The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 134 points to 12,503.87 (1.09%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 68 points (2.46%) to 2,847.21, and the S&P 500 rose 1.60% or nearly 21 points to 1,316.00.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) cut to ‘sell’ at UBS; Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) raised to ‘buy’ at SocGen; Safeway Inc. (NYSE: SWY) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) raised to ‘buy’ at Argus; and Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) cut to ‘hold’ at BB&T.

Earnings reports since markets closed on Friday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is down -2.1% at $32.71; Hastings Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: HAST) is up 15.2% at $2.05; Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (NYSE: KKD) is up 12.3% at $6.75; Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is down -10.1% at $25.60 (more coverage here); Tech Data Corp. (NASDAQ: TECD) is up 0.7% at $47.78; and Tudou Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: TUDO) is up 11.3% at $33.37.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Autozone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), Best Buy, Guess? Inc. (NYSE: GES), Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), Williams Sonoma Inc. (NYSE: WSM), and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) is down -11% at $34.03. Following Friday’s massively-hyped IPO and the CEO’s weekend wedding, a falling share price was probably inevitable. More coverage here.

Cooper Industries plc (NYSE: CBE) is up 25.2% at $69.96 after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $70.97. The company is being acquired by Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) for $11.8 billion. More coverage here.

Westport Innovations Inc. (NASDAQ: WPRT) is up 12% at $26.57. The natural gas engine maker has a deal with Volvo for a new truck engine.

Stay tuned for Tuesday. Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

10:00 a.m. – Existing home sales
10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
1:00 p.m. – 2-year note auction

Paul Ausick

Today’s projection could spell further caution for Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).  One issue which could still be a thorn in the side of the video game industry is the freemium games and social games from Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and others.

Stern Agee’s research team for interactive entertainment and internet stocks noted, “U.S. video game software sales in March 2012 were down 25% to 30% year over year, slightly worse than February’s 23% decline. We believe our estimate is slightly below the Street’s.”

The forward data is a bit ominous as well because the April comparable sales were up 16% a year ago and that is likely to translate to another double-digit drop as well.

The firm noted strength may arrive in May and noted, “We expect software sales in the month of May to improve (and potentially be up) driven by the launch of Max Payne 3, Diablo III and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier compared to L.A. Noire and a couple of smaller titles.”

If the data is really ugly on Thursday, video game stocks could have a very rough day on Friday just from the headline shocks.

While the broad market is up, video game stocks are lower.  GameStop Corporation (NYSE: GME) is down 0.5% at $21.31, Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) is down 0.3% at $12.33, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) is up 1.6% at $15.80, and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is up only $0.01 at $14.75.  Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is also lower by 0.9% at $11.41.

JON C. OGG

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 11 points to 12,705.41 (-0.09%), the NASDAQ rose more than 11 points (0.4%) to 2,859.68, and the S&P 500 rose 0.11% or nearly 1.5 points to 1,325.54.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) raised to ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (NYSE: EW) cut to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse; AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) cut to ‘neutral’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) started as ‘buy’ at Canaccord Genuity.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is up nearly 24% at $66.30; Education Management Corp. (NASDAQ: EDMC) is down -17% at $21.19; Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) is down -0.6% at $24.62; Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) is up 2.2% at $60.88 after posting a new 52-week high of $61.93 earlier today; Beazer Homes USA Inc. (NYSE: BZH) is up 3.2% at $3.27; Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) is down -3.9% at $5.85; Brinks Co. (NYSE: BCO) is down -17.5% at $24.43; Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO) is up 0.35% at $63.29; Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is down -1.2% at $42.48; Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) is down -0.3% at $38.51; Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) is down -0.3% at $15.71; and Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB) is down -0.9% at $46.53.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is up nearly 18% at $12.49 after posting a new post-IPO high of $12.91 earlier today. The social games company got a big boost from Facebook’s IPO filing. Our coverage is here.

MediciNova Inc. (NASDAQ: MNOV) is up nearly 31% at $2.47. The company received a favorable patent notice for a multiple sclerosis treatment device.

Response Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: RGDX) is up more than 27% at $1.50. The drug maker announced the private placement of about 5.3 million shares at $1.50/share, about 28% higher than last night’s closing price.

BioScrip Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOS) is up more than 15% at $6.73. The pharmacy services provider has sold a portion of its assets to Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) for $225 million.

Ur-Energy Inc. (AMEX: URG) is down more than -13% at $1.22. The uranium miner has issued 1.5 million shares of new stock to agents who will attempt to sell at CDN$1.00.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Non-farm payroll report
• 10:00 a.m. – Factory orders
• 10:00 a.m. – ISM non-manufacturing (services) index

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Paul Ausick

Competition from other console makers like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Nintendo Corp. (OTC: NTDOY) and a huge hacking scandal have combined to weigh on Sony’s sales of the Playstation. This could be more bad news for game designers like Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), both of which have seen customers move from packaged software to downloadable games. Game makers are selling more downloadable games, but revenue is lower than for packaged games although margins are higher.

