Sprint Nextel (S) reported this morning that it paid off an outstanding loan worth $1 billion on its $4.5 billion revolving credit facility. As a result, the wireless company no longer has an outstanding balance on its revolving credit facility. At the end of the third quarter, Sprint had $5.9 billion on hand in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, plus $1.6 billion in borrowing capacity under its revolving bank credit facility.

In other Sprint news this morning, Sprint shares were upped from "neutral" to "outperform" at Credit Suisse. Analyst Jonathan Chaplin set his price target at $6, asserting that the company will benefit from cost cutting, stronger sales of prepaid service, and improved customer retention trends. Sprint's stock settled Friday at $3.10, so Chaplin's price target implies expected upside of nearly 94%.

Traders initially seemed thrilled with Wednesday's third-quarter earnings report from Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), but the stock then backpedaled into the red. The retailer banked a quarterly profit of $7.8 million, or 28 cents per share, up from its year-ago net income of $5.5 million, or 20 cents per share. Revenue for the period surged 14% to $140.5 million. The results comfortably outpaced analysts' consensus estimates, which called for a profit of 24 cents per share on $137.1 million in revenue.

Looking ahead, Lumber Liquidators is forecasting full-year revenue of $535 million to $543 million, up from its previous guidance of $528 million to $538 million. Earnings for fiscal 2009 are expected to range between 90 cents and 95 cents per share, compared to the retailer's previous forecast of 85 cents to 91 cents per share. Wall Street, on average, is expecting full-year earnings of 90 cents per share on $537.1 million.

In his 'Master Trading' portfolio, Bernie Schaeffer uses fundamental, technical and sentiment metrics to select trades. Here's a trio of ideas from Schaeffer's Investment Research.

"I have initiated a long position in Office Depot (NYSE: ODP). Price action for ODP has been strong, with the equity gaining more than 108% year-to-date.

"Recently, the equity pulled back to its 20-day moving average. There is heavy out-of-the-money put open interest for ODP. An unwinding of the short positions related to this open interest could provide a tailwind for the stock.

Wall Street is cheering the latest earnings report from Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST), with the shares adding more than 3% within the first hour of trading. This morning, as Tom Johansmeyer reported, the wholesale club reported a 6% slide in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, but the results nevertheless exceeded analysts' expectations.

In the wake of COST's report, analyst Brian Sozzi of Wall Street Strategies reiterated his Buy rating and $66 price target on the equity. "In our view, 4Q09 will go a long way in supporting a higher valuation for Costco," wrote Sozzi in a research note this morning. "The company has managed to control costs, drive traffic to its warehouses consistently throughout the economic downturn, paid $300 million in annual dividends in FY09 (payout ratio of 26.0% second to only Wal-Mart in the sector), and has catalysts on the horizon to showcase earnings power above currently modeled for consensus EPS."

Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) announced Monday morning that it will sell up to $775 million (WSJ subscription required) of seven-year notes in order to fund its previously reported tender offer for up to $759.3 million in debt. The struggling homebuilder also reported that $877 million of the notes were tendered by the early deadline on Friday. As a result, Hovnanian reduced the maximum amount of unsecured notes it will buy from $130 million to $100 million.

Last week, a Wall Street Journal article noted that Hovnanian is "hobbled" by its debt, even as the rest of the industry is ready to buy up land at a bargain. As of July 31, Hovnanian's net debt accounted for 109% of total capital, compared to an average of 26% for the dozen major homebuilders tracked by research firm Zelman & Associates.

Bright and early this morning, Goldman Sachs downgraded gaming guru Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) from Conviction Buy to Buy. In a note to clients, the brokerage firm explained that it sees greater relative potential for near-term price appreciation in other stocks. Goldman maintains a six-month price target of $16 on ATVI, implying expected upside of more than 29% from the shares' closing price on Wednesday.

ATVI is a ripe target for downgrades, if only because analysts are so lopsidedly optimistic toward the "Guitar Hero" parent. Zacks reports that the equity has attracted no fewer than 18 Strong Buy recommendations, plus two Buys -- with not a single Hold, Sell, or Strong Sell to be found.

Late Thursday, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) announced a 10% increase to its cash dividend. The fast-food firm will now shell out 55 cents per share each quarter, bringing its total quarterly dividend payout to roughly $600 million. The increase will cost McDonald's about $220 million per year. This most recent dividend hike continues a long-term trend for Mickey D's, which has raised its quarterly payout every year since 1976.

