Investors used to be addicted to stock splits for more than a generation. As share prices rose and rose, companies kept splitting their stock. Some consider this a means of keeping a share price low to keep attracting new investors. Other investors consider a stock split nothing but a gimmick.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) was the latest company to join in on the bandwagon. The stock rose by 10% and hit yet another all-time on the news. The reality is that the shares have risen on a solid earnings report and on its ability to maintain much higher gross margin than traditional grocery stores.

Other companies have upcoming stock splits as well. The earnings calendar and stock split calendar show that A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) and Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) will both go ex-split on a 2-1 basis with an ex-split date of May 16. Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NBL) will go ex-split on a 2-1 basis on May 29.

Ask Warren Buffett what he thinks about stock splits. His A-shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) have never split and recently put in an all-time stock price high of almost $167,000. Even his more newly created B-shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) trade at a high price of $110.00.

Many companies do not like to split their stocks. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) might greatly benefit from this as it is more expensive to buy share of common stock than it is to buy an iPhone or an iPad. Still, its shares went to above $700 and the sell-off down to under $400 was never really directly attributed to Tim Cook not splitting the stock.

What about Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). Its stock just hit a new all-time high of $873.50 on Tuesday and this company’s efforts were being aimed at a split that was actually a division of power more than a traditional stock split investors are used to.

Some investors love stock splits. Others think of them as mere gimmicks. The debate remains alive, but as share prices rise and rise there will likely be more and more stock splits coming down the pipe. We have considered this merely as a poor man’s dividend. When you see stock split after stock split being announced, you generally know you are deep into a bull market.

The difference seems to be that Supervalu has almost entirely revamped its top management and appears poised to make some big changes in the company’s Sav-A-Lot stores. Safeway offered no such promise, even though the company reaffirmed its previous guidance.

What this means for Supervalu is that it is going to put up a fight in the discount space against the likes of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO), where a lot of the growth has been in grocery sales. Whether or not it works is all a matter of execution and investment, and Supervalu has apparently persuaded at least some investors that the store means to play hardball.

Safeway, which has less than half as many stores as Supervalu, will continue to compete against the The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), The Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM), and Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM). These may not be fair fights. Kroger’s market cap is about three times Safeway’s and the chain has been on a roll. Whole Foods is even a bit larger than Kroger, and together with Fresh Market address the higher-end organic and specialty foods markets.

What are Safeway’s choices? Kroger, which reports earnings on May 7th, is expected to post EPS of $0.88 on revenues of $30.16 billion. That’s a $6 billion boost to last quarter’s revenues though the EPS estimate is flat. Safeway’s revenues were forecast to rise modestly in the first quarter and failed to do that.

Both Fresh Market and Whole Foods have much higher margins than Safeway, and discounters like Walmart and Family Dollar Stores offer low food prices as an enticement to attract more customers into the megastores.

Safeway’s stock collapse today is the result of either no announced plan to work itself out of the fix its in or a poorly communicated plan. Investors are free to wonder if management has even faced the issue and the result is that investors have found no reason to believe that Safeway is going to prosper, so what’s the point of holding the stock?

Shares are down nearly 17% in the early afternoon, at $23.52 in a 52-week range of $14.73 to $28.41. The stock fell as low as $22.90 earlier today.

24/7 Wall St. has identified 5 serious disappointments so far in 2013 which may be coming to mind for value stock investors or those who are looking for the next wave. These stocks remain down year to date, but they are also way down from the 52-week highs as well. The bull market always has stocks which do not carry their weight on the way up, but if things get much better for stocks it seems hard to imagine that these shares will remain in the dog house.

The five stocks that we think need to play serious catch-up are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM), United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM). We have used consensus earnings estimates and consensus analyst targets from Thomson Reuters in our valuation analysis.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is the one stock we would have predicted that you could have guessed would make this list. CEO Tim Cook is having a very hard time filling the shoes of Steve Jobs. The reality is that anyone would have. Still, a lack of any great new products has plagued the company. A new iPhone or iPad upgrade just isn’t good enough anymore. What is at issue is that Apple was down 40% from its peak recently. After a 2% gain on Wednesday the stock is down over 38% from its $705 peak in 2012 and the stock Apple remains down about 18% year to date. Apple trades at $435 mid-Wednesday and the consensus analyst target is still up at about $615. The highest target price is $888 from Wall Street analysts.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is down only 3% so far in 2013, but the stock is actually down about 13% from the highs of January and down 17% from the 52-week highs. The industrial machinery giant has not been able to hold up much love since its debacle over a Chinese buyout due to accounting misconduct. The 2.5% dividend may be somewhat attractive, but the stock remains well below its potential. At almost $87, the consensus analyst target price is all the way up at almost $110 and the highest official analyst price target remains $130 for the stock. This industrial giant trades at just under 11-times this year’s expected earnings and trades at less than 9.5-times expected 2014 earnings. The lack of global growth is weighing here, but valuation remains attractive even if its market cap is almost $57 billion.

