Stocks had another mixed day, despite some key winners and losers. China's surprise rate hike came amid word of a rate by the European Central Bank, expected on Thursday of this week. Brent Crude hit what appears to be a two-year high and even Ben Bernanke's remarks on inflation didn't add much to the mix. That being said, it was not known until the final minute if the markets were going to be in the red or the black for the trading day.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones: 12,393.90 -6.13 (-0.05%)

S&P500: 1,332,63 -0.24 (-0.02%)

Nasdaq: 2,791,19 +2.00 (0.07%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

iShares Trust FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Fund (FXI) closed at $43.40. Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit Washington DC from Jan. 18 to 21. Overall option implied volatility of 24 is below its 26-week average of 27, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ) closed near its record high on low overall implied volatility of 18, below its 26-week average of 21.

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

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or the KOSPI, climbed to another 52-week high on Tuesday, as stock markets throughout the Asian region posted gains.

The Korean stock market got a lift from news that North Korea was backing down from its earlier threats of retaliation against military drills that were being carried out by South Korea.

Economic data out of China this week is suggesting a slower pace of growth for the emerging economy, and one options player is trying to capitalize on anticipated weakness in some of China's largest companies. Bright and early Friday morning, a bearish bettor sent a long put spread across the tape on the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI).

Specifically, the trader purchased about 11,000 contracts of FXI's November 38 put, and simultaneously sold 11,000 contracts of the November 33 put. With FXI lingering around $40 at the time of the transaction, both of these intermediate-term puts are out of the money.

As an investor in Chinese stocks, I'm constantly bombarded by predictions of the country's coming economic bust. When a scandal at poultry company Yuhe International (YUII) brutalized this stock, people emailed me, saying that all Chinese companies are cooking the books. When a China-based ETF pegged to the S&P 500 launched, I was told that it was a clear sign that investors there knew it was safer to invest here than in their own country. The list goes on and on.

Lately, the recent pullback in several high-profile Chinese stocks, as well as a pullback in the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (FXI) -- the major Hong Kong market index -- has been cited as more evidence for the country's pending economic hardship. While it is true that some stocks have sold off lately after big runs higher in 2009, FXI is only down 3.8% over the past three months. That's hardly a huge giveback. And besides, America itself would be in pretty dire straits if every market slide meant that its economy was doomed.

How do you account for sovereign debt risk outside of the credit default swap markets? That is what traders were asking themselves today over fears of Portugal, Greece, and other issues. A growing China-U.S. tension and the reality of lower consumer after-tax monies in 2011, and on. The jobs data today was going further and further away from anything decent, and the fears of Friday's unemployment value of most assets fell... stocks and commodities hit skid row.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,999.84 -270.71 (-2.64%)
S&P 500 1,062.86 -34.42 (-3.14%)
Nasdaq 2,125.43 -65.48 (-2.99%)

Top Stock & Market Rumors
Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

"Instead of being 'reactive' and waiting for inflation, the Chinese leaders are choosing to be 'proactive' to head off inflation before it takes hold," says China stock specialist Tony Sagami in UnCommon Wisdom.

"The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, increased the reserve requirements by 0.5% effective on January 18 from 15.5% for large banks and 13.5% for small banks.

"We're seeing tremendous opportunities in China, which should move up regardless of U.S. market gyrations," says Richard Schmidt. In Stellar Stock Alert, he offers his current favorite China plays.

In addition, Jim Trippon, editor of The China Stock Alert, discusses the latest addition to his model portfolio, China's largest life insurance company -- and one with large exposure to Chinese equities.

And finally, fund expert Jim Lowell -- editor of Fidelity Investor -- says, "Investors should be buying Chinese stocks, Hong Kong real estate and Taiwanese technology." He offers some favorite funds for China region exposure.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if you don't want to wait for a pullback, look abroad for the next leg or find values at home.

What do you do when everyone knows we have come up too far, too fast; no one knows who is actually buying; and we are going into earnings season?

What do you do when the animal spirits are taking up the market and yet other than a handful companies -- Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) (Cramer's Take), Xilinx (NASDAQ: XLNX) (Cramer's Take), Corning (NYSE: GLW) (Cramer's Take), Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) (Cramer's Take) and Taiwan Semi (NYSE: TSM) (Cramer's Take) -- almost all companies that have spoken during the "off-season" earnings reports have been dismal?

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Lance Lewis

The consensus seems to be blowing off the G20 as a nonevent for the dollar, but then again the consensus didn't anticipate the Fed announcing that it would begin to monetize Treasury debt a couple weeks ago either. And it was that Fed decision that brought us to where we are today.

This post is part of a special report, Global advisors look to China.

"In my view, there is no sign of a sustainable rally in the US stock market on the horizon," says Glenn Rogers, asking, "So, against that gloomy backdrop, what's an investor to do?"

The contributing editor to Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder suggests, "One area that looks interesting to me right now is China." Here, he highlights a trio of exchange-traded funds invested in the China market.

"The Chinese government is unencumbered by highly-paid bankers and fractious two-party politics so they have been able to move quickly to stimulate their economy and are generally well-positioned to come out of this downturn in good shape.

With its own economic stimulus program in place, a relatively stable banking system, and a stock market that has been resilient in recent months, numerous leading global investment advisors are looking bullishly towards China.

From technology to power, and from individual stocks to ETFs, and from Hong Kong to Taiwan to mainland China, we turn to seven leading advisors for their favorite ways for US investors to take a stake in Asia.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that country can be counted on for tons of growth.

How perfect is China? We have producer price inflation down to almost zero, and rate cut possibilities as far as the eye can see. In our country, all we have heard is "pushing on a string." In their country, all they know is that when the Chinese central bank loosens, wondrous things happen, including a 29% gain in the index.

That gain is so glaring that you can be emboldened about it. You know that they have just started to put China to work and the inventories of all metals could be worked off quickly and the infrastructure products just started.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says something real is happening in China and there's more ahead.

"Jim, but how do you know that China is for real?"

How many times a day do I get that question? It has been my position since December that China is going to break out of the tailspin first -- it is why I have been buying the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (NYSE: FXI) (Cramer's Take) exchange-traded fund all the way down, even as it should be up -- and that it could lead us back.

That's because China's stimulus plan is more about saving lives -- the lives of the people who run the country -- than jobs. That's stronger incentive.

Many people believed the Beijing Olympics would spark a multi-year bull market for China.

Leading up to the summer Olympics, the best think tanks in the world were putting out glowing reports of a new juggernaut economy that would lap the United States in a few short years.

At the start of the games, the Chinese market quickly came unglued.

Several ETFs that gave investors indexed exposure to Chinese stocks saw their values get hit for as much as 70%.

The iShares Xinhua/FTSE China 25 Index Fund (NYSE: FXI), which was listed by Barclays Global Investors in October 2004, is the most widely traded of all the China-related securities listed in the United States.

The ETF gained 83% in 2006 alone, but the bull run came to a sudden end in late 2007, and the ETF suffered a massive correction.

The FXI saw its shares dive by 50% in the months following the Olympics.

Ouch!

Bryan Perry is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.