Two of the three major indexes opened higher on a solid earnings report from General Electric Company (GE), although a quarterly loss from Bank of America Corporation (BAC) and weak earnings from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) kept a lid on the rise. Oil prices have continued to decline today, trading below $89.50. Gold prices, too, have posted a second-day of falling prices, though today's drop is modest compared with yesterday's dive. In the currency markets, the euro has gained against the dollar for a second day in a row.

Here are the unofficial closing bell numbers for today:

Dow Jones: 11,871.84 +49.04 (0.41%)
S&P 500: 1,283.35 +3.09 (0.24%)
Nasdaq: 2,689.54 -14.75 (-0.55%)

Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Vivus (VVUS) to overweight from neutral.
• Citigroup upgraded Corn Products (CPO) to buy from hold.
• Maxim Integrated (MXIM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Cardinal Health (CAH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Citigroup upgraded Monster Worldwide (MWW) and EchoStar (SATS) to buy from hold, as well as Las Vegas Sands (LVS) to buy from sell.
• BMO Capital upgraded Potash (POT) and Barrick Gold (ABX) to outperform from market perform.

There was a blizzard of economic news today, but the only thing that really counted was the release of the notes from the The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee. The governors decided to keep rates near zero but do nothing beyond that to ease what is clearly a slowing economy. "Employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. Housing starts are at a depressed level. Bank lending has continued to contract, but at a reduced rate in recent months."

Wall St. temporarily viewed this as news the Fed would ride to the rescue if the economy contracts. The markets traded up right after the 2:15pm announcement but sold off for the balance of the day. The financial world's faith in the Fed's future actions only lasted an hour. The markets ended nearly flat for the day.

Today's unofficial closing numbers:

Dow Jones 10,761.03 +7.41 (0.07%)
S&P 500 1,139.78 -2.93 (-0.26%)
Nasdaq 2,349.35 -6.48 (-0.28%)

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.

Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA), which soared over 10% in Monday morning trading, has set a new 52-week high of $6.75. Over the past month, Arena signed a licensing deal for its potential weight-loss drug, lorcaserin, with Japan's Eisai; released study results for the drug; and got a boost from a decision by a Food and Drug Administration panel on rival's Vivus (VVUS) drug. Arena's shares have more than doubled during that time.

The Eisai licensing deal is potentially worth about $1.3 billion. Meanwhile, the study results Arena released showed lorcaserin helped nearly half the patients lose 5% of their weight and improved their chances of keeping it off. Arena's drug did that while exhibiting a safer safety profile than either of its competitors' treatments: Vivus's Qnexa and Orexigen's (OREX) Contrave.

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%)

Top Stock Analyst Calls

Today we saw action fueled by earnings from banks and weakening consumer sentiment, but this also comes after a barely-down day and after an 800 point run in the last two weeks on the DJIA. Banks were soft on regulatory fears as well outlining hurdles ahead.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow 10,097.90 -261.41 (-2.52%)
S&P 500 1,064.88 -31.60 (-2.88%)
Nasdaq 2,179.05 -70.03 (-3.11%)

Next Week's DJIA earnings
Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

On Thursday afternoon after the close of the New York York Stock Exchange, a FDA panel voted 10 to 6 against recommending Vivus'(VVUS) weight loss drug Qnexa for approval. Apparently there was concern that the data supporting Qnexa wasn't strong enough for a drug that could be used by millions for an indefinite time period.

The FDA does not have to act in accordance with the panel's recommendation, although the agency rarely fails to do so. Chief Executive Leland Wilson said the panel vote is "a recommendation and not a final step in the drug-approval process," and that his company would work with the FDA "to address the labeling and safety questions raised during today's proceedings." A final decision is expected in October.

The data that the company presented to the FDA was based on one year, but a company spokesperson said that two-year data will be available by September, so there is definitely still hope for this drug.

