Align Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Baker Hughes, Inc. (NYSE: BHI) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

CACI International. Inc. (NYSE: CACI) Cut to Neutral with $53 target at Credit Suisse.

Cabela’s, Inc. (NYSE: CAB) reiterated Strong Buy and named as value stock of the day at Zacks.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) maintained Buy but cut target to $31 from $38 at BofA/ML; Raised to Outperform at Bernstein.

DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA) Cut to Neutral at R.W. Baird.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) Cut to Neutral at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey; Cut to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Level 3 Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) Reiterated Buy with $37.50 target at BofA/ML.

MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI) Raised to Outperform with $42 target at Credit Suisse.

Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ONXX) maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) reiterated Strong Buy and named the Aggressive Growth stock of the day at Zacks.

QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) Reiterated Buy at BofA/ML.

Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd (NYSE: QIHU) Started as Buy at Jefferies.

Salesforce.com Inc. (NASDAQ: CRM) Raised to Outperform with $185 target at Credit Suisse.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) Started as Overweight at HSBC.

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JON C. OGG

American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) Raised to Outperform at William Blair.

Bankrate, Inc. (NYSE: RATE) Started as Buy at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) Cut to Market Perform at BMO.

CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) Raised to Hold at Jefferies.

Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) Cut to Hold at ThinkEquity.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation (NASDAQ: DECK) Raised to Neutral at Stern Agee.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Raised to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald; Cut to Sell at Wunderlich; Maintained as Buy but cut target $40 from $50 at Argus.

Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Maintained Outperform with $35 target and raised 2013 estimates at Credit Suisse.

International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) Cut to Neutral at Macquarie; Raised estimates but maintained as Neutral at Credit Suisse.

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) Reiterated Buy with $84 target at Argus.

T. Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ: TROW) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) maintained as the most undervalued stock on the price-to-book versus return on equity valuation model at Credit Suisse.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) Raised to Overweight at Barclays.
Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) Maintained Outperform but raised target to $74 from $60 at Credit Suisse.
Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) Started as Perform at Oppenheimer.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) Maintained Neutral but cut target to $13 at Credit Suisse.
FreightCar America, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAIL) named as Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Genuine Parts Co. (NYSE: GPC) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ: GMCR) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE: HST) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Infosys Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) Cut to Neutral at Janney.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Cut to Hold at TD.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Cut to Underperform at Oppenheimer.
priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) Reiterated Outperform and raised target to $790 from $710 at Credit Suisse.
Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
USG Corporation (NYSE: USG) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Willis Group Holdings, Plc (NYSE: WSH) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.

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JON C. OGG

Several mergers are being considered now. The reason for each would be the same as for those set over a decade ago. Production efficiencies and common design facilities are supposed to save money.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) may take a stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen. GM is in trouble in Europe. Its large Opel operation has lost money for five years. And it faces powerful unions and local government objections as it tries to cut costs. If it can cooperate with Peugeot, GM may save some money due to joint production operations. Analysts have pointed out, though, that both Opel and Peugeot are weak players in the market. Neither has much presence outside the EU market, and that market is in trouble because of a regional recession. Economies of scale will be swamped by the economies of the region.

Volkswagen has had an “on again, off again” relationship with Porsche. The larger company holds 49.9% of the smaller one. VW has held off buying the balance of Porsche because of legal issues and the expense of the transaction. German tax authorities have not approved the transaction. There have been suits about the valuation of Porsche. That makes the deal a risky one for VW, as well as raises the question of whether it is even worthwhile. Porsche is a tiny company that makes complex and expensive cars. What can VW bring to the manufacturing and design programs of Porsche? That cannot be answered until after a deal is done. But in some cases from the past, when a large company has purchased a smaller one that makes expensive vehicles, they have failed. Ford (NYSE: F) bought Jaguar and Range Rover in 1990, and sold them to Tata Motor (NYSE: TTM) in 2007. The sale to Tata was for $2.3 billion. Ford purchased the two brands for $5.3 billion and invested heavily in them.

History is not on the side of any GM merger with Peugeot, no matter how attractive its seems. The integration of two car companies based on the plans made by each of them rarely works.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Read: The Least Dependable Cars in America

24/7 Wall St. looked at the recently released JD Power 2012 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. We reviewed the auto brands that received the lowest scores. The brands with the most dependability issues were examined to determine why they received such poor marks.

