Problems with lithium ion batteries hurt the growth of companies that make them. (Reuters)

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) press EU regulators over the role of Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android in phone business. (Reuters)

Big Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) shareholder Southeastern Asset Management says the board’s evaluation of the Michael Dell buyout bid was biased. (Reuters)

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) have conversations about greater partnerships involving their services. (WSJ)

Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE: BX) tries to line up more partners for its Dell bid. (WSJ)

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) increases its use of data to target ads. (WSJ)

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) tests Facebook’s advertising services again. (WSJ)

Fitch downgrades its rating of local currency-based long-term debt, citing worries about the effects of rapid growth. (WSJ)

Blackstone and Carlyle may make an $11 billion offer for Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE). (WSJ)

Several investors approach Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) about buying Frontier Airlines. (WSJ)

The Potential Gas Committee increases its estimates of natural gas supplies, which raises the issue of whether the U.S. should export the energy source. (WSJ)

The boards of OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE: OMX) and Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) set a plan to look for a CEO. (WSJ)

Treasury chief Jacob J. Lew wants EU nations to move from austerity to stimulus and is turned down by his counterparts in the region. (NYT)

Analysts question whether China’s trade data are accurate after a close analysis. (FT)

The number of women on boards at U.K. companies continues to be well short of targets. (Bloomberg)

Annaly Capital Management Inc. (NYSE: NLY) maintained Neutral but cut target to $17 at Credit Suisse.

Apartment Investment & Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) raised to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

Beam Inc. (NYSE: BEAM) reiterated Buy with $74 target at Argus.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) raised to Buy but $320 target is same at BofA/ML.

Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) raised to Equal Weight at Barclays.

Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FANG) started as Outperform with $25 target at Credit Suisse and started as Buy at Stern Agee.

Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX) cut to Hold at Jefferies and reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) reiterated Buy with $82 target at Argus.

Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG) started as Buy with $6 target at BofA/ML.

L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) reiterated Buy with $14 target at Argus.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.

Responsys Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTG) cut to Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Stein Mart Inc. (NASDAQ: SMRT) started as Outperform with $10 target at Credit Suisse.

The TJX Companies Inc. (NYSE: TJX) started as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

UBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) raised to Overweight at Barclays.

United States Cellular Corp. (NYSE: USM) raised to Neutral at JPMorgan.

JON C. OGG

The latest airline to make it more difficult and more costly for travelers to book through the travel sites is Frontier Airlines, which is owned by Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET). JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU), Spirit Airlines Inc. (NASDAQ: SAVE) and Virgin America also provide incentives for customers to book flights directly from the airlines’ websites. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) has never allowed booking through travel websites, and American Airlines got into a dispute with Orbitz in 2010 during which the airlines temporarily refused to allow Orbitz to display pricing information for flights.

According to the Associated Press, Frontier will try to induce customers to book directly by allowing them to choose their seats (something they can no longer do when booking on a travel website) and by cutting frequent flyer miles in half for those customers who use a travel site. Change fees will also be increased by $50 for customers using the travel sites.

Frontier claims it costs the airline $55 to $60 million a year for commissions to travel sites, and that in the first half of the year the airline derived 42% of its $723 million in revenue from booking its own flights. The airline wants to raise that percentage to 65%.

The denial of booking services combined with reductions in the number of flights available could be a real drag on revenue at the travel websites. Shares of all the travel sites took a dive in early August on weak quarterly results from Priceline and Orbitz. Most have recovered somewhat since then, but Orbitz has continued to plunge to levels not seen since last November. And in an uncertain economy, the travel sites could be hit even more.

Paul Ausick

AMR, still in Chapter 11, will consider mergers with other airlines, which could include US Airways (NYSE: LCC), JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU), Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK), Republic Airways (NASDAQ: RJET), Frontier and Virgin America. (Reuters)

Bob Diamond, former CEO of Barclays (NYSE: BCS), is accused of misleading a government panel reviewing Libor rate setting. (Reuters)

Research In Motion’s (NASDAQ: RIMM) CEO promises to turn the company into a lower cost success in smartphones. (Reuters)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) begins to lay off commercial bankers. (Reuters)

Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) has trouble moving into the mobile market. (Reuters)

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) will take back stock from managers involved in its multibillion-dollar trading loss. (WSJ)

Airbus may cut back on some of its outsourcing. (WSJ)

Target (NYSE: TGT) and Neiman Marcus will offer clothes made by the same designers. (WSJ)

General Motors (NYSE: GM) to offer “no haggle” low prices on some of its 2012 cars. (WSJ)

China increases state spending to bolster its economy. (WSJ)

Spain will have to turn over control of some of its banks to EU regulators. (WSJ)

Germany’s higher court to decide whether the nation’s participation in an EU bailout is constitutional. (WSJ)

BP (NYSE: BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-B) encounter regulatory problems as they drill near the Arctic. (WSJ)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) tests a smartphone. (WSJ)

