American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Reiterated Buy with $60 target at Argus.
Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) Maintained Buy but cut target to $11 at Canaccord Genuity.
BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Started as Buy at UBS.
Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Maintained Outperform but cut earnings estimates at Credit Suisse.
Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) Cut to Hold with $79 target at Canaccord Genuity.
Entertainment Properties Trust (NYSE: EPR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
France Telecom SA (NYSE: FTE) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
HSBC Holdings PLC (NYSE: HBC) Cut to Underperform at BofA/ML.
Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) Cut to Market Perform at KBW.
Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LECO) named as Value stock of the day at Zacks.
MarkWest Energy Partners (NYSE: MWE) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Maintained Outperform but cut target to $34 from $35 at Credit Suisse; Maintained Hold and lowered estimates at Argus.
Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) Cut to Hold with $32 target at Canaccord Genuity.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $7 from $10 at Credit Suisse.

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JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down more than 13 points to 12,449.08 (-0.11%), the NASDAQ rose more than 8 points (0.31%) to 2,710.76, and the S&P 500 rose 0.03% or less than 1 point to 1,292.44.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Alcatel-Lucent, S.A. (NYSE: ALU) raised to ‘buy’ at Deutsche Bank; WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) cut to ‘sell’ at Citigroup; Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; and American Water Works Co. Inc. (NYSE: AWK) raised to ‘buy’ at Ladenburg Thalmann.

Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes: Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) is up 6.3% at $22.07 after posting a new 52-week high of $22.53 earlier today; Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is down nearly -13% at $7.33; Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHIP) is up more than 5.5% at $2.65; SemiLEDS Corp. (NASDAQ: LEDS) is more than 5% at $3.69; and Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) is up more than 8% at $34.80.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is up more than 37% at $1.97. The Chinese solar maker is among several Chinese solar companies getting a boost today from news that solar panel prices appear to be stabilizing. We have more coverage here.

YRC Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) is up nearly 16% at $11.38. The transportation company has said it will auction 62 of its surplus US sites.

Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) is up more than 17% at $18.73. The funny-shoe company has estimated that sales in the current fiscal year will top $1 billion for the first time.

Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is down about -22% at $4.55, after posting a new 52-week low of $4.25 earlier today. The silver miner has lowered its production estimate due to a forced closure of a shaft at its Nevada mine.

Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HRC) is down nearly -12% at $30.45. The medical equipment maker and services provider lowered fourth-quarter and full-year guidance last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims report
• 8:30 a.m. – Census Bureau retail sales report
• 10:00 a.m. – Census Bureau business inventories report
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 30-year bond auction
• 2:00 p.m. – US Treasury budget
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet

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Paul Ausick

Delta Apparel is down more than -26% at $14.08. Volume is already more than double the daily average. The clothes maker lowered guidance this morning..

Urban Outfitters is down more than -19% at $23.80. Volume is already double the daily average. The clothing retailer’s CEO has resigned.

Hecla Mining is down nearly -23% at $4.51, a new 52-week low. Volume is already nearly equal to the daily average. The company has lowered its silver production forecast from 9.5 million ounces to 7 million ounces following an order from a federal regulator to close one of its shafts.

Supervalu is down more than -10% at $7.52. Volume is heavy, with more than half the daily average number of shares already traded. The supermarket company missed revenue expectations this morning and has lowered guidance.

Pandora Media is up more than 6% at $12.19. Volume has already surpassed the daily average. The Internet radio company has announced that it has deals with 23 automakers and more than 450 consumer electronics companies to carry its programming.

Paul Ausick

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 70 points to 12,462.47 (0.56%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 26 points (0.97%) to 2,702.50, and the S&P 500 rose 0.89% or more than 11 points to 1,292.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) maintained as ‘top tech/semiconductor’ pick at Credit Suisse; Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) cut from ‘neutral’ to ‘underperform’ at BofA/ML; Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) reiterated as ‘buy’ and estimates raised at Argus; The Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) cut to ‘equal-weight’ at Barclays; and Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) reiterated as ‘outperform’ and price target raised from $32 to $36 at Credit Suisse.