The JD Power survey is based on the responses of more than 31,000 original owners of 2009 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. Dependability is determined “by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score reflecting higher quality.” The industry’s average for the current study was 132 PP100. The worst brands had more than 160 problems.

For one, many are niche brands. Seven of the nine brands have a U.S. market share of 3% or less. Mainstream brands such as Ford (NYSE: F), Chevy and Toyota (NYSE: TM), which have closer to 15% of the market, do not make the list. Is brand reliability related to market share? There is no evidence that is true.

Some small market share brands like Lexus get high quality marks. However, the small market share brands on this list do not have anywhere near the production quality of Mercedes or Lexus. They are lower end brands with small market share.

The effects of the Chrysler Chapter 11 filing in April 2009 are obvious when looking at the list. The survey measures the dependability of cars manufactured in 2009 after three years of ownership. When the 2009 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge models were manufactured, Chrysler was in great turmoil, including layoffs, management changes and plant closures — all of which can affect manufacturing quality. It should come as no surprise then that three of the brands on this list are part of that parent company.

The least dependable cars include nine brands that JD Powers’ 2012 Vehicle Dependability Survey lists as having the highest incidence of problems. The dependability number provided for each brand represents the number of reported defects per 100 vehicles — the higher the score, the lower the quality. Initial quality scores by brand and brand dependability scores for these automakers’ most popular vehicles also were reviewed.

Also Read: The Highest-Paid Athletes of All Time

Brand satisfaction scores from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index also were included. Most of the brands on our list ranked close to the bottom in ACSI score relative to the other automakers. We also list what we consider to be the brand’s flagship vehicle — the most recognized and usually one of the highest-selling models of the brand.

These are the least dependable cars in America.

Read America’s Ten Shrinking Corporate Giants

Large companies can lose a significant amount of their revenues because they get into a great deal of financial trouble. A company may lose part of its customer base quickly because of economic forces, or it may be part of a financial catastrophe. As a result, the company’s revenue declines, and it begins to post large losses. In cases like these, companies often are forced to sell divisions to fund their survival. Alternatively, companies may close some of their operations that drain capital. General Motors and Citigroup are good examples of this category. Each moved from relative prosperity to difficulty in a very short period.

The other reason large companies shrink quickly is by design. The management of a corporation created by merger or acquisition activity may find that some of its pieces no longer fit together. One division may grow at a much higher or slower rate compared to others. Also, the way the stock market values one part of a large corporation may change because it is in a category Wall Street no longer favors. That, in turn, becomes a burden on the stock price of the entire enterprise. Telecom hardware company Motorola Solutions and media giant Time Warner fall into this category. Each is smaller than it was five years ago because it spun out a major business.

24/7 Wall St. used Capital IQ to screen the largest companies in America based on total revenue in 2006. We then screened for those that had the largest drops in total revenue between 2006 and 2010. Most of the eight companies on this list lost a third of their total revenue over the period, and some lost more than half. The list is ranked by total revenue loss from greatest to least.

This is 24/7 Wall St.’s list of America’s Shrinking Corporate Giants

As far as how this is impacting closed-end funds and ETFs, the moves are below and the 52-week ranges have been offered so that investors can see just how much pain has been there in the last year:

WisdomTree India Earnings (NYSE: EPI) is up 0.9% at $17.93 and the 52-week trading range is $15.44 to $25.58. 

PowerShares India (NYSE: PIN) is up 0.8% at $18.30 and the 52-week range is $15.96 to $24.59.

India Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IFN) is up 0.4% at $21.46 and the 52-week trading range is $18.61 to $33.99. 

Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund, Inc. (NYSE: IIF) is up 0.7% at $15.75 and the 52-week trading range is $13.59 to $24.57.

These are no ETFs nor closed-end funds but there are some key ARDs to watch:

Infosys Limited (NASDAQ: INFY) was recently butchered on its earnings and revenue warnings and shares are only up marginally at $52.00 versus a 52-week range of $46.12 to $74.52.

Tata Motors Ltd. (NYSE: TTM) is up 2.2% at $21.18 versus a 52-week range of $14.33 to $29.06.

ICICI Bank Limited (NYSE: IBN) is up only 0.25% at $30.95 against a 52-week range of $24.14 to $51.50.

Sterlite Industries (India) Limited (NYSE: SLT), which operates as a non-ferrous metals and mining company, is up 1% at $8.67 versus a 52-week range of $6.64 to $16.60.

