The market was flat to weak this morning before key data and then the reading that consumer confidence fell all the way down to 46.0 from 56.5 in January, well under the 55.0 estimate from Bloomberg, added insult to injury. We saw profit taking take hold after that, and any early gains were taken away with the market in the red most of the day.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,282.41 -100.97 (-0.97%)
S&P 500 1,094.60 -13.41 (-1.21%)
Nasdaq 2,213.44 -28.59 (-1.28%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades
Top Stock Market Rumors

This was one of those days where many of the same concerns over sovereign debt risk and international issues were there, but the market rallied as the fears were not broadcast at every media report. Commodities saw large gains as fears about Greece were not as predominant.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,267.83 +168.69 (1.67%)
S&P 500 1,094.86 +19.35 (1.80%)
Nasdaq 2,214.19 +30.66 (1.40%)

Top Day Trader Alerts
Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

When the largest publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States speaks, investors listen.

Simon Properties Group (NYSE: SPG) announced in January that it would be paying dividends in stock rather than cash for the current quarter and, presumably, in future quarters. The company's board of directors voted a 90-cent quarterly dividend, with 90% to be paid in stock and the remainder to be paid in cash.

REITs have long been a favorite for dividend savvy investors looking for a tax-advantaged return from the companies in which they invest. The move by Simon Property has stirred unease in the REIT marketplace in general, and for Simon in particular.

Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) shares are trading slightly lower this morning on news that vacancy rates rose as rents fell at U.S. malls during the fourth quarter due to concerns about consumer spending and a potential slowdown in the national economy, according to a report by the research firm Reis. Vacancy rates rose 0.3 percentage points to 5.8 percent and rent fell 0.4 percent to $40.37 per square foot in the fourth quarter from the third quarter. 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 SPG.

After hitting a one-year high of $123.96 in February, the stock hit a one-year low of $75.49 on Wednesday. This morning, SPG opened at $81.15. So far today the stock has hit a low of $79.52 and a high of $81.73. As of 10:45, SPG is trading at $81.29, down 45 cents (-0.6%). The chart for SPG looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a very positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider an April bear-call credit spread above the $105 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 6.4% return in 3 months as long as SPG is below $105 at April expiration. Simon Property would have to rise by more than 28% before we would start to lose money.

SPG hasn't been above $105 since October and has shown resistance around $82 recently. This trade could be risky if the economy turns around quickly, but with everything we've seen recently, that doesn't look like too big of a risk.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in SPG.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Airtran Holdings Inc (NYSE: AAI), UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA) and the REIT sector were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Calyon downgraded shares of Airtran Holdings to Neutral from Add, citing concerns with AAI's yield trends.
• The firm also downgraded shares of UAL Corp to Add from Buy based on higher fuel prices and slightly weaker-than-expected RASM increases.
• Stifel downgraded the REIT Sector citing rising interest rates and mutual fund outflows, among other reasons. Companies that include Cedar Shopping Centers Inc (NYSE: CDR), Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE: KIM), Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE: KRG), Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE: RPT), Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE: SPG) and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc (NYSE: SKT) were downgraded to Hold from Buy.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Morgan Joseph downgraded shares of Penn National Gaming Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) to Hold from Buy on valuation.
• CBOT Holdings Inc (NYSE: BOT) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
• JP Morgan downgraded shares of Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) to Underweight from Neutral, as the firm believes the company's growth will be impacted by Blockbuster Inc's (NYSE: BBI) Total Access offer.

Investors were right -- well, kind of. In the fight to buy The Mills Corp. (NYSE:MLS), a mall operator, there was an improved bid from Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).

However, investors guessed wrong on the pricing. The Simon bid was $25.25. As a result, the stock price of Mills fell $1.26 to $25.44 today.

In all, Mills has 38 malls. But the company has had difficulties over the years and is looking at an SEC probe.

Despite all this, Mills is a good fit for Simon, which has interests in 172 regional malls, 71 community shopping centers and 30 premium outlet centers. With a market cap of $25 billion, the $1.64 billion purchase price is not a big deal. Simon has partnered with a hedge fund, Farallon Capital Management, which is the biggest shareholder in Mills.

Typically, hedge funds cash-out of these types of investments. However, in this case Farallon is keeping its stake. In other words, the firm definitely sees some long-term value potential.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.