Facebook boosted its IPO by 25% to 421.2 million shares from 337.4 million shares as holders chose to raise their offering to 241.3 million from 337.4 million, according to its ever evolving S-1 filing. The company still sees about $6.4 billion of net proceeds if the IPO prices at $36 midpoint. The company’s CEO will [...]

This is what’s in the news for Tuesday, May 15, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports Macy’s (NYSE:M) is building a network of online-sales distribution centers around the country in the backrooms of its stores, responding to a distribution war going on in the retail business increasingly being won by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN). The Wall Street [...]

Lam Research (LRCX) was downgraded today by JP Morgan (JPM) to underweight from neutral with a price target of $35, as the firm expects slower growth during the second half of the year. Shares are lower by about 4.9 percent.

Barclays (BCS) was upgraded today by UBS (UBS) from neutral to buy with a price target of $13.85, as the firm believes that the stock is attractive at current price levels. Shares are higher by about one percent.

In trading on Wednesday, precious metals shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 2.2%. Leading the group were shares of Seabridge Gold (SA), up about 6.3% and shares of Silvercorp Metals (SVM) up about 6.2% on the day.

Chico’s (CHS) announced that it earned $53.6 million, or 32 cents per share in its most recent fiscal quarter, versus $45.9 million, or 26 cents per share, in the same period last year, beating analyst estimates of 30 cents per share. Revenue increased by 21 percent to $650.8 million, beating estimates of $628.1 million.

First job finances with Rick Reagan 5-16-12

Statoil (STO) was upgraded today by UBS (UBS) from neutral to buy with a price target of $29.98 as the firm believes that the company’s financial and operational performance has improved. Shares are lower by about four tenths of a percent.

Amazon. om (AMZN) was upgraded today by Credit Suisse (CS) to outperform from neutral with a price target of $270, as recent investments made by the company should start to pay off and add to earnings soon.

Jim Hanna: Don’t Let Divorce Derail Your Finances

Bargain hunters are wise to pay careful attention to insider buying, because although there are many various reasons for an insider to sell a stock, presumably the only reason they would use their hard-earned dollars to make a purchase, is that they expect to make money. Today we look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry Blodget interview Simon Johnson about JPMorgan’s $2 billion tradong loss

Saks (SKS) announced that it earned $32.1 million, or 18 cents per share, versus $28.4 million, or 16 cents per share, in the same period last year. Excluding construction related costs, the company would have earned 19 cents per share.

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson handed in his resignation letter today. The company is reshuffling its board and the head of global media, Ross Levinsohn, was named the interim CEO.It’s hard to say if the investors were more upset about Thompson’s original misrepresentation or the way he addressed this matter last week. He told Yahoo employees [...]

Spanish government is asking domestic banks to put aside extra cash to buffer the potential real estate price swings. This time the top five lenders will set aside €15B and this is the second time that the Spanish government demanded so in 3 months. In February, banks were asked to increase their capital buffer requirements [...]

Arch Coal (ACI) was upgraded today by UBS (UBS) from neutral to buy with a price target of $11 as most of the negative catalysts that were dragging down the share price, including the debt/dividend overhang, are now in the past. Shares are higher by about 1.2 percent.

Stocks rallying off earlier losses as Greek leaders set a meeting for tomorrow in an effort to prevent a possible exit from the Euro. Traders say that meeting is supposed to take place at 7am New York time on Tuesday.

In trading on Monday, specialty retail shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.1%. Leading the group were shares of Golfsmith International Holdings (GOLF), up about 28.2% and shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) up about 1.8% on the day.