"I don't think that Qnexa is dead, but it has to be heavily discounted [from the stock price] until we hear from the FDA," said Rodman & Renshaw analyst Elemer Piros.

According to Lazard analyst William Tanner, "Should Vivus be required to conduct a new trial to generate additional safety data for its low and mid doses, final approval and launch could be delayed by as much as two years."

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to Outperform from Perform following the company's $550M settlement with the SEC. Opco has a $213 price target for Goldman shares. BofA/Merrill upgraded Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral and raised its price target to $182 from $160.
• Wells Fargo upgraded JP Morgan (JPM) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's Q2 results citing valuation and lower credit costs. The firm keeps a valuation range for shares of $48-$51.
• Goldman upgraded Murphy Oil (MUR) to Buy from Neutral and has a $61 price target on the stock. The firm cites Murphy's Eagle Ford growth and valuation for the upgrade.
• Precision Cast (PCP) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Pride International (PDE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• BHP Billiton (BHP) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.

Pharmaceutical company Vivus (VVUS) has lost more than half of its value in pre-market trading Friday. Unfortunately for VVUS, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected the company's Qnexa weight-loss drug late Thursday -- citing a lack of long-term safety data.

The news triggered a glut of downgrades and target price cuts, including downgrades from Brean Murray, Needham, JP Morgan, and Jefferies.

The drop for VVUS is understandable when considering that Qnexa is the company's main drug. There is a slight (ever-so-slight) glimmer of hope for VVUS, as the FDA is not obliged to follow the recommendations of its panels. Of course, the agency usually does follow the recommendations of its panels.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to Buy from Neutral based on positive feedback on the Chatter product and increasing confidence the company can beat FY11 guidance. The firm raised its price target to $111 from $90.
• Leerink upgraded Vivus (VVUS) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes Qnexa issues raised by the FDA are labeling and marketing issues, and not approval issues. The firm expects a positive panel vote for Qnexa.
• Goldman upgraded AK Steel (AKS) to Buy from Netural citing lower iron ore prices. The firm has a $17 price target on the stock.
• Kinder Morgan Energy (KMP) was upgraded to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Shire (SHPGY) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian National (CNI) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Raymond James.

BP's stock price (BP) recently declined $6.11 to $36.81 in pre-open trading. The April 20th Gulf of Mexico explosion that led to a deepwater rig sinking and the spilling of oil is operated by Transocean (RIG) in a field 65% owned by BP with minority partners Anadarko Petroleum (APC) and Mitsui. Crude oil futures are recently down 2.33% to $72.25 according to Bloomberg. BP overall option implied volatility of 46 is above its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, suggesting larger near term price movement.

Stocks with implied volatility above 30-day mean; Vivus (VVUS), Rambus (RMBS), ATP Oil & Gas (ATPG) according to IVolatility.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Morgan Joseph upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from hold ahead of Tuesday's Q3 report. The firm, which has a $100 price target on the stock, expects LED demand to drive revenue growth as both China and the U.S. are increasingly strong.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from neutral on expectations the company will benefit from the migration of software to SaaS deployments. The firm upped its target price for shares to $94 from $67.
• Barrington upgraded Henry Schein (HSIC) to outperform from market perform, citing an attractive valuation, increased confidence in the outcome of the Butler-Schein Animal Health integration and improving momentum in dental equipment. The firm has a $74 price target for shares.
• Advance Auto Parts (AAP) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Red Hat (RHT) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Vivus Inc. (VVUS) announced Wednesday morning that it's terminating an agreement with FemPharm to develop an experimental testosterone treatment for women. As a result, the rights for the product, Luramist, will be returned to FemPharm, and Vivus will refocus its efforts on two other drugs in the pipeline: Qnexa for obesity and avanafil for erectile dysfunction.

"The decision to terminate the agreement was made in view of the significant long-term safety requirements for the approval of testosterone products in women," explained company president Peter Tam. "We believe it is in our shareholders' best interests to pursue other therapeutic candidates."