Read Also: Eight Stocks Expected to Beat Earnings Estimates

PetSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) may seem like an inconsequential stock on the surface. It is not inconsequential, and it could in some cases be a harbinger or barometer of how confident consumers are. This is pet spending, and much of the company’s in-store products can be bought many different ways by consumers. This stock is in the midst of a small recovery but the stock remains down 5% so far in 2013 and remains down 11% from its 52-week high. The 1% dividend might just not be exciting enough for its mid-cap value at $6.6 billion. Sales and earnings are expected to keep growing in 2013 and 2014 and the forward earnings multiples are 16.6 for 2013 and 14.5 for 2014. The price of $64.75 compares to an analyst consensus target of $71.25 and a street high of $80 for the stock.

Read Also: Stocks to Buy Even If You Missed the Bull Market

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) has been such a bad stock that investors might begin to think that Alcoa is angelic. Even with stocks at a new high, this one is down on a great day. At $17.92, this stock is down a whopping 25% year to date. It is also down over 36% over the last year. WHat is so interesting is that the consensus price target from Wall Street analysts is above $26. Unfortunately, this 1.2% dividend yield is just not going to enthuse many value buyers. US Steel trades at 18-times this year’s expected earnings but trades at only about 8-times 2014 earnings estimates. The market cap of $2.6 billion keeps the attention elsewhere, but this is a sad state when you consider how large and important the steel giant was at one point. We would point out that this has seen buyout rumors on many occasions in recent years, but the share price now sure doesn’t imply any real hope on that front today.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) has always been hard to justify on valuation metrics if you just consider this a grocery store chain. After all, grocery stores operate on razor-thin margins. That should say “except for Whole Foods.” The reality is that Whole Foods is a luxury brand now and that is the reason it trades at earnings multiples of about twice its peers. Still, after peaking at almost $102 the stock is down under $86 even after a 2% gain on Wednesday. Its market cap is almost $16 billion. This is a key bull market stock because of its high valuations and this is one that needs to recover in the bull market regardless of our own valuation concerns. Analysts have a consensus price target of about $102.50 and the highest analyst target remains $112 for Whole Foods.

Read Also: 19 Stocks Expected to Rise 50% to 100%

We do want to share one mantra when it comes to all sorts of investing whether you look for growth stocks or value stocks. If you expect a stock (or the market) to rise on news and it doesn’t really rise, then chances are high that it is going lower. The inverse holds true as well.

After an impressive first quarter, many firms are reevaluating their top picks. In a new report, the equity analysts at UBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) not only have a list of stocks to buy, they have a list where they think there is 25% upside potential from current levels. In their report, each investment idea includes an investment thesis, current valuation as well as upside/downside scenarios, and risks.

With markets hitting all-time highs, we were somewhat surprised to find a list of stocks that a bulge bracket firm had enough confidence in to call for a sizable upside move from here. UBS definitely stepped up to the plate. A total of 14 names make up their list of stocks to buy with 25% upside potential.

Biopharmaceutical firm Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ALXN) leads off the list. It specializes in therapeutic products designed to treat blood disorders. Alexion stock had a nice bounce off a mid-February low and looks poised to move higher. The UBS price target is $122. The Thomson/First Call estimate is $119.

A stock we covered recently, former high flyer Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE: ACI) could have big potential for investors. Trading in the mid-$5 range, down from the high $70s in 2008, this out-of-favor name also could have nice upside. The UBS target is $9, and the Wall St. consensus price target is $7.75.

Money center leader Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) tops the financials on the UBS list. Their price target for the bank is $62, while the consensus is much lower at $51.30.

Read also: 10 Things That Could Wreck the Bull Market

Mid-cap, Gulf of Mexico deepwater driller Cobalt International Energy Inc. (NYSE: CIE) is a growing favorite on Wall St. and a top pick at UBS. Their price target for the stock is $36. The consensus estimate is slightly higher at $38.

Atlanta-based air carrier Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is the only transport to make the UBS list. Their price target for the stock is $21. The consensus target is $18.

Oilfield services giant Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) makes the cut. Seemingly out of favor, despite strong crude oil pricing, this one looks like a solid pick. The UBS price target is $53. The consensus price target is $48.