Earnings reports of note since markets closed yesterday include: Alcoa is up 0.27% at $9.45; Emulex Corp. (NYSE: ELX) is up more than 13% at $8.38; and BSD Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: BSDM) is down more than -7% at $2.09. After markets close today Synnex Corp. (NYSE: SNX) reports earnings and tomorrow’s earnings schedule includes Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) and Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) is down more than -28% at $26.41, after posting a new 52-week low of $25.01 earlier today. The web-based healthcare company’s CEO resigned, the search for an acquirer was terminated, and the revenue outlook for 2012 was lowered.

Complete Genomics Inc. (NASDAQ: GNOM) is down nearly -26% at $2.88. The biotechnology company shipped fewer genomes than expected in the fourth quarter.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: IDIX) is up more than 25% at $12.10, a new 52-week high. The drug maker continues to bask in the reflected glow of yesterday’s takeover of Inhibitex Inc. (NASDAQ: INHX) by Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY).

Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF) is down more than -10% at $59.97. The company reported weak earnings and a lower forecast this morning.

Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) is down more than -13% at $8.63. The clothing company’s CFO resigned and the company lowered 2012 revenue estimates.

Stay tuned for Wednesday. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser are giving speeches. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 1:00 p.m. – 10-year Treasury note auction
• 2:00 p.m. – Federal Reserve Beige Book released

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Paul Ausick

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 259 points to 12,153.46 (2.18%), the NASDAQ rose more than 53 points (2.04%) to 2,678.75, and the S&P 500 rose 1.95% or more than 24 points to 1,263.85.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) started as ‘neutral’ at Nomura. Other changes included Cameron International (NYSE: CAM) reiterated ‘buy’ with $73 target at BofA/ML; Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) maintained ‘neutral’ but cut target to $14 at JPMorgan; NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) reiterated ‘buy’ with $18 target at BofA/ML; SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) reinstated as ‘neutral’ at BofA/ML; and Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) started as ‘outperform’ at BMO Capital.

Here are today’s big post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) is down more than -13%, at $47.91; D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE: DHI) is down more than -2%, at $11.42; Bacterin International Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BONE) is up more than 6%, at $2.90; Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTI) is down more than -3.5%, at $3.45; and The Howard Hughes Corp. (NYSE: HHC) is up more than 2.5%, at $47.25.

Several other standouts from today are as follows…

Pinnacle Data Systems Inc. (AMEX: PNS) is up more than 105%, at $2.36. The company has accepted a takeover offer from Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT) worth $2.40/share.

Alimera Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALIM) is down nearly -74%, at $1.94. The company failed to get FDA approval for its eye pain drug.

pSivida Corp. (NASDAQ: PSDV) is down more than -46%, at $2.11. The company had licensed to Alimera an element of the drug that failed the FDA test.

Molycorp, Inc. (NYSE: MCP) is down more than -13%, at $33.43. The company missed earnings and revenue estimates.

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NASDAQ: HOVNP) is down more than -9%, at $1.40. The company did not have any news today, but likely suffered from the earnings report from D.R. Horton.

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corp. (AMEX: TRX) is up more than 20%, at $2.75. The company’s shares were halted earlier, and the company issued a statement that there was no particular event responsible for the heavy trading in the stock.

Except for short-term Treasury Bill auctions, there are no events scheduled for Monday.

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Paul Ausick

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Started as Neutral at Nomura.
Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) Started as Neutral with $13 target at Credit Suisse.
Boston Beer Company (NYSE: SAM) named Momentum stock of the day at Zacks.
Cameron International (NYSE: CAM) Reiterated Buy with $73 target at BofA/ML.
Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) Raised to Neutral at Stern Agee.
Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) Raised to Neutral at Citigroup.
Magnum Hunter Resources (NYSE: MHR) reiterated Buy and raised target to $8.00 at Canaccord Genuity.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) maintained Neutral but cut target to $14 at JPMorgan.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) Reiterated Buy with $18 target at BofA/ML.
Parker Drilling Company (NYSE: PKD) named value stock of the day at Zacks.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF) Started as Outperform at BMO Capital.
SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) Reinstated as Neutral at BofA/ML.
United Therapeutics (NASDAQ: UTHR) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day as Zacks.
Zimmer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZMH) Cut to Hold at Argus.

