A federal mortgage deal with banks over mortgage fraud would give states enforcement power. (Reuters)

Sony (NYSE: SNE) expects a $2.9 billion loss. (Reuters)

Long-term investors continue to reject investments in long-term Italian bonds. (Reuters)

The House votes to extend a pay freeze for federal employees. (Reuters)

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) will consider alternatives now that their merger has collapsed. (Reuters)

The size of Facebook’s IPO would top Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG). (WSJ)

January car sales rose 11% to the fastest pace in four years. (WSJ)

AMR will cut 13,000 jobs. (WSJ)

Deutsche Bank posts a loss. (WSJ)

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) recalls a number of birth control pills. (WSJ)

Samsung says a German court rejected an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) request to stop the sales of Galaxy tablets and Nexus phones. (WSJ)

States with energy exploration businesses did well during the recession while manufacturing states are still struggling. (WSJ)

Many in Congress have rejected Obama’s new mortgage relief plan. (WSJ)

Disagreements between Germany and the IMF have slowed Greek bailout talks. (WSJ)

Kodak wants out of a deal that puts it name on the location where the Oscars are held. (WSJ)

Whirlpool’s (NYSE: WHR) cost cuts helped drive its profits. (WSJ)

Regulators are worried that a marketing deal between Verizon Wireless and Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) would be anticompetitive. (WSJ)

EU regulators may back down on plans to make banks keep large amounts of safe assets. (WSJ)

Spain announces plans to improve its troubled bank sector. (WSJ)

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) sold $7 billion in bonds, near a record for emerging market companies. (WSJ)

A deal over Greek debt raises concerns that a rescue of Portugal will follow. (NYT)

Large U.S. companies have raised money at record low rates. (FT)

CDS on both corporations and sovereign debt show less concern about financial troubles. (Bloomberg)

The number of people who filed for unemployment benefits in Spain during January reached a record. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up more than 83 points to 12,716.31 (0.66%), the NASDAQ rose more than 34 points (1.22%) to 2,848.27, and the S&P 500 rose 0.89% or nearly 12 points to 1,324.08.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) raised to ‘outperform’ at Wells Fargo; Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) cut to ‘hold’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Seagate Technology PLC (NASDAQ: STX) raised to ‘buy’ at Stifel Nicolaus; Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) cut to ‘hold’ at Argus (see our coverage here); and Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) cut to ‘perform at Oppenheimer. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) had three ratings changes today: maintained as ‘neutral’ with target price cut to $190 at Credit Suisse; maintained ‘outperform’ but estimates cut at Baird; and target price lowered to $225 at Jefferies.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Amazon.com is down -8.2% at $178.51; Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) is up 8.24% at $37.18; Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) is up 3.3% at $45.13; Corinthian Colleges Inc. (NASDAQ: COCO) is up nearly 34% at $4.05; Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is up 3.8% at $50.13, after posting a new 52-week high of $50.35 earlier today; Manpower Inc. (NYSE: MAN) is up nearly 14% at $45.70; Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) is up nearly 10% at $41.98; Northrup Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) is up 2.22% at $59.34; and Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) is up 14% at $61.93.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Key Tronic Corp. (NASDAQ: KTCC) is up nearly 37% at $8.53, after posting a new 52-week high of $8.74 earlier today. The computer peripherals maker posted better-than-expected earnings and revenues after markets closed last night.

Sangamo BioSciences Inc. (NASDAQ: SGMO) is up more than 21% at $4.19. The pharmaceutical maker has announced a collaboration with Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to develop a hemophilia treatment.

Medivation Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is up more than 21% at $67.26, after posting a new 52-week high of $70.87 earlier today. The development stage drug maker has reported highly positive results on a test of its late-stage prostate cancer treatment. We have more coverage here.

JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) is down more than -17% at $24.39. The software maker issued a fairly weak quarterly report and continuing investor wariness remains over an SEC investigation of the company’s accounting practices.