In other MCD news, Bernstein initiated coverage of the stock with an "outperform" rating. The brokerage firm likes McDonald's because of its broad global footprint, with Bernstein noting that restaurants more heavily dependent on the sluggish U.S. market could struggle.

CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high Tuesday after topping analysts' second-quarter earnings expectations. The used-car retailer reported a quarterly profit of $103 million, or 46 cents per share, while net sales jumped 13% to $2.1 billion. By contrast, analysts were expecting net income of just 18 cents per share on $1.77 billion in revenue.

"The government's CARS, or 'cash for clunkers,' program resulted in a spike in traffic in late July and August," explained CEO Tom Folliard. Same-store used-unit sales for the quarter climbed 8%, bouncing back from a 17% drop in the first quarter.

Late Wednesday, Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) scored a ratings upgrade from Standard & Poor's. The ratings agency raised Blockbuster's corporate credit rating from "CCC" to "B-" with a stable outlook. S&P commented, "The stable outlook reflects our belief that liquidity will remain adequate over the near term despite continued operational weakness and moderate deterioration of the company's credit protection metrics."

S&P's new rating is still six notches into junk territory, but the upgrade is nevertheless a vote of confidence in Blockbuster's refinancing efforts. On Monday, the video rental firm announced plans to offer up to $340 million in senior secured notes due 2014, and yesterday, Blockbuster said it would close up to 40% of its brick-and-mortar stores during the next two years.

Shares of E*Trade Financial (NASDAQ: ETFC) caught a boost this morning on reports that Citadel Investment Group LLC, the online broker's largest stock and bond holder, has scrapped its plan to unload 120 million shares over the next three months. The size of the planned sale represented about 10% of the hedge fund's investment in ETFC.

"Citadel believes that the termination of the plan at this time is in the best interests of E*Trade and all of its stakeholders," said the firm in a statement. The massive sale, first announced on Aug. 11, was due to commence today, but Citadel says that no shares have been sold under the plan.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has some questions for Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) regarding trial data for its leukemia drug, Clolar. Because Genzyme didn't follow the FDA's recommendations in conducting its main study of Clolar, the regulatory agency is reluctant to make a decision on the basis of the trial results.

In 2007, FDA staff advised Genzyme to conduct a randomized study in which participants receiving Clolar would be compared against a set of patients not receiving the drug. However, the drug company's primary tests did not include a control group; instead, the treatment was tested only on elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Isle of Capri Casinos (NASDAQ: ISLE) is getting hammered today in the wake of its latest earnings report. This morning, the company reported that it swung to a fiscal first-quarter profit of $900,000, or 3 cents per share, while revenue for the period slipped 6.3% to $259.9 million. The results were far worse than expected, with consensus estimates on Wall Street predicting a profit of 13 cents per share on $273 million in revenue.

On the cost-cutting front, ISLE's previously planned departure from the international market is on pace, reported Chairman and CEO James B. Perry. "... we remain on track to exit our international operations in the near term, as we will exit the Bahamas no later than October 31, and expect to exit our remaining UK operations by the end of the calendar year."

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) reported this morning that one of its subsidiaries has filed an application to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The move was widely expected, as LVS CEO Sheldon Adelson said in July that the casino firm was considering an initial public offering (IPO) or sale of its Macau assets.

"No decisions have been made regarding the timing or terms of any such offering or whether the subsidiary will ultimately proceed with such a transaction," reported LVS in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Shares of TASER International (NASDAQ: TASR) are trading lower today as investors react to the company's second-quarter earnings report. The stun-gun issue reported a narrowed quarterly loss of $723,403, or a penny per share, compared to its year-ago loss of 3 cents per share.

Revenue for the period increased 3.5% to $21.8 million, though gross margin fell to 62.9% from 64.5%. Research and development expenses jumped 45% during the quarter as TASER poured more cash into new products, including its recently launched X3 device.

Despite an increase in the number of bad loans, Hudson City Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: HCBK) managed to exceed analysts' second-quarter earnings estimates. The New Jersey-based bank raked in a quarterly profit of $127.9 million, or 26 cents per share, up 16% from the year-ago period. The results topped Wall Street's consensus estimate for a profit of 24 cents per share.

However, HCBK's loan-loss provision surged during the quarter to $32.5 million, compared to $20 million during the first quarter. Net charge-offs rose to $9.6 million, more than doubling. Nonperforming loans escalated to $430.9 million (1.40% of total loans), up from $320.1 million (1.06% of total loans) at the end of the first quarter.