NYSE Euronext (NYX) acquired American Stock Exchange (Amex) in 2008 to expand its equities, options and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trading business. Recently NYSE announced plans to sell the majority of its stake in the Amex stock options market to seven companies -- including top banks, trading houses and brokerages. With this move, the company hopes to increase its trading volumes by giving major brokerages an incentive to bring their business to Amex. Major competitors are Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ), CME Group (CME), BATS Global and Direct Edge.

Barclays (BCS) recently announced its performance for the full year 2010. Based on the better than expected performance of its sales & trading division, we have updated our price estimate for the company to $18.30. This is still about 10% lower than the current market price of just over $21. It competes with other worldwide banking institutions and financial services group like Citigroup, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Bank of America, UBS and JPMorgan Chase.

Barclays (BCS) is a London-based global bank that provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services. It has a strong presence in the UK retail and commercial banking industries, and has focused on expanding its operations to emerging markets such as India, China and the Middle East. It competes with other worldwide banking institutions and financial services group like Citigroup(C), The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS), Bank of America (BAC), UBS (UBS) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• General Electric (GE) and Barclays (BCS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Warnaco (WRC) to outperform from market perform and Melco Crown (MPEL) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Parker-Hannifin (PH) and Emerson Electric (EMR) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• AMD (AMD) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• Novellus (NVLS) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• OpenTable (OPEN) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Lear (LEA) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Adobe (ADBE) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Fear gripped Wall Street on September 29, 2008, when the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the bailout package. On that day alone, banks borrowed a record $155.8 billion.

The Fed had set up a lending facility called the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) to lend money to banks. As the crisis spread, borrowing increased almost daily. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) lists day-by-day borrowings:

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to outperform from neutral following the company's increased FY11 guidance. The firm has an $85 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Hyatt Hotels (H) to market perform from underperform following the company's Q2 results. The firm raised its target for shares to $44 from $38.
• BB&T upgraded to Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from hold, citing tighter supplies, strong pork prices and improving export demand. The firm has a $19 target on the stock.
• Holly (HOC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Cogent Communications (CCOI) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Catalyst Health (CHSI) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at First Analysis.

I found a rather interesting article on Bloomberg, one discussing the potential of smartphones to replace credit cards. Supposedly, both AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), and perhaps T-Mobile, may work with Discover Financial Services (DFS) and Barclays (BCS) in Atlanta and three other cities to test a system allowing consumers to pay with the "wave of a smartphone." This move would be the largest effort to attempt mobile payments in America and could serve to cut into credit card use.

Crone Consulting, a credit card consultant, noted that such a move could be a "game-changer" as far as credit cards are concerned. Think of how much such a move could cut into the market share for credit cards. According to the article, Visa (V) and MasterCard (MA) handled 82% of U.S. consumer spending a year ago (that is $2.45 trillion). Now imagine that smartphone users have the ability to simply pass their phone over a reader in order to pay for their purchases.

Analyst Upgrades

• Raymond James upgraded Research in Motion (RIMM) to outperform from market perform based on valuation. The firm has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Macquarie upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to outperform from neutral and has a $40 price target on the stock. The firm said recent pressure pumping activity is above their expectations and pricing has firmed.
• Canaccord upgraded Baldor Electric (BEZ) to buy from speculative buy, citing improving business trends and the upcoming mandatory transition to premium efficiency motors. The firm has a $47 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to outperform from market perform.
• Medco Health (MHS) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Repsol (REP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

The financial crisis, employment market and social media explosion have converged, providing a new level of clarity into what is happening in the world around us. Where was ground zero for this financial catastrophe? Well, according to the LinkedIn blog, five companies have shown the most action: Barclays (BCS), Credit Suisse (CS), Citigroup (C), Bank of America (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Interestingly, Goldman Sachs (GS), among the biggest winners now that we're pulling out from the recession, didn't see as much play.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Alliance Data Systems (ADS) to overweight from neutral to reflect potential upside to 2010 estimates. The firm raised its target on shares to $84 from $68.
• JMP Securities upgraded SVB Financial (SIVB) to outperform from market perform and has a $54 target on the stock. The firm believes industry conditions are improving and that the recent TARP repayment is a positive sign regarding credit and liquidity.
• Citigroup upgraded Agrium (AGU) to buy from hold on expectations that 2010 will bring a recovery in fertilizer volumes. The firm raised its target price on shares to $82 from $64.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Barclays (BCS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Tower Bancorp (TOBC) was upgraded to outperform from market.

More than a year after American International Group (AIG) reached the brink of collapse, insurance buyers are still using it to lay off their risk. A survey by Barclays Capital (BCS) find that 80% of commercial buyers use Chartis, the property/casualty unit of AIG.

Since the damage to AIG in 2008 was precipitated by the company's financial products group rather than its insurance operation, the use of Chartis to cover a company's risk isn't a problem, as the division has long been successful for AIG, regardless of the name used.

Congratulations, you're richer than you were last quarter! Has your standard of living changed much, or are you still playing it safe?

According to the Federal Reserve, our country's net worth rose 5% to $53.4 trillion in the third quarter, the second straight quarterly gain for the American wallet. Nonetheless, the result remains well behind the (revised) pre-recession high-water mark of $64.5 trillion. To reach this level, we'd need to see net worth surge 21%.