Daily market news shows stocks pulled back on Thursday, as 50 state attorneys general are looking into allegations that thousands of home foreclosures were improperly handled. Financials were hard hit with both big banks and regionals falling on the news.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) fell 2.6%, Bank of America Corp. (BAC) was off 5.2%, and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) fell 4.2%. Regional banks like BB&T Corp. (BBT) and SunTrust Banks Inc. (STI) fell 2.14% and 4.23%, respectively.

Today was a mixed bag that frankly could have gone other way. A higher headline figure on wholesale inflation from PPI and a worse weekly jobless claims figure were matched with a wide trade deficit. To make matters worse, a 30-Year Treasury auction went poorly and suddenly long-bond yields are at the highest levels of a few weeks.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,094.57 -1.51 (-0.01%)
S&P 500 1,173.81 -4.29 (-0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,435.38 -5.85 (-0.24%)

Top Analyst Calls

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) is expected to report Q3 EPS on October 19. November put option implied volatility is at 41, January is at 38. This is versus its 26-week average of 35, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Kohl's Corporation (KSS) is reporting September sales on October 7 and is expected to release Q3 EPS on November 11. Overall option implied volatility of 45 is near its 26-week average of 43, suggesting non-directional price movement.

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

I noticed in our Closing Bell piece Friday that Yahoo! (YHOO) was one of the highlighted stocks. It made me want to see how the company was doing.

The equity has traded in a narrow range over the past twelve months. The 52-week low is $12.94 and the 52-week high is $19.12. I can tell you this much: I do not like the looks of Yahoo!'s chart. It doesn't make me want to buy the stock, even though the shares have clearly experienced a pullback.

A slightly positive ISM report and a positive report from China kept the U.S. markets in the black on Friday. The first day of the month and quarter is on the heels of a strong September, which was the strongest September in most of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, the joint report on the "Flash Crash" does little to instill any confidence that the system is safe and does not take away concerns that the system may be rigged against retail investors.

Here were today's unofficial bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,829.68 +41.63 (0.39%)
S&P 500 1,146.22 +5.02 (0.44%)
Nasdaq 2,370.75 +2.13 (0.09%)

TOP ANALYST CALLS

Apple, Inc. (AAPL) only entered the mobile advertising market a few months ago, but the company has already been successful at taking away crucial mobile advertising revenue from giants such as Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Google, Inc. (GOOG).

Apple was definitely a late comer to the mobile advertising party, but it has nonetheless made a quick impact. According to a report from Bloomberg Businessweek today, Apple could end the year with a nice 21% share of the market.

The market went up and then down. By the end of the trading day, most of the indexes were in the red, but not by much. The two pieces of news that traders had to digest both came early in the day. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales rose 7.6% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.13 million. Housing market progress is still painfully slow. Weekly jobless claims, a notoriously fickle number, rose 12,000 to 465,000. A better indication of the job market -- continuing claims -- fell 48,000 to 4.49 million. The figure is still staggeringly large and a sign the the joblessness problem remains firmly entrenched.

The numbers:

Dow Jones 10,662.42 -76.89 (-0.72%)
S&P 500 1,124.83 -9.45 (-0.83%)
Nasdaq 2,327.08 -7.47 (-0.32%)

The market ignored intervention on behalf of Japan to drive down the value of the yen and an anemic improvement in August industrial output, which was only up .2%, to post a very modest gain for the day.

Today's closing bell numbers:

Dow Jones 10,572.73 +46.24 (0.44%)
S&P 500 1,125.07 +3.97 (0.35%)
Nasdaq 2,301.32 +11.55 (0.50%)

Cisco (CSCO) will begin to pay a dividend, which is expected to have a yield of 1% to 2%. The payout will start near the end of the company's fiscal year. A few large tech companies like IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT) have payouts already. There has even been speculation that Microsoft will borrow money to increase its payout and begin a share buyback.

The dividend is often considered a sign that a company's growth has begun to slow and that investors need a new incentive to buy shares. As some of the largest tech firms with huge amounts of cash have posted more modest year-over-year earnings, Cisco's move may be a precedent. It may also be an answer to investors who question what tech companies plan to do with their large cash balances. IBM has $13 billion in cash. Cisco has $35 billion and Microsoft over $36 billion.