A recent IPO in 2012, mid-cap software stock Infoblox (NYSE: BLOX) may have strong upside potential. It is run by former NetScreen executives. The UBS price target is $27 and the consensus estimate is $25.50.

Read also: The Bull Market Road Map for April

Houston-based Kraton Performance Polymers Inc. (NYSE: KRA) is a lesser known name to make the grade. The UBS price target for the stock is $32, versus a consensus price target of $28.

Controversial Monster Beverage Corp. (NASDAQ: MNST) finds a spot on the UBS list. The energy drink maker has come under fire, as health issues have been cited as a possible need for product regulation. The UBS target for the stock is $69. The consensus estimate is substantially lower at $61.

Structured as a REIT, Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) is a solid income candidate for investors. The UBS target for the stock is $14. The consensus is $11.50. Investors are paid a 7.90% distribution. We always like to remind readers that REIT distributions may include return of principal.

Off-price retailer Ross Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: ROST) is another Wall St. darling. The UBS price target for this popular name is $75. The consensus is much lower at $66.

The only other tech stock to make the list is TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX). The stock has had a miserable year and is trading just above a 52-week low. The UBS target for this bounce-back candidate is $28. The consensus estimate is $24.

Specialty pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott PLC (NASDAQ: WCRX) may be another bounce-back winner for investors. It is down more than 40% since last May, and the UBS price target for the stock is $23. The consensus estimate is $19.

Last but not least, natural and organic supermarket giant Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) rounds out the UBS second-quarter top stocks to buy list. The firm has a $111 target for this Wall St. favorite. The consensus estimate is $103.50.

The UBS team has done a solid job of screening for names that are not all trading at their 52-week highs. We have reported at great length how the market has potential for a solid shift to secular bull market status. However, investors still need to be cautious when picking individual stocks for their portfolio after such a strong move to the upside.

The U.S. dollar index rose 0.55% today, now at 82.825. The GSCI commodity index is up 0.3% at 646.50, with commodities prices mixed again today. WTI crude oil closed up 1.2% today, at $94.81 a barrel, after rising above $95 early this morning. Brent crude trades up 0.5% at $108.20 a barrel. Natural gas is down 1.5% today at about $3.87 per million BTUs. Gold settled down fractionally today at $1,604.50 an ounce, after sinking to below $1,590 an ounce on the news from Cyprus.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 64 points to 14,447.99 (-0.44%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 10 points (-0.30%) to 3,235.30, and the S&P 500 fell -0.33% or about 5 points to 1,551.70.

There were a several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) cut to ‘neutral’ at Goldman Sachs; Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) cut to ‘neutral’ at Piper Jaffray; J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) cut to ‘underperform’ at BMO Capital Markets; Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as ‘overweight’ at J.P. Morgan and started as ‘buy’ at Goldman Sachs; and Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) cut to ‘underperform’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Earnings reports since markets closed last Friday resulted in several price moves today, including these: Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) is up 6.8% at $18.20 (more coverage here); Dollar General Corp. (NYSE: DG) is up 1.8% at $50.96 (more coverage here); and JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) is down 11.7% at $3.67 (more coverage here).

Before markets open tomorrow morning we are scheduled to hear from Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN), Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ: SONC), and U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc. (NASDAQ: PRTS).

Some standouts among heavily traded stocks today include:

Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) is down 5% at $1.33. The network and communications company had no news today, but heavy volume might indicate some (small) profit-taking.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) is down 4.3% at $14.27. The smartphone maker was downgraded this morning and last week’s U.S. launch was mostly a yawn. More coverage here.

Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) is up 5.2% at $5.98. The daily deals company also had no news today, but could still be basking in the afterglow of last week’s first-ever Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) gift card offer.

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

• 8:30 a.m. – Durable goods orders
• 9:00 a.m. – S&P Case-Shiller home price index
• 10:00 a.m. – New home sales
• 10:00 a.m. – Conference Board consumer confidence index
• 10:00 a.m. – Richmond Fed manufacturing index
• 11:30 a.m. – 4-week bill auction
• 1:30 p.m. – 2-year note auction

These are some of this Monday’s top analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations seen from select Wall St. research calls.

Airgas Inc. (NYSE: ARG) cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) cut to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs.

CNOOC Ltd. (NYSE: CEO) raised to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch and raised to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) started as Overweight at J.P. Morgan and started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Finish Line Inc. (NASDAQ: FINL) cut to Underperform at Stern Agee.

Hospira Inc. (NYSE: HSP) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.

J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) cut to Underperform at BMO Capital Markets.