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JON C. OGG

About the only weapons the grocers have is selectively lowering prices and pushing their privately-labeled goods, which have a higher profit margin for the stores than the nationally-advertised brands. Stores have been unable, yet, to come up with a significant boost to their revenues and profits available from technology developments. The costs of implementing high-tech grocery shopping more than offsets any possible gains. It’s another problem grocers will have to find an answer to, along with rising costs, if they are going to grow.

We’ve looked today at a number of grocery store and supermarket stocks to try to determine where some hidden value may lie. The stores we’ve reviewed are Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY), The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN), Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM), Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU), The Fresh Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM), Ruddick Corp. (NYSE: RDK), Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE: WMK), and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). We’ve included Walmart because it gets more than half its $100+ billion in revenues from grocery sales, making it the largest grocery seller among this group.

All data from Yahoo! Finance, and current prices were gathered at about noon today.

Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) has a median target price of $19.00 from 13 brokers. Shares are trading today at $19.28, about 1.5% above the target price. Safeway’s forward P/E is 10.37 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $15.93-$25.43, and at today’s price that’s about 21% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 24% below the 52-week high. Safeway saw its average food basket price rise by 2.3% year-over-year in September, the same rate as Kroger and Supervalu. Sales of private label foods and gasoline gave the company a boost in the third quarter, but gross margins fell — never a good sign for a grocery. Look for a hike to the target price soon, now that Safeway has managed to bust through $19.

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) has a median target price of $26.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $22.83, for an implied gain of $3.17, or 14%. Kroger’s forward P/E is 10.57 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $20.53-$25.85, and at today’s price that’s about 11% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 12% below the 52-week high. Kroger is Walmart’s leading competitor in grocery sales, with about $82 billion in 2010. The company has made a conscious effort to keep prices low, and that has affected margins negatively. If the company can figure a way to get those margins up, the stock price has room to grow.

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) has a median target price of $10.50 from 5 brokers. Shares are trading today at $6.57, for an implied gain of $3.93, or 60%. Winn-Dixie’s forward P/E is negative and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $5.10-$10.08, and at today’s price that’s about 29% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 35% below the 52-week high. Winn-Dixie didn’t quite meet its expected EPS loss estimate of -$0.42 when it reported earnings yesterday, but its same-store sales rose 3.3% and its revenues grew 3.1%. The company has a lot of headroom before it hits its price target or its 52-week high, and its big plus is a debt-free balance sheet.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) has a median target price of $75.00 from 15 brokers. Shares are trading today at $70.64, for an implied gain of $4.36, or 6%. Whole Foods’ forward P/E is 31.04 and the company pays a dividend yield of 0.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $39.95-$74.45, and at today’s price that’s about 77% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.41 on revenues of $2.36 billion after markets close today. Full-year EPS for the year ended in September is expected to be $1.93. Whole Foods has performed very well in a tight environment this year, and the company’s stock price reflects that. Expectations, as indicated by the high forward earnings multiple, might be somewhat optimistic but there’s still a 6% gain available when the company hits its target price.

Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU) has a median target price of $8.38 from 10 brokers. Shares are trading today at $7.77, for an implied gain of $0.61, or 8%. Supervalu’s forward P/E is 6.03 and the company pays a dividend yield of 4.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $6.26-$11.77, and at today’s price that’s about 24% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 34% below the 52-week high. Like Safeway and Kroger, the average food basket price rose 2.3% at Supervalu in September. The company reported EPS of $0.28 two weeks ago, beating estimates. At the same time, the company lowered its full-year estimates on both earnings and revenues.

The Fresh Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) has a median target price of $43.50 from 8 brokers. Shares are trading today at $40.27, for an implied gain of $3.23, or 8%. Fresh Market’s forward P/E is 30.48 and the company does not pay a dividend. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $30.86-$46.85, and at today’s price that’s about 30% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 14% below the 52-week high. Fresh Market shares started the month of September with a bang, but unfortunately the company only succeeded in generating short interest near 20% of outstanding shares. Stock price increases have stalled, and remain about where they were two months ago.

Ruddick Corp. (NYSE: RDK) has a median target price of $49.00 from 3 brokers. Shares are trading today at $43.75, for an implied gain of $5.25, or 12%. Ruddick’s forward P/E is 15.46 and the company pays a dividend yield of 1.2%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $33.44-$46.00, and at today’s price that’s about 31% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 5% below the 52-week high. Ruddick sold its thread-making and textile business to a private equity buyer last week for $180 million, leaving it with just its grocery operations. Shares got a short-lived boost on the sale, but shares continue to drift away from the 52-week high and the target price.

