Today was one of those strange days where stocks were gapping up on overseas market strength, but little domestic news. There were no economic numbers today, and the group in focus today was all the technology news. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Dow 8,539.73 -15.87 (-0.19%)
S&P 500 921.23 +2.86 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 1,827.47 +19.75 (1.09%)
Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades
Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) launched its highly awaited 3G S iPhones today. AT&T has indicated that there were hundreds of thousands of devices pre-ordered and that demand is running ahead of expectations. Shares were up 1.15% at $137.45 late in the trading day.
Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) was hit by Chinese government demands to suspend search services for foreign websites via the Chinese version of its site. That is just a day after being warned about the ability to search pornography. Shares are higher and were up 0.8% at $417.25 late in the day.
Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU) rose as it may get a leg-up against Google in China now on that regulatory news. The negative research call where it was started as "Underweight" with a $244 price target at HSBC in new coverage did not dash hopes. Shares were up 1% at $296.85 late in the trading day.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) was a winner on a research note. Goldman Sachs added it to the Conviction Buy List. Shares were up 2.5% at $24.09 late in the trading day.
Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) is petering out despite its beat on earnings. The problem is that guidance was merely in-line and the internal growth numbers are not coming on stronger. In short, it is feeling pressure from Nokia, Palm and Apple. Shares were down 4.5% at $73.04 last in the trading day.
E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is the closest thing you can come to a tech stock in the financial services field. It was hit hard after selling its secondary at too deep of an offering price. Shares were down 14% at $1.23 late in the trading day.










