Today was a surprise considering the news. There was not great economic news to hang on, particularly considering that the 10.2% unemployment was the worst reading since 1983. As the market did not crater and as it went positive throughout the day, it almost felt as though the 10.2% of the officially unemployed don't matter to the economy as everyone keeps noting the 'lagging indicator' effect. Still, stocks held their own for most of the day and where the real direction for the end of the day bells felt uncertain until the end of the day.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,023.19 +17.23 (0.17%)
S&P 500 1,069.30 +2.67 (0.25%)
Nasdaq 2,112.44 +7.12 (0.34%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Stock Rumors

An article in Barron's suggests that Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is on the verge of regaining some of its former mojo. The company recently offered a solid outlook for the remainder of the year, and it could garner new business after debuting two smartphones featuring Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system -- namely, the Droid and the Cliq.

The author cites analyst Ed Snyder of Charter Equity Research, who believes Motorola is on the cusp of "an extended upswing in handsets ... over the next several quarters." Snyder believes that the firm's ailing handset division could achieve break-even results as soon as the second quarter of 2010.

Ever since Apple Computer (NASDAQ: AAPL) introduced the iPhone to the world, other cell phone companies have been working hard to compete. Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is hoping to find success with the Motorola Droid, which will come with a $199 price tag.

The phone will be running on Google's Android operating system, and could be a serious contender against the iPhone, and while most people knew this phone was coming, the real news is that it will start to be sold next week at Verizon's across the nation.

Analyst upgrades:

• Target (NYSE: TGT) was upgraded two ratings to Buy from Sell at Citigroup, and it raised its price estimate on shares to $61 from $44. The firm sees significant earnings upside as the company's same-store sales improve and finds the valuation attractive at current levels.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital citing valuation, new product launches, and expectations that the Mobile Devices division will be profitable. The price target is $11.
• AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup as it believes the company's Q3 results were solid and the China steel market is stabilizing. The firm raised its target to $21 from $17.
• Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Market Perform from Underperform. The firm thinks that earnings expectations for the company have now reached more reasonable levels, limiting risk.
• FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital ahead of the company's Q3 results due to valuation as it views the risk/reward on shares compelling. The firm raised its price target to $25 from $19.
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded at Goldman to Buy from Neutral, citing 2H10 margin expansion and analog share gains. Target was raised to $29 from $27.
• Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ: BBSI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital as the firm thinks the company will benefit from a labor market recovery next year. Roth notes that the stock's valuation has lagged behind most of its peers in recent months and it set an $18 target.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's better than expected Q3 results and improved volume outlook. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $100 from $72.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Overweight from Market Weight and raised its target to $11 from $7 and said they expect Motorola to benefit from several upcoming catalysts that include new Android-based smartphone products and they believe the handset division could break even by year end of 2010.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Regal Entertainment (NYSE: RGC) and Cinemark (NYSE: CNK) to Buy from Neutral on expectations both companies will benefit from a strong box office in Q4. The firm has a $14 price target on Regal shares and a $13.50 target on Cinemark shares.
• Marshall & llsley (NYSE: MI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
• F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• William Blair upgraded Lindsay Corporation (NYSE: LNN) to Outperform from Market Perform.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the spike in stock prices warrants no buying until prices go lower.

I read a scary book this weekend: the S&P chart book. It was frightening because there weren't more than a handful charts that aren't overextended, and many stocks have reached levels that I didn't like when their companies were doing well. Chart after chart in every business, but especially retail and industrial, have moved up so much that you have to feel like a chump to come in at these levels.

There are almost no stocks with growth prospects that have accidentally high yields anymore. Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) (Cramer's Take) and Paychex (NASDAQ: PAYX) (Cramer's Take) were the only two that I saw that seemed remotely appealing, and maybe Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) (Cramer's Take).

Analyst upgrades:

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Computer Sciences (NYSE: CSC) and Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) to Buy from Hold on better demand trends as it believes overall enterprise IT spending is turning more positive. The firm raised its target on Computer Sciences to $62 from $54 and on Cognizant to $45 from $42.
• Citigroup upgraded E-Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Buy from Hold as it believes loan less trends have improved and the company could potentially be acquired. Citi raised its target on shares to $2.30 from $1.50.
• Auriga upgraded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) to Buy from Hold as it believes consensus expectations for 2010 are too low, but admits the company's Q1 results could be fairly weak. Auriga believes Microsoft is coming up to its "most powerful product cycle in many years" and raised its price target on shares to $30 from $24.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Fidelity Southern (NASDAQ: LION) was upgraded to Neutral from Reduce at SunTrust.
• Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) has seen more turmoil in the past 36 months than most any other maker of wireless telephones. The company, which saw a huge boon to its business in 2004 and 2005 with the RAZR handset, saw the competition trump it in just about every way since 2006, and it really has not had a standout product in that time. It hopes a new handset (of more soon to come) will alleviate that problem.

