siri

Today was one of those days where commodities and the dollar went all over. Gold still rose, yet oil fell on a very mixed inventory report. The markets started out with some strength, but the major indexes were mixed at the end of the day.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,725.80 -5.45 (-0.06%)
S&P 500 1,057.56 +2.84 (0.27%)
Nasdaq 2,110.33 +6.76 (0.32%)

Analysts: top upgrades and top downgrades
Top Rumors of the Day
Top Day Trader Alerts

Today was one of those days where many traders looked like and acted like they wanted to just lock in gains after what was the first full week for many traders in about three weeks. Yet shares stayed strong. Options expiration dates and a S&P rebalance brought in some added volatility and money managers are now scared to tell their clients that they are not all-in on stocks. So while markets were up most of the day, the real closing bell with all of today's events was something that felt as though it would be down to the wire.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,819.52 +35.60 (0.36%)
S&P 500 1,068.26 +2.77 (0.26%)
Nasdaq 2,132.86 +6.11 (0.29%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
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Late Thursday Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) disclosed it had received a notice from the Nasdaq stock exchange on Tuesday that its share price has closed below $1 for 30 consecutive days, and is therefore not in compliance with the exchange rules. This means it could possibly be delisted.

Sirius has until March 15, 2010, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule, meaning its stock has to close at or above $1 for 10 consecutive business days.

Today, another jobs report was released ahead of tomorrow's unemployment data. The Bank of England kept rates steady but adopted a weaker currency policy and larger program that caused some more interest in gold.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,256.26 -24.71 (-0.27%)
S&P 500 997.08 -5.64 (-0.56%)
Nasdaq 1,9973.16 -19.81 (-1.00%)

Citizens of Boston, you heard some awful news this week. According to reports, rock institution WBCN 104.1 FM will no longer be filling the airwaves with its iconic brand of irreverent broadcasting. Instead, it will live on as a web domain. In its place will be WBMX, a station that was formerly at 98.5 in the FM universe. An all-sports format will take up WBMX's old home. Who can you thank for this? Send all complaints to CBS (NYSE: CBS), the station's owner.

Actually, before you compose a bunch of angry missives, please consider the state of terrestrial radio. Quite frankly, CBS doesn't have a choice. Between the lousy growth prospects for the medium, and the challenged status quo of the advertising market given the terrible global recession that continues to rip through the markets like a hideous beast, changes have to be made. Changes that you thought would never come.

Over the past five years, shares of what is now Sirius XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) have declined from a high of $9 per share to their current price of less than 50 cents per share. Granted, most of that hasn't been CEO Mel Karmazin's fault, and he was able to stave off bankruptcy by engineering an 11th-hour loan from Liberty Media.

But still, is that really a track record that entitles the CEO to a raise? Mr. Karmazin's salary went from $1.25 million to $1.5 million, but that isn't even the worst part. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports that "He also gets options to purchase 120 million shares, which he can exercise at 43 cents a share."

Despite us being on the heels of the big Russell indexes changing and despite the quarter-end being a day away, this was a boring day. A study showed a small decrease in online job advertisements, but that was the only item on the economic front. Oil traded higher and bond yields came down as traders are voting for more stability the rest of the year there.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,531.19 +92.80 (1.10%)
S&P 500 927.18 +8.28 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 1,843.34 +5.12 (0.28%)

Top Analyst Calls

Today was not just a strange day in the market. It was nearly baffling. At least it was a strange day if you were looking for the pullbacks to continue. The market was looking lower as the double-dip jobless numbers got worse than expected again, despite final Q1 GDP revisions being less-bad. The quarter-end coming up and the Russell re-balance may have some impact here.

Most of the gains continued throughout the morning into the early afternoon as investors got more confident over Ben Bernanke's testimony strength. Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,475.57 +175.71 (2.12%)
S&P 500 920.28 +19.34 (2.15%)
Nasdaq 1,829.43 +37.09 (2.07%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls

Equities stabilized today after two relatively large selling waves in equities. It even looks like we only had a 1% trading range in the DJIA from top to bottom today. The housing data might have helped marginally, but that was actually negative data if you dig down into the numbers.

The hope for a return to growth is starting to see a bit of what may be reality setting in now that even Mr. Obama expects double-digit unemployment to become a reality. It seems that the rise in oil actually helped to keep equities higher. Here are today's closing bell levels:

Dow 8,322.46 -16.55 (-0.20%)
S&P 500 894.99 +1.95 (0.22%)
Nasdaq 1,764.92 -1.27 (-0.07%)

Top upgrades and downgrades

Today was one of those market days where you just felt like the stock market was headed lower no matter what. A report from the World Bank showing lower recovery is expected in 2009 and in 2010 did not help. It took the sails out of the commodity sector and therefore out of stocks.

With little economic data to center on, traders just continued the momentum of selling to take profits. We are also seeing a reversal here where now the market needs great news to rally.

Here are today's closing bell levels:

Dow 8,339.01 -200.72 (-2.35%)
S&P 500 893.04 -28.19 (-3.06%)
Nasdaq 1,766.19 -61.28 (-3.35%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls

The radio business has been struggling lately, to say the least. Traditional, terrestrial radio hasn't found a way to successfully box out competition from Sirius XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), internet streaming radio, iPods, and other sources.

Plus fewer people are in their cars driving to work lately, so the ratings numbers are down. Not to mention the monotonous nature of much of today's music (or maybe I'm just old . . . get off my lawn, you Jonas Brothers, you!)

It's no surprise, then, that the radio advertising business recently saw its worst quarter in history. The Radio Advertising Bureau said yesterday that combined national and local ad spending dropped 26% to $2.8 billion during the last quarter. Network radio dropped 13% to $238 million while off-air revenue receded 12% to $264 million.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) shares rose even though it reported a wider loss for the quarter.
• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) posted better-than-expected Q1 results but warned of challenges.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) reported a net loss and slumping revenues for the first quarter.
• Center Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: CLFC) was downgraded following its Q1 earnings report.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) posted lower Q3 earnings that still topped analysts estimates.

Fed Chairman Bernanke gave an outline of regulation for banks and financial institutions today, and the weekly jobless claims gave some hope that tomorrow's unemployment might come in under expectations. There is a "sell the news" mentality that is going around ahead of the stress test and there was some tech profit taking after John Chambers was less optimistic. It looks like at least some profit taking is actually possible to see again.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,376.64 -135.64 (-1.59%)
S&P 500 907.28 -12.25 (-1.33%)
Nasdaq 1,716.24 -42.86 (-2.44%)

Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Today's late-day rally had a common theme throughout the day: less-bad economic data. This went from better housing data and CPI not showing any deflation fears. The Beige Book was also showing that some of the 12 Fed regions are seeing a decline in the slowdown. Here are today's unofficial closing levels, which were essentially around the highs of the day:

Dow 8,029.62 +109.44 (1.38%)
S&P 500 852.06 +10.56 (1.25%)
Nasdaq 1,626.80 +1.08 (0.07%)

Top 10 Analyst Calls

Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) may get a bit of a lift this morning, as the company's corporate credit rating was raised by Standard & Poor's (S&P). The ratings agency upped SIRI's rating to "CCC+" from "CCC" and raised the issue-level ratings a notch. That said, S&P did keep SIRI's senior unsecured notes at "CCC-."

S&P analyst Hal Diamond attributed the move to "increased comfort with the company's near-term liquidity needs," following a loan from Liberty Media. Liberty loaned SIRI money in exchange for preferred stock, which is convertible into 40% of SIRI's common shares. This investment pushed significant debt maturities from 2009 to 2011.