DirecTV (NASDAQ: DTV) may block some Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA) cable TV networks because of a dispute over fees. (WSJ)

Investors buy options in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) as its share price rises beyond their ability to buy shares directly. (WSJ)

NBC, controlled by Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) will cooperate on Olympic coverage. (NYT)

EU officials put more pressure on Greece to meet austerity targets. (NYT)

The bailout of banks in Spain will hurt individual investors. (FT)

RIM says it will increase the size of its board. (FT)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Greek leaders face a deal for settling sovereign debt matters as workers strike. (Reuters)

Toyota (NYSE: TM) posts good third-quarter profits and says the U.S. will be a difficult market. (Reuters)

Boeing (NYSE: BA) may have trouble with its 787 deliveries after flaws were found in the body of the aircraft. (Reuters)

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Redbox set a deal to compete with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX). (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) may open a physical store in Seattle. (Reuters)

House Republicans move to reopen debate on the Keystone XL pipeline. (Reuters)

Problems with regulators have made the Medco (NYSE: MHS) merger with Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) less likely. (Reuters)

The U.S. will create programs to help the troubled money market industry. (WSJ)

Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) will bid as the New York Fed auctions risky bonds it got as part of its AIG (NYSE: AIG) bailout. (WSJ)

Greece will cut 15,000 public sector jobs. (WSJ)

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) wants a 2.25% royalty on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone sales based on IP claims. (WSJ)

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Univision are in talks to create a 24-hour news channel. (WSJ)

India cuts its growth forecast to 6.9%. (WSJ)

Eugene Isenberg of Nabor Industries (NYSE: NBR) gives up a $100 million retirement payout. (WSJ)

The Obama budget will have $3 trillion in cuts over 10 years and $1.5 trillion in new taxes — mostly on the rich. (WSJ)

Japan wants to enter a large Asia-Pacific trade agreement, but the U.S. may object. (WSJ)

Satellite makers say that U.S. regulations make it difficult for them to compete overseas. (WSJ)

Republic Airways (NASDAQ: RJET) is about to sell Frontier. (WSJ)

New LeadershipIQ research breaks companies into four groups based on management style and systems to create results. (WSJ)

Walmart (NYSE: WMT) promotes a manager to be the new CEO of its China operations. (WSJ)

Some large European banks will not take European Central Bank loans because they fear it will make them appear weak. (WSJ)

BP (NYSE: BP) raises its dividend. (FT)

An escrow fund may be set to help Greece instead of all aid money going to the nation directly. (FT)

Farmers to plant the largest corn crop since 1984. (Bloomberg)

Walmart will lower fat, sodium and sugar in some foods. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 101 points to 12,170.18 (0.84%), the NASDAQ rose more than 32 points (1.2%) to 2,727.49, and the S&P 500 rose 1.17% or more than 14 points to 1,275.93.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Aixtron SE (NASDAQ: AIXG), which we noted in our story on LED lighting this morning and was raised to ‘equal weight’ at Morgan Stanley. Other changes included AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) cut to ‘underweight’ at Morgan Stanley; Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) reiterated as ‘buy’ and target price raised to $95 at Argus; Plains All-America Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) raised to ‘buy’ at Wells Fargo; and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Fuel Tech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FTEK) is up about 22%, at $6.63; Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) is up nearly 16%, at $7.34; Exide Technologies (NASDAQ: XIDE) is down more than -32%, at $3.04, after posting a new 52-week low of $2.98 earlier today; WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE: WMS) is down nearly -17%, at $18.25; James River Coal Corp. (NASDAQ: JRCC) is down nearly -9%, at $9.45; and Procera Networks, Inc. (AMEX: PKT) is up nearly 21%, at $14.31, after posting a new 52-week high earlier today of $14.38.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET)  is up more than 57%, at $4.24. The company said that it is looking at selling or spinning off its Frontier Airlines unit.

Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXA) is up nearly 33%, to $1.37. The company announced that its drug treatment for multiple sclerosis has received the Fast Track designation from the FDA.

Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) is up more than 28%, at $3.79. The utility company has said that several of its units have filed for bankruptcy. We covered the unusual bankruptcy boost in more detail earlier today.

Targacept, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT) is down nearly -59%, at $7.75, a new 52-week low. The company announced this morning that its anti-depressant drug failed a recent first phase trial.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants Inc. (NASDAQ: MSSR) is up more than 27%, at $8.65. The company has accepted a buyout offer of $8.75/share in cash from Landry’s Inc.

