The share price of Bank of New York Mellon (BK), which I first wrote about on April 6, 2009, at a price of $28.16, pulled back during the winter, in healthy correction fashion, after pushing through $30 resistance. I still like the business model at this juncture.

Founded by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of New York, a premier bank and wealth manager, has a stock that's likely to reward patient investors. The bank's 2011 revenue should rise 10% to 15%, then about 8% to 10% in 2012, on higher fees and improving margins. Asset management fees in its equities and fixed income business should record solid increases, on price gains in those markets and due to increased client deposits. New business wins add to the positive mix.

The Bank of New York Mellon (BK) primarily competes with State Street (STT), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C) in the asset servicing business. The asset servicing fee charged by BNY Mellon was volatile from 2007 to 2009. Due to the long-term nature of asset servicing contracts, BNY Mellon is likely to give discounts on servicing fees in the short run to attract more clients. Additionally, with the rise in assets under custody, we expect to see a drop in servicing fees as economies of scale come into play with the asset industry becoming more technology-intensive.

We currently have a Trefis price estimate of $35.72 for The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.'s stock, which is about 12% ahead of the current market price.

The Bank of New York Mellon (BK), which I first wrote about on April 6, 2009, at a price of $28.16, has pushed through $30 resistance, and the business model is obviously still favored in this neck of the woods. Here's why:

Founded by Alexander Hamilton, the Bank of New York, a premier bank and wealth manager, is a good stock to be patient with. BK's 2011 revenue will likely rise 8% to 10%, then about 7% to 9% in 2012, on higher fees and improving margins. Asset management fees in its equities and fixed income business should record solid increases, on price gains in those markets and due to increased client deposits. New business wins add to the positive mix.

To paraphrase Mark Twain "The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated". The world economy has been in shambles for a few years now, and our nation has much work ahead of it. 2010 was an improvement over 2009 and I believe 2011 will show further improvement.

There are lots of ideas running through my mind as I consider where the economy might be heading in 2011. What opportunities lay in front of us waiting to be picked up or passed over? Just five trading days left, and market activity will slow down except among fund managers making adjustments for tax purposes or window dressing. You should examine your tax situation, too.

Analyst Upgrades

• SuperValu (SVU) to buy from hold at Hapoalim.
• Constellation Energy (CEG) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Doral Financial (DRL) to neutral from sell and ABB (ABB) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

Analyst Downgrades

• American Eagle (AEO) to neutral from buy at SunTrust.
• Tenet Healthcare (THC) to market perform from outperform at Wells Fargo.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation following the recent sell-off and strong business trends. The firm has a $115 price target for shares.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to market perform from underperform on valuation after AIB sold its stake in the company. The firm has a $72 price target for shares.
• Jefferies upgraded OGE Energy (OGE) to buy from hold following the announcement that ArcLight will purchase 9.9% of OGE's interest in Enogex for $183M and believes this deal highlights the hidden value associated with Enogex. The firm raised its price target to $51.50 from $43.
• Thomas & Betts (TNB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Bayer (BAYRY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Barrick Gold (ABX) to buy from hold and reiterates a buy rating on Newmont Mining (NEM) after upping its 2011 gold forecast to $1,450 per ounce and 2012 forecast to $1,600 per ounce. The firm upped its target for Barrick shares to $53 from $45, for Newmont shares to $74 from $72, and on hold-rated Goldcorp (GG) and Kinross Gold (KGC) to $40 and $20, respectively.
• Citigroup upgraded General Dynamics (GD) to hold from sell following the recent pullback in shares. The firm keeps a $67 price target for the stock.
• UBS upgraded Public Service (PEG) to buy from neutral and has a $34 price target on the stock. The firm cites the company's solid balance sheet, earnings profile, and valuation for the upgrade.
• News Corp. (NWS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Soleil.
• AK Steel (AKS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform.
• Progress Energy (PGN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• PNC Financial (PNC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) led off the coming parade of earnings from the big banks when it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, though its revenue fell short of estimates.