Today was one of those Fridays that felt bad most of the trading day. It was an options expiration date today, and there was no domestic economic news to drive the markets. PC earnings failed to ignite interest and sellers had most of a quiet Friday in August to themselves.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA
S&P500
NASDAQ

Top Analyst Calls
Major Stocks on 52-Week Lows

Analyst Upgrades

• GC Financial upgraded Microsoft (MSFT) to buy from hold, citing expectations that the company will raise its quarterly dividend by 15%. The firm upped its target for shares to $30 from $29.
• JPMorgan upgraded Agrium (AGU) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation and strengthening agricultural fundamentals. The firm raised its target for shares to $75 from $70. Note JPMorgan downgraded Mosaic (MOS) this morning to neutral from overweight.
• Susquehanna upgraded Baker Hughes (BHI) to positive from neutral based on valuation. The firm has a $53 target on the stock.
• Target (TGT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• CF Industries (CF) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Portugal Telecom (PT) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

"Based on valuation and solid improvements in some areas, we think Yahoo (YHOO) remains a buy," notes Geoffrey Seiler in the wake of the company's "mixed" second quarter earnings results.

The editor of BullMarket.com explains, "The company is still a work in progress and investors need to be patient, as the the payoff won't really come about until the company's efforts translate into solid, consistent sales growth.

"Revenue fell short of the Wall Street consensus but EPS beat by a penny. This was another mixed quarter from Yahoo. We think the company is generally making solid incremental progress and management is to be commended for diligently managing costs.

Today was light on economic releases, but heavy on volatility. The earnings bias was a positive one yet the markets sold off heavily in the afternoon. Shortly after Ben Bernanke's growth-promise comments were released ahead of his testimony to Congress showing more risks to the economic recovery, stocks slid and we went from being marginally up on the day into another day with triple-digit DJIA losses. Financial Reform law was signed this morning and it was a known event going into today. Portfolio manager Bill Miller called large cap stocks cheap but cheap can still get cheaper.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,120.53 -109.43 (-1.07%)
S&P 500 1,069.59 -13.89 (-1.28%)
Nasdaq 2,187.33 -35.16 (-1.58%)

Top Analyst Calls

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Goldman Sachs (GS) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $190 price target following the company's Q2 results. The firm believes the company's settlement with the SEC removes an overhang on shares.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Health Care REIT (HCN) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and added shares to the Stifel REIT Income List. The firm has a $47 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Annaly Capital (NLY) to Outperform from Market Perform citing the company's surprise dividend increase. The firm has a $20 target on the stock.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Overseas Shipholding (OSG) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan.
• Cintas (CTAS) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.

Analyst upgrades:

• ThinkEquity upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, checks that indicate Q2 display/search improvement, search stabilization, improved cost structure, and share repurchases.
• Societe Generale upgraded Roche Holding (RHHBY) to Buy from Hold based on expectations Avastin will be approved in breast cancer, despite negative FDA briefing documents.
• FBR Capital upgraded Atheros (ATHR) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and positive checks that indicate powerline networking chips are gaining traction in China. The firm has a $43 price target on the stock.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord.
• Ultimate Software (ULTI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.
• Liberty Property Trust (LRY) was upgraded to Market Perform at Wells Fargo.

Analyst downgrades:

• Auriga downgraded ADC Telecomm (ADCT) to Hold from Buy following the company's merger announcement with Tyco Electronics (TEL).
• TD Newcrest expects Manulife's (MFC) Q2 loss to be worse than expected due to the impact from lower interest rates. The firm cut shares to Hold from Buy.
• Goldman downgraded Perrigo (PRGO) to Sell from Neutral and lowered its target to $50 from $61. The firm cites relative valuation for the downgrade. Target to $50 from $61.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord.
• Anglo American (AAUKY) and BHP Billiton (BHP) were downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

Analyst initiations:

• QKL Stores (QKLS) was initiated with a Buy rating and $7 price target at Global Hunter.
• Rodman & Renshaw started Rick's Cabaret (RICK) with an Outperform rating.