IXYS Corp. (NASDAQ: IXYS) is down more than 14% at $11.76. The integrated circuit maker posted poor quarterly numbers after markets closed last night.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking at 10:00 a.m. and Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher is speaking in the evening. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 7:30 a.m. – Challenger Job-cut data
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas storage report
• 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve money supply and balance sheet reports

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Paul Ausick

Shares of Amazon are down more than -9% in just before noon today on a weak quarterly earnings report last night. Nearly 13 million shares have been traded so far today, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 6 million shares traded. We have more coverage here.

A big winner this morning has been Whirlpool, which is up nearly 16% solid earnings and a strong outlook. More than 5.5 million shares have traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of around 1.9 million.

AOL is up more than 14% following a quarterly earnings report that missed estimates, but showed a jump in ad sales. More than 3.2 million shares have traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 1.4 million.

JDA Software is down nearly -18% on following a fairly week quarterly report and continuing investor wariness over an SEC investigation of the company’s accounting practices. Nearly 2.2 million shares have traded by mid-day, compared with a daily average of about 320,000.

Unisys shares are down nearly -11% on a weaker-than-expected quarterly report. More than 2.1 million shares have already traded this morning, compared with a 3-month daily average of about 720,000 shares.

Minutes before noon ET, the DJIA is up 1.09% at about 12,771, the Nasdaq is up 1.19% at around 2,847, and the S&P 500 is up 1.09% at about 1,327.

Paul Ausick

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down about 2 points to 12,291.73 (-0.02%), the NASDAQ rose more than 6 points (0.25%) to 2,625.20, and the S&P 500 rose 0.01% or less than 1 point to 1,265.47.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including VMWare Inc. (NYSE: VMW) raised to ‘outperform’ at Oppenheimer; Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) maintained ‘buy’ with a price target of $18 at BofA/Merrill Lynch; Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) Japanese target price cut by Barclays; Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) maintained ‘buy’ with a $28 price target at BofA/Merrill Lynch; and Sempra Energy Inc. (NYSE: SRE) reiterated as ‘buy’ with a $61 target price at Argus. Delphi Automotive (NYSE: DLPH) received four ratings this morning: initiated as ‘outperform’ at Credit Suisse; started as ‘buy’ at BofA/Merrill Lynch; started as ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan; and started as ‘outperform’ at R.W. Baird.

Here are today’s post-earnings news reactions with prices during the last half-hour of trading: Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (NASDAQ: CALM) is up nearly 5% at $35.84; and DemandTec, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMAN), which is being acquired by IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM), is down about -0.04% at $13.13. This is the beginning of a very light week for earnings.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Sears Holding Co. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down about -26% at $33.95, a new 52-week low. The department store has announced that it will miss its previous earnings forecast by at least 50% and that it will close another 100-120 stores. See more coverage here and here.

Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) is down more than -9% at $24.06. The technology and IT services company has said it may have to take a $1.5 billion writedown on a UK contract. More coverage here.

Parlux Fragrances Inc. (NASDAQ: PARL) is up more than 72% at $5.98, after posting a new 52-week high this morning of $6.60. The perfume maker is being acquired by Perfumania Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PERF) for about $170 million.

Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) is down more than -8% at $46.95. The appliance maker, which makes products for Sears, is caught in that company’s dismal announcement.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (NYSE: MHR) is up nearly 19% at $5.54. The oil & gas producer has raised its production estimate from 10,000 barrels/day of oil equivalent to 12,500 barrels/day.

