We have provided estimates from Thomson Reuters on each and offered commentary and guidance on some of these companies.  More detailed previews will be available Tuesday morning for the reports due after the closing bell.  The current previews are below:

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has seen shares back off of highs and the stock is down more than 20% from its year high and all-time high.  The estimates are $0.19 EPS and $18.2 billion.  The Kindle will be a huge focus, but the concern is that the company has been allowing its margins to get crushed far to much for far too long.

ARM Hldgs PLC (NASDAQ: ARMH) is key now that it powering so many smartphones, finally living up to its ambitions of the last decade.  As a reminder, these earnings are translated from British Pounds, and estimates are $0.14 EPS and $193.3 million in revenues.

Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is effectively the second largest pure biotech company and it finally outperformed in 2011.  Estimates are $1.49 EPS and $1.29 billion in sales.  The new screening test to determine if MS patients using TYSABRI are at risk of developing PML has been undercovered by our take.

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) was recently given a huge and successful pop after a Jim Cramer tout.  Estimates are $0.65 EPS and $1.8 billion in sales.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) has a relatively low bar set after Chevron’s earnings stank up the place last week.  Thomson Reuters has estimates for the DJIA component of $1.95 EPS and $119.7 billion in sales.  Keep in mind that revenues are not as widely covered as earnings per share.  Estimates have ticked down by $0.03 in just the last few days.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is going to show just what happens to earnings with Lipitor now being off-patent.   Pfizer has estimates out there of $0.47 EPS and $16.61 billion in revenues.

Seagate Tech Inc. (NASDAQ: STX) has already risen off of guidance but the Thai flooding and PC flux right now create ongoing wild cards.  The disk drive maker is expected to post earnings of $1.07 EPS and $3.14 billion in revenues.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is expected to report earnings of $1.26 EPS on sales of $14.45 billion.  We will be looking for additional information on past price hikes in the new climate.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) recently announced that its production in Slovakia was returning to a 5-day week from a 4-day week due to demand and after labor agreement negotiations.  The estimates are a large loss at -$0.84 EPS on $4.73 billion in sales.  While it has bounced, U.S. Steel is still down by half from a year ago.

Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) is holding up better than we would have guessed if you have watched refining margins of late.  Estimates are for a loss at -$0.17 EPS on $32.3 billion in sales.

JON C. OGG

Patriot Coal officials said demand for met coal has weakened in the last few weeks, especially export demand. Demand from China, the world’s largest importer of met coal, is expected to remain weak through the first half of the year, although demand is expected to rise in the second half as Chinese and European economies begin to grow again. Total consumption of met coal could fall by 13 million metric tons in 2012.

In the late morning, Patriot Coal shares are down more than -9% at $8.18 in a 52-week range of $6.92-$29.20.

Shares in Alpha are down nearly -8% at $20.76 in a 52-week range of $15.49-$62.65.

James River shares are down more than -8% at $6.77 in a 52-week range of $5.41-$25.59.

Steel maker Arcelor Mittal is down nearly -2%, while US Steel and AK Steel are both down about -3%.

Paul Ausick

Operating margins contracted more than anticipated during the quarter and earnings are expected to be in the range of $0.18 to $0.25 EPS for its fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, Thomson Reuters had estimates at $0.55 EPS.  The company further cited higher fears of a global recession, mostly from the European debt crisis, being responsible for a significant buying pattern slowdown as well as a sharp decline in sales prices.

Operating income in the Metals Recycling Business per ferrous ton is expected to be approximately 50% lower than the $21 per ton seen during the first quarter of 2011, while the Auto Parts Business is going to see operating income about 30% lower.

The only good news is that Schnitzer did note, “Sales prices began to strengthen towards the end of the quarter, but the improvements are not expected to benefit results until later in the second quarter.”

Schnitzer had already lost more than one-third of its value from the 2011 high.  Now shares are down almost 6% at $43.10 versus a 52-week range of $37.00 to $69.43.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) is actually up almost 1% at $26.11 and AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) is up 1.7% at $7.65 in early trading.

 JON C. OGG

Gold prices have gained about $60/ounce, about 3.6%. Silver prices are up roughly 9%. Copper prices are up by about 8.6%. Titanium prices are unchanged, steel prices have been drifting though more varieties appear to be selling at lower prices, and rare earth minerals vary widely depending on the particular mineral. Lanthanum oxides are selling for about $61/kilogram, while terbium oxide goes for $605/kilogram.

All stock data comes from Yahoo! Finance and current prices were gathered in the early afternoon today.

Of the companies we survey, all but one enjoys a higher stock price today than they did last month. The single exception is Molycorp, which is getting punished today for missing both EPS and revenue estimates. At yesterday’s closing price of $38.70, Molycorp’s share price was higher than it was a month ago.

