Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) was downgraded to Sell by Merrill Lynch due to the credit crisis.

More analyst calls from Briefing.com:

• Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) was upgraded by Deutsche Securities from Holdto Buy. MT shares are up 3.75% in premarket trading.
• Imclone (NASDAQ: IMCL) was upgraded at Cowen & Co from Neutralto Outperform.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) was downgraded by UBS from Buyto Neutral , and the target price lowered from $55 to $56
• Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) was downgraded by Bernstein from Outperformto Mkt Perform

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares took quite a hit Thursday, finishing the session down just over 5% "after founder and CEO Jeff Bezos sold more than $135 million worth of shares in his first insider sale in more than three years."

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) says Paul J. Liska will become its new chief financial officer on March 1, replacing acting chief financial officer Tom Meredith.

Ars Technica reported Thursday of a new patent filed by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) that could integrate podacsts, TiVo and iTunes store.
Meanwhile, TUAW, in response to readers, prepared an iPhone "call home" program that returns the location of the cell phone tower nearest to your iPhone so you have a better chance finding it in case of loss or theft.

An analyst from Citigroup suspects that more shoppers are choosing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over rival Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) now that consumers are scaling back purchases.

As Schultz continues to refocus his company, Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) said Thursday it will cut about 600 jobs, including 220 support staff who worked at the coffee retailer's headquarters and in field operations, and about 380 open jobs that the company will not fill.

XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) reports third-quarter earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect XM to report fourth-quarter loss of 64 cents per share on revenue of $303.2 million. Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI), XM's rival and potential acquirer, reports on Tuesday Feb. 26. Analysts predict Sirius will book losses totaling 13 cents per share on revenue of $267.4 million. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice and Federal Communication Commission continued to delay their decision on the merger, but the DOJ may decide during the first quarter.