EOG Resources (EOG) was upgraded today by Wells Fargo (WFC) to outperform from market perform, as the company continues to execute its business model well and deliver value to shareholders. Shares are higher by about one percent.

A positive housing report sent stocks higher today, but investors remained cautious as Japan’s credit rating was downgraded by Fitch on fears over government debt. The National Association of Realtors is reporting a 3.4 percent increase in existing home sales in April to an annual rate of 4.62 million units, which is better than economists [...]

This is what’s in the news for Monday May 21, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports Irvin Goldman, the JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) chief risk officer who oversaw risk management at the unit responsible for trading blunders that cost the bank at least $2B this year, earlier lost millions while trading for the same unit, sources say. [...]

Ralph Lauren Corporation (RL) announced its quarterly dividend of 40 cents per share, an increase of about 100% over its prior dividend in March of 20 cents. The company also reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings.

In trading on Tuesday, general contractors & builders shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.7%. Leading the group were shares of Desarrolladora Homex S A DE (HXM), up about 4.3% and shares of Pultegroup (PHM) up about 4% on the day.

Best Buy (BBY) announced that profit fell to $158 million, or 46 cents per share, versus $212 million, or 53 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue increased to $11.61 billion from $11.37 billion in the same period last year.

Avon Products (NYSE:AVP) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell at UBS today. The stock closed yesterday at $16.95 on volume of 9.4 million shares, below average daily volume of 10.9 million.According to Money Watch analysts, Avon is currently struggling with past business scandals where they were accused of foreign bribery. Whether or not the scandals [...]

American Eagle has announced that they will be holding an analyst meeting on Wednesday to discuss the future of their 77Kids division. With a $40 million dolllar loss posting from last year, the kids’ division is coming up short. Now, it has not been decided as to whether or not they will be selling all [...]

The markets opened on a positive note, and held onto their gains, despite ongoing concerns over the euro zone and a possible deal for Greece. On the earnings front, Lowe’s (LOW) posted a 14 percent increase in fiscal first quarter earnings, thanks to warmer weather, but the company lowered its full-year earnings outlook.

In trading on Monday, precious metals shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.5%. Leading the group were shares of Entree Gold (EGI), up about 13.3% and shares of Extorre Gold Mines Limited (XG) up about 7.2% on the day.

The first trading day of the week has investors closely monitoring ongoing talks in Europe hoping that a deal can be reached with Greece. Good morning, this is Sayoko Murase with the Week Ahead Market Report for May 21, 2012.

This is what’s in the news for Friday May 18, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports bad debts held by Spanish banks jumped to a 17-year high in March, according to the country’s central bank, as 8.37% of the loans held by banks, or EUR147.97B, were over three months overdue for repayment in March. Reuters [...]

Hewlett-Packard is planning on making some big changes to its personnel. According to the New York Times, HP’s CEO Meg Whitman announced the company will be cutting 30,000 or more jobs next week. The move is in an effort to save money and spend it on increasing the efficiency of the company’s sales force. HP [...]

El Paso Pipeline (NYSE:EP) announced it would acquire the remaining 14% interest in Colorado Interstate Gas and all of Cheyenne Plains Investment, which owns Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline from El Paso Corp for $635 million and assume about $242 million in debt. El Paso Corporation operates natural gas pipeline and storage facilities, transports natural gas, [...]

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Happy Friday and the listing day of Facebook. Mark and Sheryl rang the bell at NASDAQ and it was a very emotional moment because their story represents the essence of American Dream. On the trading side, the company was set to print its first trade at 11am, but it was delayed for 30 minutes. We [...]

This twentieth trading week of 2012 comes to a close with investors assessing the deteriorating situation in Greece and closely monitoring the IPO of Facebook (FB). Hi.

Canadian Pacific (CP) was upgraded today by Citigroup (C) from neutral to buy with a price target of $90, as the end of the proxy battle should mark a turnaround at the company. Shares are lower by about 2.4 percent.