• Deal-making activity heated up with the mega-deal announcement from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) of its plans to acquire Burlington Northern (NYSE:BNI) for $100 per share in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion, the largest in Berkshire history

• Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) announced plans to purchase Black & Decker (NYSE:BDK) in a deal valued at $4.5 billion

• Denbury Resources (NYSE:DNR) announced plans to acquire Encore Acquisition (NYSE:EAC) in a cash and stock deal valued at $3.2 billion

• Ford (NYSE:F) said it is planning to raise $2 billion through the sale of senior convertible notes due 2016, and $1 billion through common shares sold in private deals

• UBS (NYSE:UBS) noted “we do not expect an immediate recovery in client net new monthly flows,” as it reported its fourth straight quarterly loss. The third quarter loss of $552.4 million was larger than anticipated

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) downgraded US semiconductor shares to “cautious” warning the industry is now in the final stages of the semiconductor cycle. Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) rating was lowered to “equalweight” from “overweight,” along with shares of Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR), Linear Tech (NASDAQ:LLTC), Xilinx (NASDAQ:XLNX) and Maxim (NASDAQ:MXIM)

• During yesterday’s session Citigroup’s (NYSE:C) analyst slashed its rating on Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to “sell” from “buy,” also downgrading Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) to “sell” from “hold.” Meanwhile, the firm upgraded Motorola (NYSE:MOT) shares to “buy” from “hold,” noting positive surprises likely from new phone offerings based on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system

• Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE:ADM-A) reported fiscal first quarter earnings of 77 cents per share on sales of $14.9 billion.  The company said, “Looking ahead, we see demand improving in some key markets, and we have the assets and acumen to capture value as the global economy resets”

• American Tower (NYSE:AMT) reported inline third quarter earnings of 17 cents a share on revenues of $444.10 million. The firm backed its 2009 guidance

Zacks Investment Research

Last 5 posts by Zacks Market Commentaries

• Coventry Tops Zacks Consensus - Analyst Blog - February 9th, 2010
• W.R. Berkley Surpasses Estimates - Analyst Blog - February 9th, 2010
• Universal Forest Meets Loss Est - Analyst Blog - February 9th, 2010
• Biogen Beats & Guides Higher - Analyst Blog - February 9th, 2010
• Becton Recalls Catheters - Analyst Blog - February 9th, 2010