Solazyme, Inc. (NASDAQ: SZYM) is up more than 17%, at $10.98. The company has signed tentative contracts for 90% of its feedstock through 2015. We covered potential upside in the biofuel sector earlier this week.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is giving a speech in the morning and Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo gives a speech in the afternoon. We have noted the following events (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 9:30 a.m. – Wholesale trade report
• 10:30 p.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – US Treasury 10-year note auction

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Paul Ausick

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) Maintained Underperform but raised estimates at Credit Suisse.
Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX) Reiterated Strong Buy as Value at Zacks.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Cut to Underweight at Barclays.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) maintained Buy with $53 target but slightly cut estimates at BofA/ML; Reiterated Sell at Argus.
Clorox Corporation (NYSE: CLX) Cut to Perform at Oppenheimer; Raised to Market Perform at Bernstein.
eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Staretd as Buy with $40 target at Argus.
Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Huntington Bancshares Inc. (NASDAQ: HBAN) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ: JDSU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $15.50 at Credit Suisse.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Cut to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan.
LM Ericsson Telephone Co. (NASDAQ: ERIC) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) Cut to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest.
NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ: NXPI) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) Started as Buy with $64 target at BofA/ML.
SkyWest Inc. (NASDAQ: SKYW) Reiterated Underperform and cut target to $10 at BofA/ML.
SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) Cut to Sell at Collins Stewart; Reiterated Underperform at BofA/ML.
US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC) Cut to Neutral at BofA/ML.

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

Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NYSE: CAR) Reiterated Strong Buy at Zacks.
The Cooper Companies (NYSE: COO) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Reiterated Neutral and $21 target at BofA/ML.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) Reiterated Overweight but raised target to $14.50 at Morgan Stanley.
Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE: TAP) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Cut to Hold at Wunderlich.
Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) Maintained Hold but cut target to $40 at Canaccord Genuity.
Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
Sina Corporation (NASDAQ: SINA) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $128 at Credit Suisse.
Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) called Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Stericycle, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRCL) Raised to Neutral at BofA/ML.
Transocean Ltd. Co. (NYSE: RIG) Raised to Buy at Argus.

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

But first, the weather, which is continuing to play havoc with air travel into February, as a majestic winter storm is pounding the US from Nebraska to Maine, forcing the cancellation of more than 3,900 flights so far today. More than 20% of US flights were canceled yesterday.

Add to canceled flights the rising cost of jet fuel, and the airlines could be struggling for a while yet. Airline fare-comparison website farecompare.com reports that American Airlines, owned by AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), raised its roundtrip fuel surcharge by $4-$10 on most of its domestic routes, and United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL) added a $6 roundtrip fuel charge to a “significant number” of its domestic routes.

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) added a fuel surcharge to flights from the US to Puerto Rico and other Caribbean destinations of $70-$90 roundtrip, while American boosted prices on flights to Hawaii and Canada. US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC) and Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK) have matched American’s hikes on some routes, and Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) has matched fares on “a smattering” of routes. Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV), AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE:AAI), and Frontier Airlines, a subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET) have not raised fares yet.

The IATA report notes a sharp rise in oil prices in December, and is waffling on its earlier prediction that 2011 would be a second consecutive year of profitability for the airlines, even though profits would fall from about $12.7 billion to $9.1 billion. The estimate was based on an oil price of $84/barrel. That price may turn out to have been wishful thinking.

Every $1/barrel rise in the price of oil translates to an additional $1.6 billion in costs for the airlines, according to the IATA. At about $91/barrel for WTI, airline costs will rise by $11.2 billion, essentially wiping out the predicted $9.1 billion in 2011 profits. Unless the airlines raise ticket prices or add more fuel surcharges. Of course either of those price actions could lower passenger numbers, making the profit outlook for airlines even dimmer in 2011.

For now, it seems that many of the major US carriers are cautiously adding modest surcharges or raising fares slightly to stay ahead of rising oil prices. If prices decline, the air carriers may leave the hikes in place for a while to try to make up some lost profits. If oil prices continue to rise, the fares and fuel surcharges will have to rise too, but not too much.

The weather will change, and so will the price of oil. One will get better and the other is likely to get worse. The short-term weather effects won’t help US air carriers, but the long-term effects of rising oil prices are significantly worse.

Paul Ausick

The one company among the small airlines that rose near to its 52-week high in trading was Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK), which moved up 5% to $50.95.

Alaska Air is considered among the finest run carriers in America. It bested all other traditional airlines in recent JD Power customer service research. Alaska Air’s debt is a very modest $1.5 billion. In the June quarter, the company made $59 million on revenue of $976 million. These cornerstones of financial strength have contributed to the Alaska Air share price performance during the last year. The stock is up 80%. JetBlue shares are flat for the same period

One of the company’s great advantages is its strength in the Western US. This is concentrated from the company’s hub in Seattle, up the coast to Alaska and down the coast into Mexico. Alaska Air also serves Hawaii. It competes very little on the crowded routes that run toward the Midwest and up and down the East Coast, parts of the U.S. crowded by large airlines and aggressive competition for customers.

Alaska’s route system and financial strength make it a likely candidate for a buyout. If it gets the kind of premium AirTran did, the stock will move above $75.

Douglas A. McIntyre