Life Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: LIFE) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE: RBS) raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.

Safeway Co. (NYSE: SWY) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.

Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (NASDAQ: SIAL) cut to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

SPX Corp. (NYSE: SPW) downgraded to Neutral at J.P. Morgan and downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) cut to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Jaffray.

Deutsche Bank not only is calling for a secular bull market and not only raised its GDP forecast for the United States. The firm gave a huge list of companies it expects to win in the next leg of the bull market over the coming years.

BofA/Merrill Lynch identified many top leveraged buyout candidates.

Canaccord Genuity aggressively raised LED stocks.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) cut to Hold from Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE: ABC) raised to Buy at Citigroup and maintained Buy but target raised $10 to $60 at Argus.

AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reiterated Outperform with $600 target at Credit Suisse due to iPhone refresh and lower-end iPhone.

Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reinstated as Outperform with $30 price target at Credit Suisse.

BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley (full summary).

Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) reiterated Outperform with $68 target at Oppenheimer.

Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) cut to Neutral at Citigroup.

Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) cut to Underperform at Wells Fargo.

Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) reiterated Buy with $98 price target at Argus.

Polycom Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM) raised to Buy at Goldman Sachs.

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: SPRD) raised to Buy at Jefferies.

Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC) cut to Perform at Oppenheimer.

VeriFone Systems Inc. (NYSE: PAY) reiterated as Hold but with negative comments and more questions than answers from Argus.

Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) raised to Buy at Citigroup and raised to Overweight at J.P. Morgan.

Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE: WAC) raised to Buy with $45 target after extreme weakness at Stern Agee and maintained Outperform but target cut to $50 from $58 at Credit Suisse.

Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) started as Market Perform at Raymond James.

Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) cut to Neutral at BofA/Merrill Lynch.

Deutsche Bank has a list of key global growth and income stocks to buy now based on strict S&P 500 stock screening tools.

J.P. Morgan gave a list of 15 stocks to buy based on current market conditions.

In its 14th annual Reputation Quotient (RQ) survey, Harris Interactive rated 60 large American companies based on six key characteristics including product quality, trust, social responsibility and how employees are treated. The companies with the worst reputation quotients include many financial services institutions such as Goldman Sachs and AIG. Based on the Harris survey, these are the companies with the best and worst reputations.

Click here to see the companies with the best reputations

Click here to see the companies with the worst reputations

Many of the companies with the highest scores are in the tech industry. Tech, explained Harris Interactive Executive Vice President For Reputation Management Robert Fronk, has a natural advantage over other industries because of the industry’s focus on innovation and customer satisfaction. However, added Fronk, “in order for these companies to make our list, like Apple, Google, and Amazon.com did, they had to go above and beyond.”

Apple, for example, has created entirely new product categories, introducing the iPhone and iPad. Google has expanded from simply being in the search engine business to creating hardware, software and even reaching to entertainment. “All three of those companies have kept the best of tech, but have also transcended,” Fronk added.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are six financial services companies among the 10 companies with the worst reputations. Unlike tech companies, which consumers expect to take risks, these companies earn their respect from being safe and stable. Unfortunately for companies like AIG, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, explained Fronk, they took risks and tried to innovate, and when the financial system nearly collapsed, these companies lost a tremendous amount of respect from the public. “As a whole, the industry is now perceived so negatively because they gave up” the stability that the public wanted.

Fronk explained why financial performance was one of the key metrics in this study. Not only are good finances necessary to achieve other reputations components, such as creating a good workplace environment and social responsibility, but good finances are themselves important to a company’s reputation. “People respect companies that outperform their competition.” Many of the best-ranked companies certainly fit that description, particularly top-ranked Amazon.com, which has turned not just the online retail business, but the entire retail industry, on its head.

While financials are important, Fronk explained, it is often the first and only thing companies and analysts look at to measure success. Many of the companies with the worst reputations actually have sound balance sheets. AIG, which received the worst reputation score this year, saw its share price rise by over 45% in the past 12 months. Financials are important in the long term, Fronk pointed out, but in order to be successful in the Harris survey, a company needs to build a strong reputation and not just focus on the bottom line.

In its 2013 RQ study, Harris Interactive asked respondents which companies were the most visible in the past few months. The company then ranked the 60 most visible companies based on responses to six categories: social responsibility, emotional appeal, products and services, vision and leadership, financial performance and workplace environment. Among the data 24/7 Wall St. considered when reviewing these companies were brand rankings from Brand Z and InterBrand, consumer satisfaction scores from the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, as well as MSN Money/JZ Analytics’ 2012 Customer Service Survey. We also considered company financial information, obtained for the most recent period available through Yahoo! Finance unless otherwise noted. We reviewed stock price performance data from Google Finance and employee satisfaction and CEO ratings came from Glassdoor.