And, it's trusting Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system to help it regain some semblance of wireless mojo. The new Motorola Cliq will run the latest and greatest version of the Android operating system, but will also contain Motorola's "motoblur" software that will attempt to combine social networking, e-mail, instant messaging, and more into every contact in the phone in one central place -- very similar to what Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) has done with the Pre device released in June.

Analyst upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Neutral after the close Monday. The firm believes Motorola's devices segment will approach breakeven in 2010 while operating margins in nonhandset segments will expand, and that a break-up story will reemerge. Credit Suisse raised its target on shares to $9.50 from $7.
• UBS upgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Buy from Neutral. The firm cites BHP's leverage to iron ore, coking coal, copper, and oil for its upgrade after raising its commodity price forecasts.
• Merriman upgraded Walter Energy (NYSE: WLT) to Buy from Neutral to reflect higher met coal price forecasts. The firm believes Chinese demand is strong and has a target range of $66-$72 on the stock.
• Intersil (NASDAQ: ISIL) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Coach (NYSE: COH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

Bright and early Tuesday morning, Credit Suisse issued upgrades to Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM), lifting both of them from Neutral to Outperform. The brokerage cited a recovery at MOT's mobile-phone division along with growing demand for RIMM's BlackBerry as reasons for the upgrades. In addition, Credit Suisse elevated the price targets on both, upping MOT to $9.50 from $7 and RIMM to $95 from $76.

Credit Suisse did not stop there, issuing downgrades to MOT and RIMM competitors QUALCOMM (NASDAQ: QCOM) and Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) from Outperform to Neutral.

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

• Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) said its profit fell due to higher expenses and warned the trend may continue.
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) topped Q2 earnings expectations, which sent shares higher.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) lower Q2 earnings topped expectations, but revenue was also down.
• DreamWorks Animation Inc. (NYSE: DWA) posted flat Q2 earnings as it waits for the next big DVD release.
• First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) posted a better-than-expected profit but guidance sent shares lower.
• Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) Q3 revenue missed estimates and it lowered its outlook.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Keegan upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Market Perform due to the increased visibility of Android-based launches, as well as the stock's valuation.
• OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Citigroup, which cited the company's stabilizing sales trend, accelerating share gains, and valuation.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT) to Buy from Hold on valuation.
• Cancaccord upgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Buy from Hold citing the turnaround in the aluminum business and its exposure to copper.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) to Market Perform from Underperform.
• BT Group (NYSE: BT) was upgraded to Neutral from Reduce by Nomura.
• Societe Generale raised L'Oreal (OTC: LRLCY) to Buy from Sell.
• Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Sandler O'Neill.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Sunoco Logistics (NYSE: SXL) to Buy from Hold on valuation and raised its target on shares to $60 from $56.50. The firm sees better value in Sunoco Logistics than Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP), which it downgraded to Hold.
  
• BofA/Merrill believes Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) offers the most potential upside in the larget cap defense sector. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral and has a $62 target on the stock.
  
• Roth Capital upgraded Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) to Buy from Hold based on seasonality, multiple product cycles, and valuation. Roth's target remains $15.
• Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Societe Generale.
  
• EnerNOC (NASDAQ: ENOC) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
  
• American Express (NYSE: AXP) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to Outperform from Neutral based on field research that indicates improving traffic trends and visibility from cost savings initiatives.
• FBR Capital upgraded E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Outperform from Underperform citing an attractive risk/reward following the company's capital raise and debt exchange commencement. The firm believes the worst is behind the company and has a $2 target on the stock.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Perform on expectations demand trends will improve, leading to more normalized profitability.
• Estee Lauder (NYSE: EL) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says tech's a tough sector, even if you pick the winners.

Nortel's a reminder that owning tech can be such an incredible losing proposition. For much of the 1990s it was a given that Nortel was going to be the biggest competitor if not the destroyer of Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) (Cramer's Take), Motorola (NYSE: MOT) (Cramer's Take) and certainly of Lucent and Alcatel. It seemed to have the inside track on everything that would make the Internet better and faster and more compelling. It was the pin-up for the hottest in communications tech and you had to be long it at all times.

But Nortel became the poster boy for something else in the early 2000s, the sign that I keep on my PC -- "Accounting irregularities equals sell." While Nortel's business, along with all of the network and dot-com-related businesses crashed badly in the wake of Net crash, Nortel was never able to get back in the game because of some accounting irregularities so broad that it brought down all of the executives who ran the company.