Today was a strange day as Veteran's Day was observed by the bond market but not by the stock market. Stocks traded lower most of the day as the realization that even a Chinese stimulus package was not going to prevent a global recession. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA: 8,693.96 (-1.99%)
NASDAQ: 1,580.90 (-2.22%)
S&P 500: 898.94 (-2.21%)
Analyst Upgrades
Analyst Downgrades

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) announced a joint venture in the Marcellus Shale and an international unconventional natural gas exploration alliance with StatoilHydro. Despite this supposedly being a win, shares were down 5% at $22.45 right before the close.

Focus Media Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: FMCN), a Chinese advertising agency for online, outdoor, and print ads, was hit extremely hard after posting light earnings and guiding estimates lower ahead. Shares were trading down over 45% at $8.74 right before the close.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) announced the pricing of a full financing package to keep it within its debt covenants, but it did so at what appears to be a 40% discount on a fully diluted basis. Shares were trading down 35% at $5.22 right before the close.

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) traded down after the high-end coffee retail destination posted light earnings and gave a warning for the base case for its fiscal year of Sept-2009. Shares were down 13% at $22.00 right before the close.

Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC) posted earnings at $0.81 EPS, well above the $0.73 EPS estimates. Unfortunately, the company said the current environment was going to put pressure on earnings ahead, and that somehow managed to surprise the investor community. Shares were down 13% at $22.01 right before the close.