These are the companies with the best and worst reputations.

Here are the preliminary expectations for the stock market in 2013:

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) sees upside to 1,600 in the S&P 500 and gold to $2,000 by the end of 2013. The bank’s analysts offered 10 defensive stock picks with high yields for 2013.

Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) sees the S&P 500 rising to 1,525 in 2013.

BMO Capital Markets has a target of 1,575 on the S&P 500, but the strategist is cautious on earnings growth.

Canaccord Genuity sees upside to 1,650 in the S&P 500, and its Overweight sectors were consumer discretionary, information technology, financials and to a lesser degree industrials.

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) sees the S&P 500 hitting 1,615 in 2013.

Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) has a preliminary 2013 year-end target for the S&P 500 at 1,550, and it increased its Overweight rating in equities and would be Underweight in government bonds. The firm is reducing its Overweight of gold outlook and would stay Underweight in cash.

Deutsche Bank A.G. (NYSE: DB) sees a target of 1,500 on the S&P 500 index if the fiscal cliff is averted. The firm sees upside to 1,600 if dividend and capital gains taxes do not rise too much.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) sees the S&P 500 index hitting 1,575 over the next 12 months, with an earnings multiple expansion of 13.2 to 13.8. It sees GDP growth of 1.9% in 2013 and almost 3% in 2014. The firm sees more upside to European stocks in the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 Index, with close to 16% implied upside.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) expects a major rally if fiscal resolution issues are overcome. The firm’s initial projection for the S&P 500 is 1,434, with a bull case of up to 1,733 and a bear case of down to 1,135.

Piper Jaffray Companies (NYSE: PJC) sees upside to 1,700 for the S&P 500.

Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ sees a 1,550 close for the S&P 500.

UBS A.G. (NYSE: UBS) is only mildly bullish with an expectation of 1,425 for the S&P 500 in 2013.

We also have many other outlooks for sectors and other markets as well:

• Here are the Dogs of the Dow for 2013, with a race taking place for the fifth spot.
• Have you heard of our Pigs of the Dow? This list is of the worst 2012 DJIA stock performers.
• The Nine Big Biotech Winners for 2013
• An Unexpected Turnaround for Coal
• The Case for $50 Oil
• Gold could rise to $2,200 in 2013.
• PIMCO lowered its 2013 outlook.
• Fortune’s 10 Big Stock Picks for 2013
• Jefferies has a pairs trade for gold, long gold against the weaker miners.
• Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) is Jim Cramer’s top pick for 2013.

Again, some of these numbers and some of these picks will change, particularly if the fiscal cliff is not averted.

JON C. OGG

We already addressed a nearly $200 million sale in the last week by Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). There are many other large insider selling transactions which have been seen from SEC filings as well. The insiders at Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) continue to sell shares. This is not really a new trend at Google but the dollar volumes still look big. Sergey Brin sold $57 million worth of stock, Eric Schmidt another $25 million worth, John Doerr another $13 million worth, and more than $10 million worth from a director named Shriram.   Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) saw share sales in the last days of November  by Chairman Peter Lewis of more than 2 million shares coming close to $45 million worth of stock.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) saw shareholder Green Equity Investors unload shares in the last days of November worth close to $44 million. These shares were on top of very large gains on shares bought during harder times.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) saw CFO David Wichmann sell more than 800,000 shares for gross sale proceeds of more than $43 million in the final days of November.

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE: EXP) saw multiple sales as well. A director (Hirsch) sold $36 million worth of stock, followed by another $16 million worth; Its President Steve Rowley sold $10.8 million worth of stock.

Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) saw Chairman Lonnie Smith sell almost $14 million worth of stock in a sale in the last days of November.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) saw CFO David Viniar sell 100,000 shares for gross proceeds of more than $11.8 million at the end of November.

DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) saw Chairman Jay Schottenstein sell more than 154,000 shares for gross proceeds of $10.5 million at the end of November.

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) saw various executives sell close to $20 million worth of stock in the last days of November and start of December.

Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ: ZBRA) has seen EVP Gerhard Cless sell almost $7.5 million worth of shares at the end of November and start of December.

Again, it is not hard to imagine why directors and insiders would be selling into year-end. It is highly probable that capital gains taxes will never be at 15% for the wealthy again. If they wait to sell after the first of the year they will be selling at higher tax rates and they are taking the risk that the US drives off the fiscal cliff.

JON C. OGG