The real culprits are smartphones from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (NYSE: MMI) soon to be a division of Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Samsung Electronics (OTC: SSNLF), and HTC Corp. We noted the continuing shift to smartphone games in our review of earnings from Activision’s earnings earlier this month.

Nintendo has already dropped the price of its 3DS handheld console from $249.99 to $169.99 in an effort to attract more buyers. After one week of sales in Japan, Nintendo’s efforts appear to have paid off with sales jumping to more than 214,000 from just over 32,000 in the week before the price cut.

Nintendo’s latest earnings were down by about 50% from the previous quarter and the company has lowered its sales target for its Wii console and lowered its profit target by more than 80%.

Sony would like to avoid that, but the debacle over the hacking attack and the lack of enthusiasm for the Playstation 3 from the beginning are going to be too much to overcome.

Combined with the continuing incursion from the smartphone makers, Sony may have waited too long to get on the latest train to leave the station. Sort of reminds us of how the company and its Walkman were blindsided by MP3 players. This won’t be the last price drop for the Playstation 3.

Paul Ausick

The Swiss franc hits a record against the euro. (Reuters)

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) sued by AIG (NYSE: AIG) for “massive fraud” in sales of mortgage-backed paper. Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) may also face legal action. (Reuters)

Hackers hit Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL). (Reuters)

The ITC may consider Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) accusations against HTC. (Reuters)

A fire in London may hurt delivery of some Sony (NYSE: SNE) products. (Reuters)

HSBC (NYSE: HBC) may sell its U.S. credit card business. (Reuters)

A strike by unions against Verizon (NYSE: VZ) escalates into harsh words. (WSJ)

The ECB purchase of Italy and Spanish bonds push their yields down further. (WSJ)

Companies which rely on U.S. contracts may need to tighten expenses. (WSJ)

Tokyo Electric Power lost $7.4 billion in the last quarter. (WSJ)

Transatlantic Holdings may sell to Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK) if the Buffett firm offers a higher price. (WSJ)

The price of corn is now higher than wheat, an unusual circumstance. (WSJ)

Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) posts an unexpected loss. (WSJ)

Oil futures hit their highest level in 9 months. (WSJ)

Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) will sell some natural gas rights in Indonesia because of human rights issues there. (WSJ)

Treasury yields drop after the S&P downgrade of the U.S. to AA+. (WSJ)

Worries about sovereign debt move to France. (WSJ)

MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM) results improve as Las Vegas posted a modest recovery. (WSJ)

Hedge funds have aggressively sold company equities and debt. (WSJ)

Freddie Mac posts a $2.1 billion loss during the second quarter, an improvement from last year. (WSJ)

The stock market drop could kill consumer confidence. (NYT)

BookStats says e-book sales have helped revive the industry. (NYT)

The committee at S&P that decides sovereign rate grades is know for lack of transparency. (NYT)

Oil price may bring down gasoline and improve consumer confidence. (NYT)

Emerging markets hurt as investors flee risk. (FT)

The Federal Reserve may start a new stimulus package. (FT)

German exports fall, another sign of slowdown. (Bloomberg)

Global bonds add $132 billion in assets as stocks fall. (Bloomberg)

The value of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is so low that the portal business is worth next to nothing when the firm’s Asia assets are backed out. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Game makers have finally gotten the message that packaged software sales are not likely to recover in the face of competition from digital sales. Activision reported second-quarter earnings yesterday, and adjusted EPS rose to $0.10, double the expected $0.05. Revenue also came in higher that the expected $602 million, at $699 million. Digital sales accounted for 60% of Activision’s revenue in the quarter.

Activision also raised its revenue guidance for 2011 from $4.05 billion to $4.18 billion and forecast an EPS boost from $0.61 to $0.68.

None of the traditional video game-makers is about to give up on packaged retail sales. The industry currently garners about 75% of its revenue from packaged sales, although some industry leaders expect that to drop to just 50% within the next five years.

For some game-makers that will mean a change in revenue mix, but a change in total revenues because digitally-distributed games generally don’t cost as much though margins are usually better. Revenue growth could be a problem unless game companies can figure out ways to get buyers to spend more on tokens and add-ons for the games they play.

Another thing that may have to change is the $40 price for a packaged game. That is considered by many gamers to be too high. If the game-makers are forced to drop their prices for packaged games and are, at the same time, seeing total revenues fall, they could find it difficult to convince investors of their value.

The other major shift is away from hand-held devices like Nintendo’s DS and 3DS and toward smartphones from Apple or companies using the Android operating system from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Even the pre-teen market, the largest for hand-helds, is perfectly happy to play games on an iPhone or other smartphone.

