Analyst Upgrades

• Philip Morris (PM) to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Peet's Coffee (PEET) to neutral from sell at Janney Capital.
• Cephalon (CEPH) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• StoneMor Partners (STON) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Tibco (TIBX) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Apollo Group (APOL) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Consumer Confidence saw a huge drop for March, but that failed to hurt the markets as it was largely expected. Housing prices continued south according to national housing survey data from Case Shiller. International stock markets saw a mixed bag on Tuesday, but U.S. investors continued to sit there, buying stocks. Maybe the real catalyst is the fact that very few companies have formally lowered guidance despite the turmoil.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones: 12,279.01 + 81.13 (0.67%)

S&P500: 1,319.44 +9.25 (0.71%)

Nasdaq: 2,756.89 +26.21 (0.96%)

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) is recently up 3% following its board of directors approving a two-for-one stock split. Overall option implied volatility of 46 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Apollo Group (APOL) is recently down 6% after lowering 2012 guidance. Overall option implied volatility of 45 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

U.S. stock futures are slightly higher this morning, as investors are awaiting data on home prices and consumer confidence. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18 points to 12,132.00 and S&P 500 index futures climbed 1.80 points to 1,304.00. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5 points to 2,300.75.

Negative sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.51%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.30%. Most Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.21%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.40% and China's Shanghai Composite falling 0.87%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.03% and India's Sensex surged 177.66 points.

The calendar quarter winds down this week and quarterly reports are due from Apollo Group (APOL), CarMax (KMX), Global Payments (GPN), Krispy Kreme (KKD), Lennar (LEN) and McCormick (MKC). But analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have high hopes for results from fertilizer and animal feed maker Mosaic (MOS), apparel maker Phillips Van Heusen (PVH) and discount retailer Family Dollar (FDO). So here's a look at what they anticipate from these three companies.

Mosaic

During its fiscal second quarter, Cargill agreed to distribute its stake in Mosaic, and Mosaic also said it would redeem senior notes. Analysts anticipate that the Minnesota-based potash producer will report per-share earnings of $1.07, a jump of 53.3% from the same quarter of last year. Mosaic also is expected to post revenue of $2.4 billion for the three months that ended in February. That's a 35.9% rise from a year earlier.

U.S. stock futures are lower Monday morning. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 39 points to 11,580.00 and S&P 500 index futures fell 6.50 points to 1,261.50. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 7.75 points to 2,265.25.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Friday, with the blue-chip Dow index dropping 22.55 points, or 0.19%.

No major economic data are due to be released today.

Analyst Upgrades

• Google (GOOG) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Nike (NKE) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Apollo Group (APOL) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• JDSU (JDSU) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• NetApp (NTAP) to overweight from equal weight and Verigy (VRGY) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• RSC Holdings (RRR) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Exelon (EXC) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• BMC Software (BMC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Stocks whipped around today on mixed earnings reports and on mixed economic data from inflation to $1.294 trillion of Treasury deficit. There is still a lot of confusion and anger when it comes to the latest round of foreclosure halts and what the implications on all sides are.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,062.48 -32.09 (-0.29%)
S&P 500 1,176.00 +2.19 (0.19%)
Nasdaq 2,467.32 +31.94 (1.31%)

Top Analyst Calls
Next Week's 11 DJIA Stocks Reporting Earnings

Today was a mixed bag that frankly could have gone other way. A higher headline figure on wholesale inflation from PPI and a worse weekly jobless claims figure were matched with a wide trade deficit. To make matters worse, a 30-Year Treasury auction went poorly and suddenly long-bond yields are at the highest levels of a few weeks.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,094.57 -1.51 (-0.01%)
S&P 500 1,173.81 -4.29 (-0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,435.38 -5.85 (-0.24%)

Top Analyst Calls

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Ford (F) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $19.50 from $14.50, citing positive demand trends, sustainable market share gains and strong cash flow.
• BMO Capital upgraded MGM Resorts (MGM) to outperform from market perform with an $18 target, citing stabilizing metrics in Las Vegas.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded TRW Automotive (TRW) to buy from hold, citing better-than-expected production trends, and raised its price target for shares to $52 from $39.
• Dr. Reddy's Labs (RDY) was upgraded to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Pulte Group (PHM) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS and $8.50 price target.
• Vodafone (VOD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Nomura.

Apollo Group (APOL) got hammered during Wednesday's after-hours session. It closed down almost 15% to $42.10. The 52-week low for the stock is $38.39 while the 52-week high is $76.86. As can be seen by the yearly range, the company isn't so popular right now.

The one-year chart is rather lousy, although shares of the education entity, which owns University of Phoenix, have rebounded a little in recent times. That may end up not meaning much, though, considering the recent negative price action.

Analyst Upgrades

• SunTrust upgraded American Express (AXP) to buy from neutral with a $47 price target based on valuation.
• Argus upgraded Verizon (VZ) to buy from hold, with a $39 price target, citing valuation and the company's aggressive 4G LTE network upgrade. However, Bernstein downgraded the stock.
• BMO Capital upgraded Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's cost reduction efforts, and raised its target for shares to $74 from $67.
• Agrium (AGU) was upgraded to sector outperformer from sector performer at CIBC.
• Novatel Wireless (NVTL) was upgraded to hold from sell at Canaccord.
• Essex Property Trust (ESS) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.

The earnings season kicked off last week with better-than-expected results from Alcoa (AA) and Yum! Brands (YUM), while Marriott (MAR) and Pepsico (PEP) met consensus EPS estimates. This week, bellwether companies Intel (INTC), General Electric (GE), Google (GOOG) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) are scheduled to report their third-quarter results, and analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings growth from all of them.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel announced the acquisition of McAfee and joint ventures with General Electric and Nokia (NOK) during its third quarter. Analysts forecast earnings for that period to come to 50 cents per share, which is up 34.0% from the same period of last year. The number one semiconductor maker's revenue for the three months ended in September is expected to total $11.0 billion, or 17.1% more than a year earlier. Looking ahead to the full year, the forecast thus far is for earnings of $1.94 per share (+44.8%) and $43.3 billion in revenue (+23.4%). The per-share earnings topped analysts' expectations in the past four quarters, by as much as a dime per share.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded OpenTable (OPEN) to buy from hold, citing stronger than expected near-term trends and traction for the company's Spotlight offering. Citi upped its price target for shares to $70 from $46.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Werner (WERN) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation, the company's reduction in cost, and its above peer exposure to the pricing cycle.
• Goldman upgraded CarMax (KMX) to neutral from sell based on valuation and higher used car profitability. The firm has a $24 target on the stock.
• Apollo Group (APOL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nokia (NOK) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Zions Bancorp (ZION) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Teva (TEVA) to outperform from perform. The firm expects the company to generate strong 2H10 earnings and thinks the competition created by Novartis's (NVS) Gilenia will be limited.
• Citigroup upgraded Celanese (CE) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's move to add assets in China, as well as possible takeover interest.
• Needham raised Stereotaxis (STXS) to buy from hold as the firm thinks that strong clinical data recently announced by the company could result in faster adoption rates of its robotic surgery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC) given strength in the containerboard market.
• Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Goldman Sachs raised Temple-Inland (TIN) to buy from neutral.
• Barclays upgraded Lloyds Banking (LYG) to equal weight from underweight.