US unemployment claims dropped to their lowest level since October 2008, with 385,000 new claims. The number of continuing claims also fell by 80,000. The headline consumer inflation index rose 0.5%, as expected, while core inflation rose 0.2%, a bit more than the 0.1% that had been forecast. Prices for WTI crude oil rose above $100/barrel again, up more than $3/barrel on fears of more unrest in Bahrain, which is seen by many as a proxy struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Gold prices also rose today, up about $8/ounce to $1,404.00.

Here are the numbers for late afternoon trading today:

Dow Jones 11,774.59 +161.29 (1.39%)
S&P 500 1,273.72 +16.84 (1.34%)
Nasdaq 2,636.05 +19.23 (0.73%)

While other earnings may have disappointed last week, the news was good for oil giant ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP). In what some took as a good sign for big oil, the Houston-based company reported that third quarter net income surged 41% year over year to $3.39 per share, and that revenue also surged 52% to $70 billion. We'll see whether the good news extends to other petroleum giants scheduled to report quarterly results this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for BP (NYSE: BP) profits to have grown 43.2% in the most recent quarter to $2.34 per share on revenue of $109.7 billion, and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) to post earnings up 39.4% to $3.25 per share on revenue of $86.8 billion. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) likewise are expected to report higher net income of $2.33 per share (sales of $23.4 billion), $2.40 per share (sales of $131.4 billion), and $2.65 per share, respectively. Even Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is expected to post earnings slightly higher to $1.46 per share (sales of $36.4 billion), despite the effects of Hurricane Ike. Among these companies, only BP and Valero beat earnings expectations in the previous quarter. Not surprisingly, analysts on average recommend buying all except Valero, and shares of all of these companies have recently hit 52-week lows.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vonage Holdings Corp (VG), General Maritime Corp (GMR), Newmont Mining Corp (NEM) and Edison International (EIX) were some of today's notable downgrades:

• Citigroup cut Vonage Holdings Corp (NYSE: VG) to Sell from Hold on patent litigation concerns as the firm believes the risk to profitability has increased.

• General Maritime Corp (NYSE: GMR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold on valuation with a $23 target.

• Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.

• Lehman downgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Equal-Weight from Overweight on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Deutsche Bank cut Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLV) to Sell from Hold. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey downgraded shares of SafeNet, Inc (SFNT) based on the Vector acquisition.

• CIBC downgraded Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE: AEM) to Sector Perform from Outperform on valuation as the firm expects an upcoming downward correction due to lower zinc prices.

• Ryan Beck cut Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ: FULT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a $16 target; SunTrust Robinson downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy due to the early payment defaults.

• Matrix cut Christopher & Banks Corp (NYSE: CBK) to Sell from Hold on valuation.

• Golden Star Resources Ltd (AMEX: GSS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.

• UBS cut Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Buy with a $47 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).