The markets were reacting favorably all day after Ireland's expected budget approval and after a compromise was reached on taxes here in the United States. At least that was the case before the last hour. Two issues hit today. First was a concern when Nancy Pelosi and others voiced disappointment over an Obama-Republican compromise that extended the Bush-era tax cuts by another two years. Second was an expanded insider trading probe involving more hedge funds and other institutions. That literally took the close-to-triple-digit gains down to flat before the market bounced. A rise was seen in consumer credit when expectations were for a drop.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,359.16 -3.03 (-0.03%)
S&P 500 1,223.75 +0.63 (0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,598.49 +3.57 (0.14%)

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The day before Thanksgiving was a very positive as the caution of Tuesday faded. The skirmish in the Koreas was calmed a bit and jobless claims nearly came in under 400,000 for the prior week. Even the woes of Europe seem to be calming on Ireland's major austerity cuts even if Portugal and England had demonstrations out in the streets. October new home sales was a disappointing 8% drop but consumer confidence is holding up.

Here are today's closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,187.28 +150.91 (1.37%)
S&P 500 1,198.35 +17.62 (1.49%)
Nasdaq 2,543.12 +48.17 (1.93%)

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A slight negative reading from Chicago business activity was at least better than the prior reading. An Ireland bailout came with very mixed fanfare as the help is there, but it weighed heavily on the banks. A large and wide insider trading crackdown is also sweeping across Wall Street and Main Street alike. Still, today felt like a success now because tech gains made for a mixed market at the close.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,178.58 -24.97 (-0.22%)
S&P 500 1,197.84 -1.89 (-0.16%)
Nasdaq 2,532.02 +13.90 (0.55%)

Top 15 Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Gold passed $1,400 and more questions still loom over the long term impact of quantitative easing, or QE2. There is also some dissent in the Fed and oversight officials that seems to be gathering more steam. Employment data confirmed a mild improvement today, but that does not help as the data is pre-election and pre-QE2. There was also a total lack of mergers this Monday and most of the price action was in lower-priced shares.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,406.84 -37.24 (-0.33%)
S&P 500 1,223.25 -2.60 (-0.21%)
Nasdaq 2,580.05 +1.07 (0.04%)

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Analyst Upgrades

• Wunderlich upgraded Granite Construction (GVA) to buy from hold, citing valuation and expected positive catalysts in 2011. The firm has a $29 price target for shares.
• Jefferies upgraded WuXi PharmaTech (WX) to buy from hold following the Q2 report, citing continued strength in China-based lab services growth. The firm has an $18 target on shares.
• BMO Capital upgraded Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to outperform from market perform following capital structure actions. The firm has a $20 price target on the stock.
• Energizer (ENR) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Cephalon (CEPH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Dycom (DY) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Despite another negative housing market reading and despite a Moody's downgrade of Ireland, U.S. stocks managed to hold on to the gains after a poor 261 point loss on Friday. Today's gains were a welcome sign considering that the huge drop on Friday could have set a reversal of fortune after so many days of gains.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,154.43 +56.53 (0.56%)
S&P 500 1,071.25 +6.37 (0.60%)
Nasdaq 2,198.23 +19.18 (0.88%)

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Add this to the pile of investor concerns: Global banks may have a capital deficit of more than $1.5 trillion by the end of 2011, a new study forecasts.

What's more, some of the banks may require state support, so says Independent Credit View, a Swiss rating company that undertook the study.

"Without state aid or debt restructuring these banks will hardly be able to raise capital," Christian Fischer, a partner and bank analyst at ICV told Bloomberg News Tuesday, adding that he sees "massive dilution for existing shareholders."

