Throughout the extraordinary surge in Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s share price, a persistent question has lingered: Why is the stock still so cheap? One overlooked answer may be that Apple’s accounting isn’t as conservative as it used to be.

After topping $500 a share this week, the iPhone and iPad maker now has a $468 billion market capitalization. Yet Apple trades for only 14.3 times its earnings for the previous four quarters -- about the same as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index’s price-earnings ratio -- in spite of growth that’s far above average. Revenue last quarter rose 73 percent to $46.3 billion, while earnings more than doubled to $13.1 billion.

Many theories have been floated for why such a rapidly expanding company with such loyal customers would trade for so little. Perhaps investors believe Apple will cling to its $97.6 billion hoard of cash and marketable securities, rather than pay a fat dividend. Others have suggested a lack of confidence about the future. It’s a consumer-electronics company, after all, and competition is brutal.

While each of those points has merit, here’s an explanation that hasn’t gotten enough attention: Thanks to an accounting- rule change for which it lobbied, Apple gets to book revenue from sales of bundled products such as iPhones -- which include hardware, software, services and upgrade rights -- more quickly than it used to. In short, one reason Apple’s earnings have been so high is accounting inflation, and the market realizes this.

Restated Numbers

The easiest way to see the rule change’s impact is to look back at the two sets of numbers Apple reported for fiscal 2009. Originally, the company said it had $5.7 billion of net income for the year on $36.5 billion of revenue. Then in January 2010 Apple retroactively adopted the new accounting principles and restated its previous numbers. The restatement boosted Apple’s fiscal 2009 net income 44 percent to $8.2 billion. Revenue was revised to $42.9 billion, 17 percent higher than originally reported.

Nothing changed economically, of course. Only the accounting did. On the surface, though, Apple’s valuation looked cheaper under the new reporting regime than under the old one.

On Dec. 31, 2009, for instance, Apple had a market capitalization of about $191 billion. Using the fiscal 2009 earnings that Apple initially reported, its price-earnings ratio that day was about 33. Using its restated numbers, the ratio would have been about 23. My guess is a similar effect is occurring today: Had it not been for the rule change, Apple’s P/E ratio would be higher, because the “E” would be lower.

“It would appear that the market continues to consider a significant component of Apple’s revenues and gross profit to be presently unearned and not deserving of a normal market multiple,” said Charles Mulford, an accounting professor and director of the Financial Reporting and Analysis Lab at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

Apple was one of a handful of companies that lobbied the Financial Accounting Standards Board for the new rules in 2009. The impact for Apple seems to have been greater than for most others, probably because of the nature of its products. Dell Inc. (DELL) said the rule switch had no material impact on its results. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) said the same. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ)’s earnings got a slight boost.

The FASB rule change had two main parts. One related to so- called multiple-deliverable arrangements, while another covered software sales. When Apple sells an iPhone, for example, the hardware and software are delivered at the time of sale. Other deliverables include the rights to future software upgrades and other features.

Economic Life

The old accounting rules required Apple to defer large chunks of its revenue and recognize the amounts gradually over each product’s economic life. While the details are complicated, the gist under the new rules is that Apple is allowed to record more revenue upfront.

What’s unknowable is how much different Apple’s latest results would have looked had the FASB not amended its standards. There’s no way to tell from the company’s disclosures. Plus, Apple adopted the new accounting principles right before it introduced the iPad. An Apple spokeswoman, Kristin Huguet, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Let me be clear: I’m not opining on whether Apple is overvalued or undervalued, and I’m certainly not making any predictions about its stock price. The point here is that it makes sense for Apple’s earnings multiple to have declined significantly once you consider how the company’s accounting has changed. Read More

Analysts at Oppenheimer (NYSE: OPY) upped their price target on shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) from $510.00 to $570.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. They currently have an “outperform” rating on the company’s shares.

Separately, analysts at Barclays Capital (NYSE: BCS) reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note to investors on Tuesday. Analysts at Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note to investors on Tuesday. Also, analysts at Canaccord Genuity raised their price target on shares of Apple from $650.00 to $665.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, February 9th. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Apple Inc. (Apple) along with its subsidiaries is engaged in designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and sells a range of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and Mac OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a range of accessory, service and support offerings. It also sells and delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App Store, iBookstore, and Mac App Store.The Company sells to consumers, small and mid-sized businesses (SMB), and education, enterprise and government customers. During the year ended November 24, 2011, the Company, as part of a consortium, acquired Nortel Networks Corporation’s patent portfolio.

Shares of Apple opened at 502.21 on Friday. Apple has a one year low of $310.50 and a one year high of $526.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $445.9 and its 200-day moving average is $402.3. The company has a market cap of $468.2 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.29. Read More

Compare to benchmark: DJIA S&P500 Global Dow NASDAQ Technlgy ... Dividend Yield: A company's dividend expressed as a percentage of its current stock ... Read More

Chart Cursor. Track Ball; Crosshair; Off. OHLC Values. On; Off. RESET. Compare AAPL to: Dow Jones (^DJI); NASDAQ (^IXIC); S&P 500 (^GSPC). Draw. Cancel ... Read More

Though its influence has finally waned somewhat in recent years, for over a century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been, and, for many, remains, synonymous with the stock market. News reports continue to proclaim “the market” is up or down, referring to this index.