$35 billion might not sound like much when you consider the U.S.-sized stimulus packages and when you consider that India has almost 1.2 billion people versus about 310 million in the U.S.  The 2010 GDP on a purchasing power parity was put at about $4.06 trillion and that comes to only about $3,500 in GDP per capita.

$35 billion matters, even if it is going to take more to jumpstart the economy after months and months of tightening and restive monetary measures as the nation fought inflation at the expense of growth.

JON C. OGG

It is not hard to see what happened to Saab. It was an up-market car without up-market features. Saabs did not have the reputation for hardiness that Volvos did. And, the Swedish car company, once part of the marker of jets, lost whatever chance it had to compete with more luxurious and superfast products from BMW and Mercedes.

Saab was not helped by the improved quality of U.S. cars, or GM and Chrysler’s return to health. Saab’s market share had already been hurt by the ascendance of the Japanese low-priced high-quality brands, especially Toyota (NYSE: TM), Honda (NYSE: HMC), and Nissan.

But Saab  did not have to fail. It continued to have a respectable brand until recently. Jaguar and Range Rover had severe financial problems like Saab did. Those two car firms were lucky to find a buyer in India’s Tata Motors (NYSE: TTM). Saab did not make it in large part because no company with a strong balance sheet was willing to take a chance on the failing car manufacturer, especially when the global automotive markets are still relatively troubled.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Ryanair Holdings plc (NASDAQ: RYAAY) was obviously happy about austerity measures since corporate tax rates in Ireland are not being changed (at least so far).  ADRs for the discount airliner were up 3% at $31.00 late in U.S. trading.  Allied Irish Banks plc (NYSE: AIB) was a surprise winner today with shares higher by more than 16% at $1.04 late in U.S. trading.

POSCO (NYSE: PKX), the South Korean steel giant, was higher after the Koreans decided to not try to work toward an end of days outcome.  The ADR was higher by 4.1% at $99.24 late in the trading day.  SK Telecom Co. Ltd. (NYSE: SKM) was higher as well with ADRs up nearly 3% at $18.50 very late in the trading day.

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) almost never seems to win anymore, yet here we showed a 4.3% gain to $2.90.

Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MPEL) got a breather as the Korean incident is not likely to slow Macau gambling.  Shares were up a hair under 5% at $6.32 late in the day.  Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM) on high sales projections.  The ADRs were up almost 10% at $35.70 late in the trading day.

Major markets are set to be open for trading Thursday while America is busy eating turkey for Thanksgiving.

JON C. OGG

What will be more interesting than even the move in GM is how the other auto manufacturers move in response.  Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) has become the darling of the U.S. as it is profitable and did not declare bankruptcy nor did it take a government bailout.  S&P Equity Research just downgraded that issue yesterday after a mammoth move in the last two years.  Ford still closed up yesterday at $16.68 and it is indicated up almost 1% more at $16.83 this morning.  Its 52-week range is $8.40 to $17.42.

We would also watch Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE: TM) now that its major recall SNAFU seems to be farther and farther behind the company.  The ADRS have never fully recovered.  Shares are indicated up 2% this morning at $77.50 and the 52-week range is $67.56 to $91.97.

A last issue is in Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (NYSE: HMC).  Its shares are indicated up nearly 3% this morning around $38.00, and that will mark a 52-week high if it holds.  Its 52-week range is $28.33 to $37.23.

GM’s basics are here in the filing summary.

The underwriting group for GM is huge: Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi, Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets, Bradesco BBI, CIBC, COMMERZBANK, BNY Mellon Capital Markets, ICBC International, Itaú BBA, Lloyds TSB, CICC, Loop Capital Markets, Williams Capital Group, and Soleil Securities.

GM’s CFO has been giving a media update this morning and the company has confirmed that no dividend will paid for some time to the common stock holders.  The company has to pay back Uncle Sam, it has to widdle down its mountain of debt, and it has to right its pension liabilities.  Another issue to consider is that for the concessions that its workforce took it can expect the UAW workers to want some of the upside if the company keeps doing well and remains profitable as it has now become.  This is being touted as one of the largest IPOs in history and as a giant success story.  Just remember that it took a bankruptcy, a government bailout, and endless billions upon billions of dollars in investor losses for this “success story” to come to fruition.

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JON C. OGG