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

7:00 a.m. – Mortgage Bankers Association purchase applications
11:30 a.m. – Four-week T-bill auction

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Paul Ausick

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Started as Buy at Stifel Nicolaus.
Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) Started as Buy at Stern Agee.
Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) Started as Buy at Societe Generale.
CareFusion Corporation (NYSE: CFN) Started as Market Perform at BMO.
Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTR) Started as Outperform with $60 target at Credit Suisse.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) cut estimates and cut target to $45 from $50 at Credit Suisse’ Maintained Sell at Argus.
Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) named Value stock of the day at Zacks.
First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) Cut to Hold at S&P Equity Research (late-Monday call).
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) Cut to Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) Started as Buy at Stern Agee; Reiterated Buy at Canaccord Genuity.
Lulelemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) Started as Neutral at Macquarie.
Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) Started as Outperform at Macquarie.
Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR) Cut to Hold at Argus.
QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) Started as Hold at Societe Generale.
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. (NYSE: UNH) named Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) Started as Underperform at Macquarie; Started as Outperform at FBR.
VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) Cut to Hold at Jefferies.
Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs.

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JON C. OGG

The unresolved Greece problem continues to damage markets. (Reuters)

Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) may price its tablet PC at $250, well below the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad. (Reuters)

Apple to release its new iPhone on October 4. (Reuters)

Merkel may lose support in her own party over funds for the Greek bailout. (Reuters)

Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) shares move higher on rumors that Carl Icahn has taken a position. (Reuters)

State and federal employment taxes on employees rise as states press to pay back unemployment money owed to the federal government. (WSJ)

Forrester Research says that tablet PC owners are more likely to buy retail goods than users of other computers. (WSJ)

Employee health care costs rise 9%  in the past year. (WSJ)

Japanese government announces a $156 billion spending program. (WSJ)

Greek parliament passes a property tax law. (WSJ)

A federal jury charges that Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR), Panasonic (NYSE: PC) and Tecumseh Products (NASDAQ: TECUA) fixed prices for compressors used in home appliances. (WSJ)

Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) to try to sell its assets in Brazil. (WSJ)

S&P warns on the value of Chinese property developers. (WSJ)

Recovery in commercial mortgage-backed securities falters. (WSJ)

Hackers begin to focus on smartphones. (NYT)

Suit against Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) over its buyout of Merrill Lynch could cost the financial firm billions. (NYT)

Seven European nations want banks to pay more for a bailout of Greece. (FT)

Toyota’s (NYSE: TM) production rises for the first time since the earthquake. (Bloomberg)

Douglas A. McIntyre

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) rates customer satisfaction on a scale of 0-100, and the overall score for personal computer satisfaction came in a 78, flat with the 2010 score. For appliances, the 2011 industry score was 81, down slightly from last year’s 82. And for consumer electronics products like Blu-Ray Disc players and TVs, the satisfaction score was unchanged at 85.

Among computer makers, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) led the field with a score of 87, trailed by Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) with 78 and Dell Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) with 77. An aggregate group of other manufacturers, including Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE), also scored 77.

Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) scored 82, leading General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) with a score of 79. GE’s score fell by 3 points and Whirlpool’s fell by 1. ACSI noted that the aggregate score of all other makers, including the Kenmore brand from Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD), rose to an industry-leading score of 83. That’s the highest score ever for this group.

The ASCI survey did not specify the leading makers of consumer electronics gear, but the industry’s overall score of 85 made it the leader among the 47 industries the survey measures.

A significant contributor to customer satisfaction is very likely attributable to lower prices. The survey notes that “price cuts on flat-panel TVs and [Blu-Ray Disc] players contribute to strong and stable customer satisfaction for the industry.” That is, if buyers thinks they got a good deal they are less likely to be critical of the product. No one wants to be thought a sap for buying a crummy product.

The low-price effect is probably most pronounced in the consumer electronics field, but stagnant pricing has also affected the appliance business, and with the exception of Apple, the computer business as well. Apple’s premium pricing essentially guarantees a high-level of satisfaction. Again, no MacBook Air buyer wants to admit to making a $1,400 mistake when a Dell PC would have cost less than half that.

Still, Apple’s reputation for innovation and quality continue to pay off for the company. The company’s stock has posted a new 52-week and all-time high of $418.20 in the first hour of trading this morning.