More interesting, perhaps, were recent changes in median price targets. Only Nucor and Titanium’s price targets have remained the same in the last month. Two stocks, Newmont and Barrick, had their price targets raised and the other seven had price targets lowered.

Newmont’s target price was raised from $77 to $81. At the new target price and a current price of $70.41, Newmont’s implied gain is $10.59, or 15%. The stock put up a new 52-week high last week, and its forward P/E also rose from 10.2 to 11.47. In the past month, shares have gained more than $7, or 11%. The company’s pledge to raise dividends if gold price targets are met is another reason to look carefully at this stock.

Barrick’s target price was raised from $66.50 to $68. At the new target price and a current price of $52.61, Barrick’s implied gain is $15.39, or 29%. Shares are trading at less than 6% away from the 52-week high of $55.95. Over the past month, Barrick’s shares have gained 12%.

The largest drop in target price was settled on Molycorp, which saw its target price fall from $80- to $70. Even at that, the implied gain for the shares, based on today’s price of $34.04, is 106%. The wide gap is due not so much to any failure on Molycorp’s part but to what might be “irrational exuberance” for the stock by investors. There is also the fact that Molycorp’s mineral reserves tend to be heavy on the lower-priced rare earths and light on the higher-priced metals.

The largest percentage drop in target price was claimed by US Steel, which saw its target price fall from $40 to $34.50, nearly 14%. The company posted a new 52-week low on October 3rd. At the current price of $26.08, the implied gain is $8.42, or 32%. US Steel is widely expected to be acquired — and fairly soon — which is attracting short sellers in droves.

Freeport-McMoran’s target price fell from $55 to $53 in the past month, even though shares have added $5.05, or about 15%, in the same period. The implied gain based on the new target price and the current price of $39.83 is 33%. Freeport’s problem is that demand for copper might be stagnating or worse, given the construction slowdown in China.

Silver Wheaton’s target price fell from $51.50 to $49.50, while the share price has gained 17%. At the new target price and based on today’s price of $36.18, the implied gain here is 37%. There is plenty of headroom for Silver Wheaton’s share price to continue rising, but demand for silver will be the driver.

Alcoa’s target price dropped from $15.50 to $13 in the last month, even as the share price has risen by about 8%. At the new target price and based on the current price of $10.58, the implied gain in Alcoa stock is nearly 23%. Given that shares rose by 8% in the last month, anything’s possible, even that Alcoa may hit the lower target.

The target price for Steel Dynamics fell from $18 to $16, while share prices gained a substantial 23% in the same period. At the new target price and a current price of $13.51, the implied gain in the stock is 18%. EPS estimates for the current quarter have fallen by nearly -20% in the past month, following lowered guidance from the company.

Southern Copper’s target price fell from from $36.75 to $36.25 in the past month, even though the share price rose by 21%. At the new target and at the current price of $32.41, the implied gain for Southern Copper is nearly 12%.

Paul Ausick

Janus Capital Group, Inc. (NYSE: JNS) fell -49.4%, from $12.97 to $6.56. The consensus price target is $7.00. Janus has struggled with high redemptions so far this year and the company’s assets under management could fall further by the end of the year.

Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) fell -50.9%, from $12.74 to $6.25. The consensus price target is $6.50. Hudson’s mortgage business has been beaten up by low mortgage interest rates, which currently show now signs of rising significantly.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) fell -51.4%, from $13.14 to $6.38. The consensus price target is $8.50. Genworth, an insurance company, has suffered from mortgage insurance woes, as the risk of default on the company’s insured loans rises.

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) fell -53.3%, from $175.70 to $82.08. The consensus price target is $185.00. This stock was our worst performer in the month of October, but its decline started in July.

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) fell -56.6%, from $58.42 to #25.36. The consensus price target is $35.00. Like other steelmakers, US steel has struggled with reduced construction and lower levels of automobile manufacturing. The outlook continues weak.

American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) fell -57.2%, from $57.62 to $24.69. The consensus price target is $29.00. AIG continues to feel the weight of its majority ownership by the federal government and its rising cost of capital.

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) fell -57.2%, from $33.84 to $14.47. The consensus price target is $22.00. This was another of our biggest October losers.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: ANR) fell -60%, from $60.03 to $24.04. The consensus price target is $35.50. Alpha’s $8.5 billion purchase of Massey Energy came at a high point in the coal business, which has since seen asset values fall. Alpha’s overhang on litigation from an explosion at a Massey mine that killed 29 miners.

Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) fell -60.9%, from $23.63 to $9.23. The consensus price target is $15.00. Monster has suffered from high US unemployment as employers have not been looking to hire new employees.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) fell -61.8%, from $130.14 to $49.77. The consensus price target is $100.00. First Solar was the second-worst performer in our list of the worst stocks in the month of October.