Weis Markets, Inc. (NYSE: WMK) has a median target price of $31.00 from just one broker. Shares are trading today at $39.45, about 21% above the target price. Weis’s forward P/E is unreported and the company pays a dividend yield of 3%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $36.52-$42.20, and at today’s price that’s about 8% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 7% below the 52-week high. Just looking at Weis’s hi/low it is pretty clear that the company needed to do something to try to break its share price out of that tight range. Last week it boosted its annual dividend from $1.16 to $1.20, and declared a special dividend of $1/share. The bounce to the share price lasted just one day.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has a median target price of $60.00 from 19 brokers. Shares are trading today at $57.06, for an implied gain of $2.94, or 5%. Walmart’s forward P/E is 11.62 and the company pays a dividend yield of 2.6%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $48.31-$57.96, and at today’s price that’s about 18% above its 52-week low, posted earlier this morning, and 2% below the 52-week high. Walmart stock is trading near enough to its 52-week high that another good quarterly report could push the shares through that barrier. Walmart’s average food basket price rose 0.9% year-over-year in September, less than half as much than prices at Safeway, Kroger, and Supervalu stores.

Paul Ausick

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is down 2% premarket to $7.08, relative to a 52-week range of $6.01-$15.31.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) is down 2.5% premarket to $28.27, relative to a 52-week range of $25.40 – $51.50.

Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is down 2.2% premarket to $84.00, relative to a 52-week range of $71.09 – $116.55. Raymond James downgraded the company from “strong buy” to “outperform.”

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) is up .5% premarket to $155.98, relative to a 52-week range of 140.02 – 304.79.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) is up 7.35% before market open to $46.91, relative to a 52-week range of $36.28 – $53.38. The company announced it would be splitting into three parts.

Supervalu, Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is down 1.7% premarket to $7.56, relative to a 52-week range of $6.40 – $12.45. Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) is down 4.4% premarket to $156.06, relative to a 52-week range of $7.85 – $23.29.

We have included some color on each if applicable and included Thomson Reuters estimates and price performance metrics.

Alcoa, Inc. (NYSE: AA) is out with earnings Monday after the close, and it is the first DJIA component and the one company that investors, traders, and speculators often try to use as a bogey for determining the strength of earnings season.  At a minimum, the company may be used as a tool to judge how other metals companies are doing. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.27 EPS and $6.30 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.35 EPS and $6.29 billion in revenues.  Shares are around $18.00 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading at $16.49 about 90-days ago.

Wednesday morning we get to see financial powerhouse JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).  Jamie Dimon and friends will set the tone of how banking and financial firms are doing and how they see the current environment.  Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $1.16 EPS and $25.6 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $1.17 EPS and $25.22 billion in revenues.  Shares are around $47.00 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading around $44.00 about 90-days ago.

DragonWave Inc. (NASDAQ: DRWI) is after the close of trading on Wednesday, and this one is sometimes used as a proxy for how Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE: S) and Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) are doing.  That being said, we’ll leave it there for you to decide how tied these are. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates for DragonWave of -$0.16 EPS and $15.14 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are -$0.07 EPS and $23.88 million in revenues.  Shares are around $8.37 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading at $8.06 about 90-days ago.

Thursday morning comes data-security leader Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP). Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.62 EPS and $276.71 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.65 EPS and $293.17 million in revenues.  Shares are around $51.70 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading around $47.00 about 90-days ago.

Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc. (NYSE: FCS) reports Thursday morning. After the TI-NSM merger, investors will be paying closer attention than before. Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.36 EPS and $413.25 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.39 EPS and $422.76 million in revenues.  Shares are around $19.00 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading at $16.00 about 90-days ago.

Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) is due Thursday morning and it is probably safe to assume that investors will of course bet watching Mattel Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) on the news ahead of its earnings due Friday… Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.17 EPS and $661.69 million in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.38 EPS and $842.07 million in revenues.  Shares are around $47.35 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading at $46.00 about 90-days ago.

