With buyers back in action, US stocks rose to their fresh one-year highs and remained near their high points as optimism grew that an economic recovery, helped by solid third-quarter earnings reports and increased M&A activity, is on cards. 

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 96.28 points, or 0.96%, to close at 10,092.19.  The broader S&P 500 index jumped 10.23 points, or 0.94%, to 1,097.91 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 19.52 points, or 0.91%, to 2,176.32, its highest point since September 26, 2008.  Market breadth was positive, with advancing shares ahead of decliners by a margin of three-to-one.  Only five of the DJIA thirty declined in price.

After the close, iPhone maker Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) reported better-than-estimated numbers, fuelling hopes for the technology industry.  Last week Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Intel Corp’s (NASDAQ:INTC) numbers had come in above expectations.

Although there were some jitters last

...

div style="text-align: justify;"RBC Capital is out with a call on Smartphones:br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)/span tgt is raised to $250 from $190br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM)/span tgt is raised to $150 from $100br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"- Palm (NASAQ:PALM)/span tgt is raised to $25 from $18.br /br /All three are rated Outperform.br /br /RBC Capital believes smartphones represent the next wave of computing, and are truly “3C” devices – embodying the convergence of communication, computing, and content. In the report, they size the smartphone market, which we view as large, nascent, and underpenetrated. They also forecast the vendor landscape; predicting vertically integrated “challengers”, like Apple, RIM, Palm, and possibly others, will take significant market share from some incumbent cellphone, PC, and consumer electronics vendors. Others that, in their view, are positioned to benefit include: 1) carriers that “get it”; 2) smartphone suppliers/partners; and, 3) ...

div style="text-align: justify;"Oppenheimer is downgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Cubist Pharma (NASDAQ:CBST) /spanto Underperform from Peer Perform.br /br /Firm notes they are downgrading CBST based on risk of unfavorable in-licensing/acquisition, current valuation, Cubicin litigation risk, and low probability of takeout. Importantly,br /br /1) Firm remains cautious ahead of a significant in-licensing or acquisition;br /br /2) They believe CBST is fairly valued at $17.00-$19.00 after adjusting for an in-licensing or acquisition;br /br /3) They believe Cubicin patent litigation represents a significant revenue overhang;br /br /4) They believe an acquisition is unlikely given the generic Cubicin challenge and ensuing patent litigation.br /br /Oppenheimer continues to believe a meaningful late-stage acquisition/product in-licensing is required to maintain bottom-line growth, increasing risk and potential Ramp;D expense. They see a limited number of opportunities in the antiinfectives space, and believe execution risk increases if CBST shops outside of its core domain.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Cubicin Patent Litigation Significant ...

By Edward Hugh: Barcelonabr /br /blockquote"As long as excessive debt is not digested, both monetary and fiscal policies are inefficient. There is not much of an alternative. Either to let the economy collapse, in order to reduce debts, and then use fiscal policy to revive it, or inundate the insolvent economy with public credit, to avoid the collapse, and loose the ability of fiscal policy to pull it out of a prolonged lethargy. Either a horrible end or an endless horror."br /a href="http://blogs.ft.com/maverecon/2009/06/after-the-crisis-macro-imbalance-credibility-and-reserve-currency/"After the Crisis: Macro Imbalance, Credibility and Reserve-Currency/a: André Lara Resende/blockquotebr /Well, I think the title to this post makes my view on the high-profile shenanigans we are currently witnessing on the part of two widely respected contemporary intellectuals clear enough, even if Paul would probably respond that he is perfectly well able to take care of himself, thank you very much. Nonetheless, looking at the way the ...

Using the Zacks Unusually High Option Volume screener Ohio-based banking bigwig KeyCorp (KEY) caught my eye.

< ?DART(15);?> Before we begin, let's explain the contrarian stance that makes Schaeffer's so unique. When searching for a bullish pick, we like to see heavy skepticism toward an outperforming stock, as this leaves ample room for upgrades or other positive catalysts to fuel the stock higher. When searching for a bearish pick, on the other hand, contrarians are looking for significant bullish sentiment toward an underperforming stock, as we believe an excess of optimism is a sign that everyone has already bought into the stock and sideline money is virtually tapped out.

However, keep in mind that some optimism and pessimism is genuinely warranted and isn't always a contrarian indicator - like an outperforming stock with many "buy" ratings or an underperforming stock with a plethora of "sell" ratings.

