has become even greater in the past day. Greece needs the next tranche of its bailout package — 130 billion euro. A new IMF report has cast a shadow over the negotiations. The data show that the Greek economy is deteriorating faster than forecast. The pressure to implement more austerity measures is relentless. The conventional wisdom that Greece will default in some way gains more evidence as the nation awaits the next stage of its bailout.

Starbucks Robust Earnings

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) offered more evidence of its turnaround. Revenue rose 16% in the last quarter to $3.4 billion. EPS were higher by 11% to $0.50. The numbers were impressive but do show margins fell slightly. That has not stopped the company from investing in expansion. It opened 241 new stores in the quarter. Comparable store sales were up 9%. If Starbucks is any proxy for the recovery of middle class consumer spending, then spending is on the rise. A $5 cup of coffee is a discretionary decision, if there ever was one.

Douglas A. McIntyre