Paul Ausick

The new “8-Pack of Dividends” includes Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) and The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) as having pent-up U.S. demand & global consumer growth.  Two dividend  picks for the U.S. industrial renaissance are Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) and United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX).  Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) are two dividend picks for the run in commodities.  Lastly, the “Safe & Steady” picks were in Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and in Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

While these two tech giants were not a part of this “8-Pack,”  Hank Smith gave some interesting insight when it comes to Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) versus Microsoft Corporation NASDAQ: MSFT).  As you have likely read, Intel just raised its dividend yet again last week and is now among the highest dividend yields in technology.  He called this very shareholder friendly.  Smith maintains that the acquisition of Skype is not as much of a shareholder-friendly move as it would have been to see a significant boost to Microsoft’s dividend.  Smith noted, “If Microsoft would have opted to double its dividend and commit to a 10% to 12% dividend growth strategy rather than making a large acquisition of a questionable company, then Microsoft’s share price would be significantly higher.”

Haverford mostly handles managed accounts but a smaller Large-Cap fund it manages is Haverford Quality Growth Stock (HAVGX) fund, and its returns have been solid during the recovery when you consider the dividend aspect of this growth.  Since the early-2009 lows, this fund has jumped up nearly 85% from the bottom.

When you look at the “8-Pack of Dividends,” these all have relatively high payouts and have all increased those payouts recently.  We included the company, the approximate dividend yield, and by how much the dividend hike was in each:

• Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE: WHR) yields 2.4% and its recent payout was raised by 16%.
• The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) yields 2.7% and its recent payout was raised by 6%.
• Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE: UNP) yields 1.8% and its recent payout was raised by 25%.
• United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) yields 2.1% and its recent payout was raised by 11%.
• Air Products & Chemicals Inc. (NYSE: APD) yields 2.5% and its recent payout was raised by 18%.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) yields 3.5% and its recent payout was raised by 20%.
• Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) yields 2.9% and its recent payout was raised by 7%.
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) yields 3.5% and its recent payout was raised by 6%.

Mr. Smith also noted that today’s environment offers dividend investors a tremendous opportunity in dividend-growing stocks.  After 18 months to 24 months of a recovery, now companies are really moving to return more capital to shareholders.

One additional point was made as far as which companies are strong… Smith said, “About three-quarters of dividend portfolio companies actually managed to raise dividends during the recession.”  The current dividend yield for most managed accounts at Haverford today is 2.5%, but they also have a dividend value strategy that includes utilities and other dividend-paying companies with a combined portfolio yield that is closer to 3.8% today.

When we are given a large group of picks in this manner, it is almost impossible not to ask for which of the lot is the best of the best.  Haverford Investments’ Hank Smith believes that the giant recovery is becoming the mature stage of the recovery period now.  In this stage, he is more inclined to look at some of the more defensive names which have lagged many of the others in their performance.  Those two names were Pepsico, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

JON C. OGG

We took a look at the December and January call option trading and it is very elevated:

The stock is up 3.7% at $88.81 on 1.9 million shares as of 1:09 PM EST and the average volume is 2.07 million shares and the 52-week trading range is $71.00 to $118.44.

Barron’s recently noted that Whirlpool share prices could reach back above $100 again if it can meet its sales targets.  That was over a week ago now, but things may be heading the way of that call.

See the chart from stockcharts.com below.  It appears that Whirlpool is at a critical juncture on that chart as shares are challenging the 200-day moving average.

The market cap may be too high still a $6.75 billion for a leveraged buyout from private equity.  At $88.81, Whirlpool trades at implied forward multiples of 9.15-times 2010 earnings expectations and at about 10-times 2011 earnings expectations using Thomson Reuters consensus data. Its most recent balance sheet data from September 30 shows an equity value of about $4.03 billion.  Unfortunately, its tangible book value after backing out goodwill and intangible assets was only $495 million.

Stay tuned.  As with all rumors, they should be treated with some degree of skepticism until a press release confirms them.

JON C. OGG