Plenty more earnings from the financial sector are due out this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate fourth-quarter earnings growth from American Express Co. (AXP), Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (HCBK), SLM Corp. (SLM) and US Bancorp (USB).

The extended Buy opportunity continues at Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), and I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on April 6, 2009 at a price of $28.16.

Founded by Alexander Hamilton, The Bank of New York provides services that enable institutions and individuals to move and manage their financial assets in more than 100 markets globally. The core of BK's business -- custodial services -- is doing just fine, with $16 trillion in assets under custody.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) reported its third consecutive quarterly profit and will increase capacity.
• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares soared after it reported very strong Q3 numbers.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) reported stellar Q4 results, driven by the popularity of Macs and iPhones.
• BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) Q3 earnings soared, due in part to a tax benefit, and assets managed grew.
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) revenue surged sequentially but note the would be flat going forward.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) beat Q3 earnings expectations and shares rose though revenue slumped.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) narrowed its net loss in Q2 but not as much as expected.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) posted better-than-expected Q3 results on demand for iPhones and Macs.
• Intuitive Surgical Inc. (NASDAQ: ISRG) reported earnings and revenue that topped expectations.
• JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS) shares surged after it reported record results for Q2.
• Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) lower Q4 results still topped earnings estimates, but shares fell.
• VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) unimpressive Q2 results still managed to beat analysts' low expectations.
• Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) Q2 profit was flat year over year and revenue and cash flow declined.

Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK - option chain) stock is lower today after the company reported a second-quarter profit this morning of $176 million, or 15 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, BK earned 23 cents per share, missing analysts' estimates of 53 cents per share. BK also announced its quarterly dividend of 0.09 per share down 62% from the previous 0.24. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BK.

This morning, BK opened at $27.55. So far today the stock has hit a low of $26.48 and a high of $27.67. As of 11:40, BK is trading at $26.89, down $2.22 (-7.6%). The chart for BK looks bullish and S&P gives BK a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Market Weight due to accelerating manufacturing cost declines, potential NAND flash sourcing upside at Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) and Samsung and an increase in 2H09 demand.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) to Perform from Underperform to reflect potential benefits from the stimulus package and channel checks that indicated IT budgets are stabilizing. The firm raised its target price on shares to $54 from $40.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Outperform from Sector Perform following positive Tarceva survey results and cites valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  
• Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• Duncan Energy Partners (NASDAQ: DEP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) has become a minority equity investor in International Derivatives Clearing Group (IDCG), the derivatives clearing unit that's a subsidiary of Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor was the size of the stake -- but it's definitely a symbiotic pact. IDCG will use securities servicing products provided by the bank, and Bank of New York Mellon's chief executive of broker-dealer services, Art Certosimo, will join IDCG's board.

"This strategic partnership with Nasdaq OMX provides our buy side and sell side clients with a flexible platform that meets their derivatives trading, clearing and servicing needs," stated Bank of New York Mellon President Gerald Hassell. Bob Greifeld, CEO of Nasdaq OMX, added that the partnership "lends support to President Obama's proposed reforms of the [over-the-counter] derivatives market."

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this deal is hugely important -- today is the last stand for the bears.

Today is make or break for the short-sellers, the SKFers, the bears on banks. I cannot stress how important the Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) deal is. The syndicate desk placed this stock with great hands, restricting flippers to one-fifth of their orders and giving mutual funds only about a quarter of what they wanted. Plus, given the stealth selling that BAC did ahead of this, the company seems done for now -- maybe forever -- although it can't give back TARP funds. However, it should be able to do bond financing that will put it in a good position to do so. And with the velocity of sales picking up at the same time as the new housing starts go down -- stunning figures there -- it is possible that we could see a reversal of some of Bank of America's soured loans while we see what happens with a big lender begins to get a major share of what can be a lucrative mortgage market. We might look back at BAC at $10 and say, "That was our last good chance to buy it," as there are many, many analysts set to reiterate their buys this morning.