Paul Ausick

Alcatel-Lucent SA (NYSE: ALU) Cut to Underperform at Jefferies.
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) Started as Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Raised target to $30 from $28 at Credit Suisse; Reiterated Hold at Canaccord.
Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE: JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD) Started as Neutral at Lazard.
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG) named Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Started as Outperform at Wells Fargo.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Steven Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) named Growth & Income stock of the day at Zacks.
Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) Raised to Buy at Jefferies.
Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) Raised to Buy at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) has a median target price of $40.00 from 14 brokers. Shares are trading today at $23.52, for an implied gain of $16.48, or 41.2%. US Steel’s forward P/E is 6.46 and the company’s dividend yield is 0.90%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $18.85-$64.03, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above its 52-week low and 63% below the 52-week high. The huge difference between US Steel’s 52-week high and its current price indicates a substantial opportunity here, if the company can get its act together. It owns its own sources of iron ore and coke, so it is relatively insulated from the higher costs faced by many other steel makers. The company should be doing better than this, but it’s a tough market out there.

Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE) has a median target price of $45.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $34.85, for an implied gain of $10.15, or 22.6%. Nucor’s forward P/E is 10.34 and the company’s dividend yield is 4.20%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $29.82-$49.24, and at today’s price that’s about 17% above the 52-week low and 29% below the 52-week high. Nucor stock recently took a hit when the company lowered third-quarter EPS estimates to $0.45-$0.55 compared with analysts’ expectation of $0.64. Demand for raw materials raises costs for Nucor, at the same time that demand in the US has fallen.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (NASDAQ: STLD) has a median target price of $18.00 from 13 brokers. Shares traded today at $10.95, for an implied gain of $7.05, or 39.2%. Steel Dynamics’ forward P/E is 6.49 and the company’s dividend yield is 3.70%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $8.78-$20.70, and at today’s price that’s about 25% above the 52-week low and 47% below the 52-week high. Like Nucor, Steel Dynamics revised EPS expectations downward last month by at least a third compared with analysts expectations.

Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) has a median target price of $77.00 from 16 brokers. Shares are trading today at $63.24, for an implied gain of $13.76, or 17.9%. Newmont’s forward P/E is 10.2 and the company’s dividend yield is 1.9%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $50.05-$71.25, and at today’s price that’s about 26% above the 52-week low and 11% below the 52-week high. Newmont is the largest gold miner in the world and its dividend yield is also the highest among the miners. The company has committed to raising dividends if certain gold price targets are hit, making life even tougher for competitors.

Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) has a median price target of $66.50 from 20 brokers. Shares traded today at $46.93, for an implied gain of $19.57, or 29.4%. Barrick’s forward P/E is 7.67 and the company’s dividend yield is 1%. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $42.50-$55.95, and at today’s price that’s about 10% above the 52-week low and 16% below the 52-week high. Gold mining stocks have not been able to keep up with the rising price of gold mainly because the miners’ costs keep rising even as gold prices rise. Barrick is one of the lowest cost producers among the big gold mining companies, and that’s a real positive for the company.

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Started as Buy at Citigroup.
BE Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAV) Started as Buy at BofA/ML.
CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) Raised to Outperform as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) called Value Stock of the Day at Zacks.
Dunkin’ Brands Group (NASDAQ: DNKN) Started as Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley; Started as Market Perform at Wells Fargo; Started as Overweight at JPMorgan; Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) Raised to Hold at Citigroup.
LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) Cut to Sell at Argus.
Merge Healthcare (NASDAQ: MRGE) named as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) Raised to Buy at Argus.
PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) maintained Buy but removed from Conviction Buy List at Goldman Sachs.
SodaStream International Ltd. (NASDAQ: SODA) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Teavana Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TEA) started as Outperform at William Blair; Started as Neutral at BofA/ML.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) Raised to Buy at Citigroup.
Wesco Aircraft Holdings, Inc. C (NYSE: WAIR) Started as Buy at BofA/ML.

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JON C. OGG

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) Reiterated Buy as Value at Zacks; Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan.
CIGNA Corporation (NYSE: CI) named as Bull of the Day at Zacks.
Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC) Maintained Underperform as Bear of the Day at Zacks.
Elan Corporation (NYSE: ELN) Raised to Outperform at Credit Suisse.
Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) Started as Outperform at Baird.
NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) Raised to Buy at UBS.
Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) Raised to Sector Perform at RBC.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) Cut to Hold at Argus.
Sanmina-SCI Corp. (NASDAQ: SANM) Cut to Underperform at RBC.
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS) Raised to Neutral at Credit Suisse.
United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) Cut to Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
VIVIUS Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS) Reiterated Buy and $9 target at BofA/ML.

