It seems today, with its mixed bag of tricks all day long, was just what investors needed to catch their breath after nine of the last 12 days of definite bullish sentiment and upward closes. Oil was up but still under that $44.00 a barrel pivot point. A possible snag in the auto bailout movement took out some of the earlier gains, but shares came back up in the later part of the day. It was a tiny buyout, but there was a 200% premium private equity acquisition today.Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Top Analyst Downgrades
American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) -- both Citigroup and Banc of America issued new Sell ratings on AXP this morning and selling is what traders did, as shares were down almost 8% at $21.43 right before the close.
American International Group (NYSE: AIG) was the financial disappointment of the day. The WSJ and others were reporting a $10 billion figure the company had in undisclosed counterparty liabilities. AIG tried to refute this, but the language strategy sounded like "submission via confusion" and shares were still down almost 10% at $9.75 right before the close.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) was down again after it gave its second implied earnings warning in less than six weeks. Shares were down almost 12% at $17.07 right before the close.
Eastman KodaK Co. (NYSE: EK) said that weak consumer spending, inability for customers to get credit, and even currency were causing it to withdraw all guidance. Shares were down over 8% at $6.57 shortly before the close, although that is almost 10% higher than this morning. This is only part of the reason I chose Antonio Perez as one of CEOs who need to go.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) is being pressured by holders now to sell its search business to Microsoft. The belief is that this could generate something to the tune of $15 billion, although Microsoft, as last bidder, may not want to pay that much. Shares were up 10% at $13.41 right before the close.
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