Nintendo and Sony have not fared nearly as well as Microsoft in the console/game market, primarily because Microsoft beat them to the punch with digital downloads and online gaming from the Xbox and Xbox Live. Nintendo expects to expand its digital offerings over the next three years. The company has already dropped the price of its 3DS in an effort to boost sales. It’s trying to avoid the same mistake that Sony made with its introduction of the PlayStation 3, when the $600 console kept buyers away in droves.

Avoiding past mistakes and adjusting to new distribution and revenue models is not going to be easy for game-makers. One thing that may make it easy to adapt is consolidation in the industry. That may be on the horizon sooner rather than later.

Paul Ausick

For the quarter ended in December, Activision posted an EPS loss of -$0.20 on revenues of $1.43 billion. On a non-GAAP basis, the company posted EPS of $0.53 on revenue of $2.55 billion. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.51 on $2.35 billion in revenue. Smaller competitors like Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) and THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) handily beat expectations for the December quarter, while Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) came in with a beat similar to Activision’s.

Like EA, Activision is getting a larger share of its revenue from high-margin digital distribution. As if to emphasize that point, the company announced that it was killing the once wildly popular Guitar Hero. On the conference call, the company said that “demand for peripheral-based music games has declined at a dramatic pace.”

At the same time, Activision expects the installed base of online-enabled game consoles like the Xbox from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and the PS3 from Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) to grow by 24% in 2011, to 92 million units.

For the current quarter, Activision expects non-GAAP net revenue of $640 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.07. Analysts had been expecting EPS of $0.10 on revenue of about $735 million. For the full-year, the company expects non-GAAP EPS of $0.70 and non-GAAP net revenue of $3.9 billion. Analysts had been looking forward to non-GAAP EPS of $0.78 on revenue of $4.69 billion.

Activision clearly expects its distribution of packaged sales to fall. In addition to snuffing Guitar Hero, the company is stopping development of another game, and will not issue a new skateboarding game in 2011. And the company’s Blizzard division, makers of “World of Warcraft,” will not release a new game in 2011, but would issue two Blizzard games in 2012.

Activision said essentially nothing about developing games for mobile devices. Unlike EA, which has developed games for smartphones from both Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), Activision hasn’t made a serious move into the mobile space, perhaps because there’s not a lot of money there, as we noted in our piece about EA’s earnings.

To sweeten the bitterness of its earnings report, Activision announced a new stock buyback program of up to $1.5 billion. The company purchased $966 million of its own stock under a $1 billion buyback program that ended in December. Activision also increased its dividend by 10%, to $0.165 for the March quarter.

Activision’s shares are off nearly -10% this morning, to $10.58, on very heavy volume.

Paul Ausick

Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) is up 6.5% on moderate trading to %15.60, approaching the top of its 52-week range of $4.29-$15.13.

Motricity, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOTR) is down 19% to $17.99 on heavy volume, relative to a 52-week range of $6.55-$31.95. RBC Capital recently downgraded the wireless company from outperform to underperform.

Photronics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLAB) is down 14.5% on light volume to $7.70, relative to a 52-week range of $3.60-$7.25. The semiconductor components improved Q1 guidance after hours.

Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) is up 6.5% on moderate volume to $15.49, relative to a 52-week range of $7.98-$14.54. The game company posted improved fourth quarter guidance.

Smith Micro (NASDAQ: SMSI) is 34% premarket to $8.70, relative to a 52-week range of $7.50-$17.03. The software company reported Q1 guidance well below expectations.

Sienna Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) is down 25% to $11.50, relative to a 52-week range of $6.54-$16.50. Shares of SWIR were cut to underweight at JP Morgan.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Raised to Outperform as the Bull of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: STD) Cut to Hold at Deutsche Bank.
CAI International Inc. (NYSE: CAP) Started as Outperform with $24 target at Credit Suisse.
Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) Raised to Outperform and $39 target at Credit Suisse.
Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) Cut to Neutral at JPMorgan.
Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Tuesday call).
Leap Wireless International, Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) Cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.
Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. (NASDAQ: ODFL) Raised to Neutral and $32 target at Credit Suisse.
Plexus Corporation (NASDAQ: PLXS) Cut to Underperform and named the Bear of the Day at Zacks Investment Research.
Sierra Wireless Inc. (NASDAQ: SWIR) Cut to Underweight at JPMorgan.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) Started as Outperform with $40 target at Williams Capital.
Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) Reinstated as Buy at BofA/ML.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.
YUM! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) Reiterated Buy with $58 target at Argus.

You can 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

Our review for the best video game sector pick includes reviews of GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), ActiVision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI), and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).  We have also had to focus on some key issues surrounding Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), along with Nintendo (NTDOY).

We have provided a basic table below.  After the table comes the company by company review, with our top video game pick of 2011.