You are invited to 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

2.21 PM In the midst of the chaos of the market Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) passed Exxon Mobil (NASDAQ: XOM) as the most valuable company traded on any US exchange. It’s market cap–$339 billion

2.13 PM Stocks have trimmed half of their gains before the Fed comments. The DJIA is now only up .85%

12.37 Market flattens ahead of Bernanke comments. Traders appear to be avoiding the risk of a sharp move when the Fed makes its comments on the economy and any remedies it might offer to a slowing economy. These comments are due at 2.15. The Nasdaq is steady up 3.7% to 2,444. The DJIA holds its own at 11,400 up 2.1%

12.04 PM Europe exchanges closed higher except in Germany which reported a drop in exports for July. The FTSE rose 1.9% but the Dax ended down .1%. Banks, the victims of the collapse in EU market yesterday, helped mold the recovery

11.58 AM Pressure on oil price rise today should ease. OPEC said it cut if forecast for the balance of 2011 by 150,000 barrels a day. Cartel expects lax demand in US and China

11.47 AM Breaking Bloomberg data shows majority of economists believe that Fed will ease monetary policy this years. If bank stocks continue to fall, central bank may have to option to help money center banks to raise capital

11.45 AM The Dow has backed down modestly and is now less than 200 points higher–1.6%. The Nasdaq has not clawed back most of its horrible losses from yesterday, but is up 3%. Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the prime drive of the tech recovery.

11.25 AM Vix “fear index” (The CBOE Market Volatility Index) is down to 41.73 from near-record 48 yesterday, extraordinarily high. The Vix is not low enough for investors to believe the roller coaster is not over

10.59 Oddly, oil and gold are each higher, crude up .7% to $81.83, and gold up 1.9% to $1,734, near a record. Move to gold is a sign that the markets are still rattled enough to keep cash out of equities. Oil rally continues after massive sell off

10.37 AM The market has rallied 2% on the DJIA and 3% on Nasdaq. Perversely, safe haven stocks are not rising as money moves back into risk. Altria (NYSE: MO), Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), and Cablevision (NASDAQ: CVC) have shown no movement

10.05 AM   Famous bank analyst rates Bank of America a buy, a strange call for a researcher who has disliked the bank. Shares rallied 8%.

9.40 AM The market did not soar up as expected. The DJIA is only up .7% and the Nasdaq up 1%. Part of the reason is a sell off of safe haven stocks like Altria (NYSE: MO) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO)

9.23 AM Gallup showed a sharp drop: Americans’ economic confidence plunged to -53 in the week ending Aug. 7, down sharply from -43 two weeks ago and -34 a month ago to a level not seen since the recession days of March 2009. Seventy-seven percent say the economy is “getting worse” and 55% rate it “poor.”

8.40 AM In the latest sign that markets are in a broad recovery, oil moved above $80. Several economists believe oil is oversold and that demand will remain strong. Also, productivity declines in the second quarter by .3%. This may be an indication companies will need to hire. The market had little reaction to the news

8.15 AM The odds of a solid open grew as non-bank shares indicated higher. Sprint-Nextel (NYSE: S) was higher by 4.5% in the pre-market and US Steel (NYSE: X) was higher by over 3%.

8.04 AM In an early sign that Wall St. may view bank shares as oversold, FBR ungraded Well Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to “buy”

7.44 AM Bank shares, the major victims of the sell-off are up in pre-market. Bank of America (NYSE BAC) higher by 4%. JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) up 2%

7.42 AM Europe got healthy as indexes moved to up slightly. US currently indicated to open up 100 as market waits for Bernanke.

7.08 AM Shares in Europe have begun to recover and the FTSE is now down only 1%. The Dax is off over 3% as German exports softened in June

6.53 AM Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) management said it will use profits from it gold and fixed income portfolios to buy equities, according to Reuters.

6.23 AM The market’s attention turned toward Bernanke and whether he will announce something called “QE3″ later today as a means to steady the market. European markets steadied but US futures continued to ride wildly up and down.

5.56 AM Oil has plunged to $79 on concerns about a worldwide recession. The price was close to $100 just a month ago. The precipitous drop has pressured energy shares with Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A, RDS.B) and BP (NYSE: BP) off sharply.

5.24 AM There was some hope that Europe markets would be a firewall against the global sell-off as they opened down only slightly. That has not continued. Indices in German, France, and the UK are down an average of 4% as concerns about a dying global economy rise.

4.03 AM Stocks in Europe quickly sold down so that the FTSE and Dax are off over 2%. US future gave up almost all gains

3.23 Asia trades off lows with the Hang Seng down 2.9% and improvement from a 6% drop at the open. Most Europe exchanges open flat to slightly down. US futures rally sharply with Dow futures higher by 300 points.

3.25 China inflation surges with CPI up 6.5% for July. The central bank may tighten which would tend to slow the economy

Douglas A. McIntyre