These are some of the many research upgrades we have seen from Wall Street analysts this Monday morning with more than two hours to the open: Ann Taylor (ANN) Raised to Neutral at Goldman Sachs Cablevision (CVC) Raised to Hold at S&P Equity Research Capital One Financial (COF) Raised to [...]

The IMF said that the world banking system faces of meltdown if governments does not take immediate action to support that largest banks. Based on comments from Paulson, the US may be moving a bit slowly, which could cost the stock market dearly on Monday The Times of London reports [...]

According to The Wall Street Journal, GM (GM) and Chrylser had merger talks. How do that work if both are already broke? MarktetWatch reports that Paulson will begin to buy equity in banks. Bank of America (BAC) has a market cap of $100 billion. The Treasury could, in theory, end [...]

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is showing that some companies can still raise cash in these troubled times. Big Blue is selling $4 billion in debt in a multiple maturity offering. The company is showing that the credit market terms may not be ideal but the credit markets are at least somewhat [...]

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has already put GM's credit ratings on watch today, and the ratings agency is also putting the credit rating of Alcoa, Inc. on "Negative Outlook" from a "Stable" rating. It has technically affirmed the BBB+ long-term rating and A-2 short-term credit rating. S&P is citing [...]

Following billionaires, activist investors, and even opportunists has been a difficult job in recent weeks. Activists can blame poor management decisions, but they cannot blame management over stock prices in a bear market. This creates an interesting situation with Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: BEE) as we have Bill [...]

Jim Cramer wants people to sell all of their stocks. Even though the market may keep falling, that might not be a practical solution for everyone. There are several things investors can do to at least partially save themselves from a falling market and get in position if stocks move [...]

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) is catching a bid this morning, although it is still at the lower-end of its 52-week trading range. There have been two key pieces of news affecting shares this morning with the first being an upgrade and the second being an acquisition.Symantec shares were raised to [...]

After months of suffering indignities and falling sales, Citigroup cut shares in Ford (F) and GM (GM) to sell. It dropped it price target for Ford to $2.50 and GM's to $6. According to MarketWatch, "After maintaining a cautious stance on automaker stocks throughout the past several months, the risk-reward [...]

These are some of the top pre-market analyst upgrades we are seeing this Wednesday morning: AMAG Pharmaceuticals (AMAG) Started as Overweight at JPMorgan Andersons (ANDE) Started as Outperform at Oppenheimer Bank of America (BAC) Raised to Market Perform at KBW BMC Software (BMC) Raised to Neutral at JPMorgan Cadence Design [...]

If you were looking for a strong tone from Ben Bernanke, he may have given you what you wanted to hear. Today's speech to the National Association for Business Economics hinted at a very high chance of rate cuts in the near future. He discussed the downside risks to growth [...]

According to Reuters, US markets fell to five-year lows. Reuters writes that Wells Fargo (WFC) could end up with over 75% of Wachovia;s (WB) deposits. Reuters reports that Morgan Stanley's (MS) deal to get capital from Mitsubishi UFJ was approved by the government but MS shares fell as much as [...]

General Growth Properties (CGP) Trouble re-financing. Down to $3,51 from 52-week $57.84, Trina Solar (TSL) Solar stocks downgraded on oversupply. Falls to $12.43 from 52-week high of $68.25. Royal Bk Scotland Group (RBS) Worries about capital adequacy of UK banks. Down to $1.41 from 52-week high of $11.22. Sanmina (SANM) [...]

Two key solar stocks are being hit hard in early indications. First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) have both been downgraded to "Sell" from the prior "Buy" ratings over at Goldman Sachs. The fallout from these calls may create new issues for the sector which has [...]

Below are some of the top early bird analyst upgrades we have seen early this morning with more than two hours to the open: Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) Raised to Outperform at FBR. Incyte (INCY) Started as Buy at Stanford Group. Jefferies (JEF) Raised to Market Perform at Wachovia. Louisiana-Pacific (LPX) Raised [...]

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) has decided to issue earnings early and it simultaneously announced new capital raising and preservation initiatives. The banking giant said that quarterly net income was $1.18 billion, or $0.15 EPS. The good news is that it made a profit. The bad news is that [...]

These are some of the top upgrades from Wall Street analysts we are seeing this Friday morning with about two hours to the open. Burlington Northern (BNI) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. Compass Minerals (CMP) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. CSX Corp. (CSX) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan. MetLife (MET) [...]

Vikram Pandit has been the CEO of Citigroup (C) for ten months. The only thing he has done right is collect $216 million in compensation. Much of that was for the sale of his company Old Lane Partners to the big bank. In June, Old Lane was closed. Today, Pandit [...]

Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A) just told CNBC that the bailout plan was "no panacea" but that it will help avoid a total disaster. Whether it will be a big help remains to be seen. He also said it still will be a while before the recession [...]

The IPO market has been dead as a doornail. But next week we have a bank IPO coming to market. It is amazing that a bank would dare come to market in this environment. First Savings Financial Group, Inc. is the proposed holding company for First Savings Bank, F.S.B. It [...]

Not all companies and industries will be hit equally hard by the consumer credit crisis. Operations such as Procter & Gamble (PG), McDonald's (MCD), and Wal-Mart (WMT) may be safe. They either sell things people can't do without or offer inexpensive goods and services that consumers can afford during a [...]

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is coming out swinging to halt the offensive rumors and credit concerns that have been hindering its stock. The company made two key announcements to fight this. GE will offer at least $12 billion of common stock to the public, plus a 15% share over-allotment [...]

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), or Petrobras, is down an astonishing 13% to $37.77 today in mid-day trading. It has also almost traded an entire day's volume. Falling oil prices, economic softness, the migration away from emerging markets and more are all acting against it. But a key downgrade from Citigroup [...]

In a sign of how perverse and debased the market's reactions to simple news has become, NCC (NCC), the large regional bank, dropped from over $4 last Friday to $1.36 on Monday. Today, the shares change hands at $3.50. There has been nothing concrete in the news about the financial [...]

These are some of the early analyst downgrades we have seen this Thursday morning: Akamai Tech (AKAM) Cut to Sell at Goldman Sachs. CommVault Systems (CVLT) Cut to Neutral at Goldman Sachs. Juniper Networks (JNPR) Cut to Market Perform at Morgan Keegan. Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Cut to Equal Weight [...]