Friday was one of those days that a solid read from the University of Michigan took the back seat to overseas news. Mubarek is out as Egypt's president and some of the regional shares rallied. The market is still confounding the bears. Such is life.

Here were today's closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,273.26 +43.97 (0.36%)
S&P 500 1,329.16 +7.29 (0.55%)
Nasdaq 2,809.44 +18.99 (0.68%)

Analyst Upgrades

• Micron (MU) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Baker Hughes (BHI) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• PDL BioPharma (PDLI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Fluor (FLR) and Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Camden Property (CPT) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Linear Technology (LLTC) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• Hologic (HOLX) and Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) to buy from neutral at Gleacher.

This post-holiday session still felt a bit like a holiday trading session, something which may be the norm for the week ahead into New Year's. Gold went back over $1400 per ounce on dollar weakness and as a mid-term Treasury auction was deemed to be a dud. China was weaker and many of the stocks acted with a mind of their own after consumer confidence was deemed a disappointment today, and as oil production estimates were trimmed.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,575.54 +20.51 (0.18%)
S&P 500 1,258.53 +0.99 (0.08%)
Nasdaq 2,662.88 -4.39 (-0.16%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Pharmaceutical company MannKind (MNKD) shares have traded considerably higher this morning, gaining 9% shortly after the opening bell and trading in the upper $8 region. It appears that the rally was sparked by news that the U.S. Federal Drug Administration would not be able to complete a review of the company's inhaled insulin Afrezza by December 29.

The FDA added that it will need roughly four more weeks to complete the review. Back in July, the FDA accepted a resubmission on Afrezza and classified it a class 2 response.

Options with increase in I.V.: MGM Resorts (MGM) January 15 calls up 5%. AIG (AIG) January 60 calls up 16%.

Options with increase in I.V.: AIG (AIG) January 55 call up 18%. MannKind (MNKD) January 10 call up 7% according to iVolatility.com.

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

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Equity One Inc. (EQY) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 900,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $15,210,000. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 1.11% and now own 0.77% of EQY stock.

Analyst Upgrades

• InterMune (ITMN) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merill.
• Halliburton (HAL), Cloud Peak Energy (CLD), Patriot Coal (PCX) and Consol Energy (CNX) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Post Properties (PPS) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Airgas (ARG) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Hologic (HOLX) to top pick from sector perform and Sunesis Pharma (SNSS) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

If you are looking for clues to which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should take note.

Jefferies Group (JEF) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 1,382,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $32,403,125. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 1.73% and now own 3.76% of the stock.

Stocks initially had a hard time finding real direction today. Stocks started out weak with top-line revenue concerns but then rallied with materials. Even Canada's raising its overnight interest rates did not materialize any "rate hike fears" for the immediate horizon.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,229.96 +75.53 (0.74%)
S&P 500 1,083.48 +12.23 (1.14%)
Nasdaq 2,222.49 +24.26 (1.10%)

MannKind Corp. (MNKD) has lately enjoyed a minor winning streak atop former resistance from its 10-day and 20-day moving averages, with the stock notching six consecutive daily closes above this trendline duo. However, judging by a bearish option strategy that crossed the tape on Tuesday, one options trader isn't buying into the equity's rebound.

Specifically, the trader opened a long put spread on MNKD by buying to open 2,000 contracts of the August 7.50 put, and simultaneously selling to open 2,000 contracts of the August 5 put. This bearishly biased spread was initiated for a net debit of $1.60, which is the trader's maximum potential loss on the play.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"My top stock pick for 2010 is MannKind Corp. (MNKD), which is developing a a novel formulation of inhalable insulin called Afresa," notes Nate Pile.

In his Nate's Notes newsletter, he explains, "I would emphasize that while the stock must be considered speculative until the FDA delivers a ruling in mid-January of next year, I believe the clinical data that has been submitted by the company is likely to warrant approval."

MannKind (NYSE: MNKD - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company said it will be unable to strike a partnership deal for its inhaled insulin product, Afresa, by the end of the year. The delay is due to a lag in obtaining FDA approval for Afresa, which may not come until January 2010. 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 MNKD.

This morning, MNKD opened at $8.03. So far today the stock has hit a high of $8.03 and a low of $6.52. As of 12:55, MNKD is trading at $6.77, down $2.44 (-26.5%). The chart for MNKD looks bullish.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded McAfee (NYSE: MFE) to Outperform from Market Perform after channel checks indicated the company's September quarter deal flow has been stronger than expected. FBR raised its target on shares to $50 from $41.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Adtran (NASDAQ: ADTN) to Overweight from Market Weight, citing increased wireless backhaul capex spending by Tier-1 carriers. The firm raised its target to $32 from $21.
• RBC Capital upgraded Brunswick (NYSE: BC) to Outperform from Sector Perform as the firm thinks the company no longer has liquidity risk and can generate significant profits by 2012. The firm set a $17 target on the stock.
• Bronco Drilling (NASDAQ: BRNC) was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
• LSI Corp. (NYSE: LSI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• UBS upgraded U.S. Airways (NYSE: LCC) and UAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA) to Buy from Neutral.

During 2009, drug treatments for ten diseases in the U.S. will bring pharma companies nearly $170 billion in sales. Those include drugs for major killers like cardiovascular diseases and a number of cancers. Also among the most successful emerging treatments are ones for mental disorders.

Patents on a number of the older blockbuster drugs are running out and a new generation of biotech drugs is offering competition to traditional treatments. Some of the companies that are in the next wave of solving medicine's largest problems are worth watching.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded VMware (NYSE: VMW) to Hold from Underperform on expectations June quarter revenue will be inline-to-slightly-better and negative revisions to September quarter revenue will not be as great as in the most recent two quarters. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $20.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent pullback and believes expectations for Q2 are reasonable. The firm has a $50 price target on the stock.
  
• FBR Capital upgraded Bronco Drilling (NASDAQ: BRNC) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation as it believes negative sentiment will ease. The firm raised its target on shares to $4 from $3.
• Unilever (NYSE: UL) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Posco (NYSE: PKX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Gol Linhas Aereas (NYSE: GOL) was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.