SUPERVALU Inc. (NYSE: SVU) is no market mover, but it has been cut in half over the last year and remains a giant turnaround stock for many investors.  Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.34 EPS and $8.75 billion in revenues; next quarter estimates are $0.32 EPS and $11.35 billion in revenues.  Shares are around $9.33 in Friday afternoon trading and shares were trading at $8.91 about 90-days ago before challenging the $7.00 mark thereafter.

Recessions also rob businesses of the ability to compete effectively on price. A downturn hurts sales. This takes away the flexibility for businesses to offer discounts, unless their balance sheets are strong enough to fund losses in exchange for improved market share. Big companies such as Wal-Mart can afford to take a long view. Much smaller ones including OfficeMax probably cannot.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index is as close to the gold standard for the measurement of customer service. ACSI reports scores on a 0-100 scale at the national level and produces indexes for 10 economic sectors, 45 industries (including e-commerce and e-business), and more than 225 companies.

The ASCI data which was just released on the retail and e-commerce industries shows an erosion in consumer satisfaction scores. It is the largest drop the research operation has reported since 2008 – at the depth of the recession.

National ACSI figures for all economic sectors were off to 73.5 in the fourth quarter compared to 75.7 in the third. The national retail number fell from 76.2 in 2009 to 75 in 2010. E-commerce dropped even more from 81.4 to 79.3 year compared to the previous year.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed the data to find the companies which were hardest hit in the ratings from 2009 to 2010. We picked only firms with satisfaction ratings down at least 2% year-over-year with the goal of finding common themes between the companies, or at least reasons why they are performing worse than their peers.

After reviewing the data, 24/7 Wall St. observed several key attributes in common between the companies on this list.  Companies which were in the number 2 or number 3 spot behind a large industry leader often did very poorly. These companies include Target (NYSE: TGT), Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW), OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) and Newegg. Firms which are not in the top spot for their sector often do not have the financial resources of their larger competitors. They are often the first to begin layoffs, meaning their staff-per-location falls along with morale, and often the number experienced workers. People who have been with a company the longest often earn the most. As they are laid off, institutional knowledge is bled out of a company. Cheap becomes expensive.

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Although satisfaction with e-commerce fell, it still is well ahead of the average ratings for bricks-and-mortar retailers. It is hard for Barnes & Noble to get a higher rating than Amazon.com. Amazon has more inventory, a wider array of products, and a cost base that makes discounting a more reasonable business tactic. SUPERVALU and other grocery chains have very little e-commerce capacity and operate in an industry in which inflation drives food prices higher nearly every week. SUPERVALU has to try to pass that along to its customers.

It’s too early to say whether these scores will rebound with the end of the recession. Americans may have become inured to poor service. They expect that companies which have cut costs will try to maintain the profits that fewer people and services for the customer allows. The ASCI scores may continue to fall because in the case of many consumers, their alternatives for purchasing books, groceries or clothes are severely limited. Retailers can afford to cut corners when their customers have few options.

9. Newegg
> Industry: Internet Retail
> % Change In The Last Year: -2.3%
> % Change Since First Year Of Rating: -3.4%
> % Change of Industry In The Past Year: -3.6%

In 2008, Newegg led the Internet retail industry in customer satisfaction. The company is now behind both Amazon and Netflix, with a score of 84. Newegg.com, an online consumer electronics retailer originally focused on discount computer components, has now expanded to consumer electronics, including televisions and digital cameras. This shift to a wider range of products, and customers, has led to less impressive deals in many cases.   Many people simply looking for a better price on a flat-screen TV are now confused by a website originally designed for tech-savvy consumers.

8. Barnes & Noble
> Industry: Specialty Retail Stores
> % Change In The Last Year: -2.4%
> % Change Since First Year Of Rating: -1.2%
> % Change of Industry In The Past Year: +1.3%

Barnes & Noble currently has a customer satisfaction score of 82, a decrease of 2.4% from 2009. The company may suffer more than any retailer on this list in comparison to a larger online rival. Amazon.com has many more titles online than Barnes & Noble has in stores. The online Barnes & Noble brand attracts far fewer visitors than Amazon, which also offers a wide array of products besides books. Furthermore, Amazon has been able to market its Kindle e-reader as superior to the Barnes & Noble Nook. All of these taken together are a good demonstration of why bricks-and-mortar operations are losing customers to their large e-commerce competitors. Customer satisfaction is based on selection, ease of access and price.