...

U.S. stocks and oil prices turned south on Friday as investors questioned recent rallies in the face of economic data that still shows a mixed picture of when economies will rise from a deep global recession.

The dollar and yen rose as worries persisted about global economic prospects despite a batch of better-than-expected U.S. economic data, prompting investors to seek shelter in the two safe-haven currencies.

Gold climbed to a six-week high after data showed U.S. core inflation rose more than expected in April, boosting the precious metal’s appeal as a hedge against rising prices.

Oil fell toward $56 a barrel, pressured by weak global demand and a stronger dollar.

Europe sank to what may have been the recession’s low point in the first quarter of this year as tumbling German exports and investment plus further sharp drops in output elsewhere hastened the pace of a

...

div style="text-align: justify;"RBC Capital is out upgrading span style="font-weight: bold;"Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)/span to Outperform from Underperform while raising tgt to $165 from $95.br /br /Firm notes their prior concerns these past months were: 1) Recession headwinds; 2) Margin downshifts; 3) Management uncertainty.br /br /They now see these issues mitigated or resolved, leaving us more positive, based on: 1) turnaround in RBC's proprietary consumer demand survey; 2) improved margin visibility via product roadmap; 3) stronger resiliency, gains for Global Smartphones; 4) Apple's "VIP" (Valuation Innovation Premium), a factor they underestimated, sustaining outperformance despite near-term challenges; 5) belief Steve Jobs' is likely to return to Apple.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Consumer Demand Turnaround./span Following 2 years of declines, RBC/IQ Changewave data (2,700) shows 11% spending more on consumer electronics vs. 10% March, helping restore demand for Apple products.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Smartphone Resiliency. /spanAs shown by recent RIM/Apple quarterly results, Smartphones have proven recession-resistant; ...

After months of speculation, General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP) filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history, ending a futile seven-month effort to refinance its debt.

General Growth filed for Chapter 11 seeking protection from creditors after it amassed $27 billion in debt accumulating over 200 shopping mall properties. The filing covers 158 of its U.S. malls, but excludes its joint-venture properties and third-party management business.

The Chicago-based company – the country’s second largest shopping mall owner – owns such valuable properties as Fashion Show in Las Vegas and Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston. It listed total assets of $29.56 billion and total debt of $27.29 billion.

“We intend to emerge as a leaner company,” General Growth President Thomas Nolan told Bloomberg News in an interview. “We want to come out as a less leveraged company. Our business model remains strong.” In

...

div style="text-align: justify;"RBC Capital is out with a big call on span style="font-weight: bold;"Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) /spanupgrading the shares to Outperform from Sector perform while raising tgt to $75 from $45.br /br /Firm notes their prior Sector Perform rating was based on 1) reduced margin visibility; 2) execution issues; 3) recession-related growth headwinds. RIM has corrected 28% since Q2 results;span style="font-weight: bold;" they now forecast new upside, based on: 1) improving margin visibility; 2) recovering execution; 3) performance exceeding lowered expectations./spanbr /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Improving Margin Visibility. /spanIn Sept/08, RIM's sharp downward GM outlook (down 670bps F10) surprised investors, on a consumer-related margin downshift and early Storm/Bold costs. On improved mix and cost structure, the firm sees hardware margins stabilizing (32-34% hardware, 41% reported) F10/F11, improving sentiment regarding LT margin trends. They also see RIM benefiting from Op Leverage F10/F11.br /br /span style="font-weight: bold;"Recovering Execution./span Execution challenges (delays, quality, ...

- Goldman Sachs downgrades First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to Sell and adds to their Conviction Sell ListNC: The stock will get hit today in a major way. There is little support for FSLR in this mkt. I would not be surprised to see the stock hit par in the coming months. Note that SPWR gets the boot from GSCO as well. Piper lowers FSLR tgt to $250 from $350.- Morgan Stanley reits Overweight and $175 tgt on Monsanto (NYSE:MON) noting soft commodity price bearsare lurking around the wrong stock. While they do not foresee a $3 bushel of corn, the firm notes they have always modeled Monsanto's pricing power as if the farmer was only going to realize $3 corn (and $8 soybeans). The market appears to have a dispositive view (i.e., expecting $3 corn and for it to result in demand destruction for Monsanto’s products)...