The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA up nearly 97 points to 12,578.95 (0.78%), the NASDAQ rose nearly 42 points (1.53%) to 2,769.71, and the S&P 500 rose 1.11% or more than 14 points to 1,308.04.
There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) cut to ‘hold’ at Brean Murray; Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) cut to ‘market perform’ at Wells Fargo; The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) cut to ‘market perform’ at BMO Capital; Cheniere Energy Inc. (AMEX: LNG) started as ‘outperform’ with a $13.50 target price at Credit Suisse; and Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) maintained as ‘hold’ but estimates cut at Argus.
Earnings reports since markets closed yesterday have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Cree Inc. (NASDAQ: CREE) is up 4.3% at $24.33; The Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) is down -1.3% at $12.00; Fastenal Co. (NASDAQ: FAST) is down -2.8% at $45.48; Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) is up 7.5% at $105.03; and State Street Corp. (NYSE: STT) is down -7% at $39.72.
Other standouts from today include the following stocks:
Euro Tech Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: CLWT) is up nearly 53% at $3.91. The Hong Kong-based company has announced an 11-for-2 reverse stock split.
Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: UEPS) is up more than 33% at $8.96. The South African software maker has announced a 5-year deal with the government’s social security agency.
Majesco Entertainment Co. (NASDAQ: COOL) is down more than -27% at $2.17. The video game maker forecast higher sales and marketing costs in 2012.
Ku6 Media Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: KUTV) is down nearly -18% at $2.71. The Chinese online video company rose more than 150% yesterday on the announcement of deal with Google. Today’s fall is likely due to profit-taking.
We also noted 10 stocks that posted new all-time highs today. These include Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD), and Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE). See our coverage here.
Stay tuned for Thursday. We have noted the following events on the schedule (all times Eastern):
- 8:30 a.m. – Consumer price index
- 8:30 a.m. – Housing starts
- 8:30 a.m. – Initial unemployment benefits claims
- 10:00 a.m. – Philadelphia Federal Reserve business outlook survey
- 10:30 a.m. – EIA weekly natural gas inventory report
- 11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
- 4:30 p.m. – Federal Reserve balance sheet and money supply
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Paul Ausick
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