Despite the turmoil in the Middle East, the market powered to a 30-month high, closing above 12,000 Tuesday. The key driver was a slew of strong earnings reports. The last time we saw Dow 12,000 was on June 19, 2008. Across the board, the major averages were strong. The Dow climbed 148.23 to 12,040.16, S & P 500 rose 21.47 to 1307.59, and the NASDAQ surged 51.11 to 2751.19, as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Here are just a few stocks that moved the Dow higher:

• Pfizer (PFE) rose $1.00 to $19.22. Fourth-quarter profit tripled from a year ago.

I'm now going to take a brief look at two stocks that were affected by earnings releases earlier today. The two companies are a study in completely different business models: one sells video games, the other sells drugs. Then again, video games are a drug to some, so maybe they aren't so different?

First up: Electronic Arts (ERTS). EA wasn't exciting during the regular session. It closed up fractionally to $15.62; volume was strong, though. And after looking at the extended-hours reaction to the earnings report that was released following the ringing of the bell, it might be understandable why so many players were intent on getting in on the stock.

More inflationary data in the economics and earnings reports matter not at the current time. Less unrest in Egypt, or a lack of escalating unrest, helped out as well. Better than expected auto sales also managed to come through despite awful weather for much of the month in many key markets. All in all, Tuesday was just another strong day for the market and it marked a positive start for the month of February. We got a close above S&P 1300 today!

Here were Tuesday's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,040.16 +148.23 (1.25%)
S&P 500 1,307.59 +21.47 (1.67%)
Nasdaq 2,751.19 +51.11 (1.89%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

U.S. stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting earnings from Pfizer (PFE) and other major companies. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 43 points to 11,883.00 and S&P 500 futures gained 6.60 points to 1,289.00. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 14.50 points to 2,294.50.

U.S. stocks closed higher, with the blue-chip Dow industrials gaining 68.23 points or 0.58%.

The Institute for Supply Management's report on manufacturing activity for January and data on construction spending for December will be released at 10 a.m. ET.

Analyst Upgrades

• Large Cap Pharmaceuticals sector upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Cypress Semi (CY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• MFA Financial (MFA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Blackstone (BX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Comerica (CMA) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• NuVasive (NUVA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink.
• Cogdell Spencer (CSA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Hersha Hospitality (HT) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
• G&K Services (GKSR) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
• Graham Packaging (GRM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Shaw (SJR) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Ben Bernanke's explanation and defense, or lack thereof to many, about his version of QE2, managed to dominate many key themes today. Gold was hitting fresh highs and European woes were discounted again. We are seeing the risk trade come in full force, although many of the sectors were soft. Late-day selling in the DJIA and S&P500 made for a close in the red, but this was close to red and black for most of the afternoon session after a fairly weak open.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,362.19 -19.90 (-0.17%)
S&P 500 1,223.12 -1.59 (-0.13%)
Nasdaq 2,594.92 +3.46 (0.13%)

Top Analyst Calls

Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Citigroup (C) to buy from hold at ISI Group.
• Integrated Silicon (ISSI) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Kinross Gold (KGC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Although short-term news may seem bright for Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), the broader picture for the company looks flat. Having dropped from an average share price in the $53 range over two years ago, to a current average share value hovering near $35, investors are signaling that the long range forecast for Lilly is unexciting at best.

It appears that Lilly shall be buoyed in the near term by the recent FDA approval of testosterone replacement therapy Axiron for sale in the U.S. Lilly purchased rights to Axiron from Australian firm, Acrux for an initial payment of $50 million plus $3 million based on the transfer of manufacturing assets.

Today is election day. Currently, intrade.com is projecting a 97% chance that the Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives and a 48% chance that they will win the Senate. What could a landslide win for the Republican Party mean for the stock market?

Some observers are suggesting that gridlock in Washington, along with a more business friendly atmosphere, could be a catalyst for stock prices to rise. This, however, is offset by concerns about cuts in government spending. The private economy is sputtering, and near-term spending cuts could have a detrimental effect on the recovery. Therefore, instead of focusing on the broader market, investors may want to look at some specific sectors that may benefit from a Republican victory.

Three interesting areas are oil services, financials, and healthcare. The thinking is that some of the regulatory headwinds facing these sectors may be lifted if the political atmosphere in Washington D.C. changes. Some observers believe that a Republican-led House of Representatives will be able to chip away at some of the Obamacare legislation. This should benefit large pharmaceutical companies such as Merck (MRK) and Pfizer (PFE).

Pharmaceutical firm Pfizer (PFE) announced third-quarter earnings this morning, reporting that large charges pulled its profit 70% lower than a year ago. The pfunnily spelled pfarmaceutical pfirm reported that net income came in at $866 million, or 11 cents per share, down from $2.88 billion, or 43 cents per share, a year ago.

Taking one-time items out of the equation, Pfizer earned $4.37 billion, or 54 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by three cents.

Analyst Upgrades

• Macquarie upgraded Intel (INTC) to outperform from neutral and Advanced Micro (AMD) to neutral from underperform.
• Pfizer (PFE) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Capstead Mortgage (CMO) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Halliburton (HAL) to outperform from perform.
• Gilead (GILD) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Citigroup upgraded CapitalSource (CSE) to buy from hold.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (MOS) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $78 from $64 citing improving ag fundamentals and the potential for BHP (BHP) to issue a higher bid for Potash (POT), which Citi feels would bode well for Mosaic.
• Cowen upgraded VMware (VMW) to outperform from neutral, citing recent share weakness and the company's significant growth opportunity.
• Citigroup upgraded CareFusion (CFN) with a $29 price target, citing valuation and the potential for margin expansion.
• Pfizer (PFE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Stryker (SYK) was upgraded to buy from gradually accumulate at Soleil.

Stocks started the week off in the red on a key tech downgrade, and as the U.S. dollar rose against some key currencies. Frankly, today felt like a day where the real answer was "more sellers than buyers" over a key catalyst, even considering a EU terror alert. The end of the TARP program marked more sentiment than any real event.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,751.27 -78.41 (-0.72%)
S&P 500 1,137.03 -9.21 (-0.80%)
Nasdaq 2,344.52 -26.23 (-1.11%)

Top Analyst Calls
Best & Worst DJIA Stocks

There are lots of analysts out there who say that, over the long term, stocks in the pharmaceutical sector should do well. For the most part, they are talking about cash rich pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer (PFE), McKesson (MCK), Medtronic (MDT) and Forest Laboratories (FRX) according to Gene Marcial of our sister site, DailyFinance.

But there are other, less obvious ways, to play growth in the pharmaceutical industry as well. Hilary Kramer, editor of GameChangerStocks.com, recently recommended two stocks that are "under the radar" and could do very well in the near future.

Muriel Siebert, often known as the First Woman of Finance, has long been an advocate for the individual investor. Now, two years after the collapse of Lehman, she says that there is still a great deal that needs to be done so that investors can make educated investments.

Siebert, also known by her nickname "Mickie," has a great deal of perspective on these matters. She is the former Superintendent of Banks in the State of New York, the first woman to buy a seat on the NYSE, one of the earliest creators of a discount brokerage firm, plus a former money manager.