A late day recovery on word that not all Democrats are automatically for trying to make banks spin-off their derivatives desks entirely helped kick start some of the grossly oversold indexes. The notion that markets were entering extreme oversold levels also helped. Probably some short covering as well, even if the Case-Shiller data shows that housing prices still are falling. The DJIA was down for some time under 9,800 this morning, yet the recovery got stocks back over 10,000 and the markets een were fighting for a positive close in the last five minutes of the trading day.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,043.75 -22.82 (-0.23%)
S&P 500 1,074.03 +0.38 (0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,210.95 -2.60 (-0.12%)

Today was one of the days where the only way to know where it would really end up was to have a crystal ball or time machine with a 4:00 PM destination. The only real data was existing home sales, and the overseas markets offered enough continued weakness and uncertainty that the news flow almost did not even matter. The three major stock indexes all spent at least some time in positive territory despite the woes of the day.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,066.57 -126.82 (-1.24%)
S&P 500 1,073.63 -14.06 (-1.29%)
Nasdaq 2,213.55 -15.49 (-0.69%)

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The day started out in the red, and just sold more into the red from there. The only good news is that stocks did close well off their lows as some investors decided to bargain hunt late in the afternoon ahead of the close, in case a new rescue or aid package is released (or re-released). Gold even came off of new record highs after this morning.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,620.16 -162.79 (-1.51%)
S&P 500 1,135.68 -21.75 (-1.88%)
Nasdaq 2,346.85 -47.51 (-1.98%)

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Next Week's Big Earnings

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded MWI Veterinary Supply (MWIV) to overweight from neutral and raised its target for shares to $50.
• UBS believes Nokia (NOK) is well positioned for smartphone growth. The firm upgraded shares to buy from neutral and has a $19.55 price target.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Cedar Fair (FUN) to outperform from market perform. After the company's merger agreement with Apollo was terminated, the firm thinks the company will be able to refinance its debt, removing an uncertainty.
• Darden (DRI) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• KeyCorp (KEY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bank of Ireland (IRE) was upgraded to hold from sell at RBS.

Analyst Upgrades

• ThinkEquity upgraded Intel (INTC) to buy from hold and has a $25 target on the stock. The firm believes guidance will prove conservative and strong execution, new product cycle, Win7 cycle and corporate PC-Server refresh will drive shares higher.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Holly Energy (HEP) to outperform from market perform after increasing its valuation ranges for small cap pipeline MLPs. The firm raised its valuation range for Holly to $43 to $45.
• SunTrust upgraded Watsco (WSO) to buy from neutral as it believes the carrier joint venture will serve as a long-term catalyst. The firm has a $67 price target on the stock. William Blair upgraded Watsco to outperform from market perform ahead of the company's Q4 results to reflect valuation and improving economic conditions.
• Staples (SPLS) and Office Max (OMX) were upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Kellogg (K) was raised to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Advanced Micro (AMD) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Janney Montgomery upgraded Dreamworks (DWA) to buy from neutral on valuation and believes Dragon will be a major hit. The firm has a $45 target on the stock.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Gildan Activewear (GIL) to market weight from underweight, citing expectations for increased market shares in the U.S. screen print channel. The firm raised its target to $17 from $12.
• P.F. Chang's (PFCB) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• PEPCO Holdings (POM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Arris (ARRS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) to Buy from Neutral but lowered its target to $42 from $45 following the solid Q4 report. The firm expects Dollar Tree's cost containment to continue. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral on valuation as it believes the recent pullback is overdone and the company set achievable FY09 guidance. The firm has a $43 target on the stock.
  
• JP Morgan also upgraded Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation as they find the stock oversold at current levels.
  
• KeyBanc upgraded Nordson (NASDAQ: NDSN) to Hold from Underweight based on valuation, strong balance sheet and cost reductions, and a solid track record of execution.
• Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at HSBC.
  
• Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
  
• Carter's (NYSE: CRI) was upgraded at Goldman to Neutral from Sell.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Shire Plc, Bank of Ireland and Walgreen were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Bernstein downgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Underperform from Market Perform as they believe sales of hyperactivity drug Vyvanse will be lower than expected.
  
• Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS on the slowing economy and commercial property market.
  
• Citigroup downgraded Walgreen (NYSE: WAG) to Sell from Hold as they believe the weaker consumer environment should magnify company-specific challenges and that earnings pressure will continue over the next few quarters.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Raven (NASDAQ: RAVN) Industries was lowered to Sell from Neutral at Piper.
  
• Goldman downgraded Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF.A) to Sell from Neutral.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Noble (NYSE: NE) to Neutral from Overweight.