Yet, the index consists of a mere 30 stocks, not particularly representative of the market, and is price-weighted- a nonsensical choice inferior to market-capitalization-weighted indexes such as the S&P 500, which, with 500 stocks is much more representative of the market as a whole.

The fine folks at Bespoke Investment Group often have fascinating insights. They recently published a fascinating article, showing what would have happened if Apple(AAPL) had been added to the index in June 2009 rather than Cisco(CSCO). This one single swap would have left the index 14% higher today, at an all time high. The fact that the selection of a single stock can lead to such a wide divergence in the index over such a short period of time should give anyone pause before paying any heed to this index.

The numbers, from Bespoke:

Even though AAPL was not chosen to replace GM, it is always fun to see what might have been. To that end, we have recalculated the performance of the DJIA to reflect how it would have done if AAPL was added to the DJIA instead of CSCO. The chart below shows the current DJIA (blue line) compared to the ‘Apple’ DJIA (red line). Currently, the DJIA is trading at a level of roughly 12,865, which is about 12.1% off its all-time high of 14,198.10 from October 2007. If AAPL was in the DJIA, though, the index would not only be significantly higher (14%), but it would also be trading at an all-time high of 14,636. Granted, you cannot go back and change the past, but we wonder if investor sentiment would be more positive if the DJIA was trading at record highs? Read More

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 267.01 points, or 2.3 percent, at 11,808.79, closing near its highs of the session. All but two of 30 components ended higher, led by Travelers Cos. and American Express Co.

McDonald's was among the big gainers, with shares rising 3.7 percent, after the restaurant chain reported a nearly 9 percent gain in earnings, helped by a boost in sales both in the U.S. and Europe. The stock tapped an intraday high of $92.45 before closing at a record.

"Stocks are being driven by strong earnings, economic numbers that aren't awful, and hope that Europe won't be a disaster," said Matthew Tuttle, chief investment officer at Tuttle Wealth Management in Stamford, Conn.

So far in the third-quarter earnings season, 75 percent of companies have reported earnings per share above estimates. That's roughly in line with the 74 percent that beat in the past four quarters, according to FactSet.

Wall Street, however, was cool to a handful of bellwether stocks following results.

General Electric Co. shares fell 1.9 percent, leading Dow decliners, after the financial and industrial conglomerate matched but did not top Wall Street views, a first since 2008, and analysts noted a slower growth in industrial orders.

Microsoft Corp. edged up 0.4 percent after the tech company reported results largely in line with analysts' expectations.

With Friday's gains, the Dow quit a choppy 10-session stretch of sessions when it closed in a different direction from each of the prior sessions. The Dow has now closed higher for two days. The index climbed 1.4 percent for the week to log its fourth-straight week of gains -- the longest stretch since January.

The Nasdaq composite ended up 38.84 points, or 1.5 percent, at 2,637.46. It slid 1.1 percent for the week, its first down week in three.

The S&P 500 gained 22.86 points, or 1.9 percent, to 1,238.25. A 2.8 percent rally in consumer discretionary stocks led gains for all 10 industry groups as Harman International Industries and Chipotle Mexican Grill shares surged after both companies reported results.

For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.1 percent, its third week of gains, the longest weekly winning stretch since February.

The S&P 500's financial sector ended higher Friday, extending a rally in European bank stocks as investors took some confidence from a joint statement Thursday that Germany and France were devising a comprehensive rescue plan to be discussed at the E.U. summit Sunday. Read More

The global forecast for the Asian markets is fairly negative after renewed concerns about the debt problem in Greece, along with disappointing economic data from the United States. Gold and oil stocks are expected to fall, along with technology, steel and financial shares. The European markets finished mixed on Wednesday and the U.S. bourses were sharply lower, and the Asian markets are tipped to follow the latter lead.

The Hang Seng finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, properties and technology stocks.

For the day, the index collected 232.76 points or 1.29 percent to finish at 18,309.22 after trading between 18,203.99 and 18,426.29 on volume of 57.44 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Among the gainers, Bank of East Asia added 1.8 percent, while New World Development jumped 2.6 percent and Lenovo climbed 2.6 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is pessimistic as stocks fell on Wednesday, giving back ground after seeing significant strength in the previous session. The pullback was partly due to a negative reaction to the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report. The Beige Book noted that the twelve Fed districts indicated continued economic growth in September, although many districts described the pace of growth as "modest" or "slight" and noted weaker or less certain outlooks for business conditions. While the report, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the twelve Fed districts, did not provide much new information, it still generated considerable selling pressure on Wall Street.

The choppy trading seen earlier in the session came as traders digested the latest batch of earnings news, including disappointing quarterly results from tech giant Apple (AAPL). Apple reported fourth quarter earnings of $7.05 per share on revenues of $28.3 billion, while analysts had been expecting the iPod and iPad maker to report earnings of $7.38 per share on revenues of $29.7 billion.

Meanwhile, semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) reported third quarter adjusted earnings that exceeded analyst estimates. The company also forecast better than expected fourth quarter revenues.

On the economic front, the Commerce Department reported a bigger than expected increase in September housing starts, reflecting a jump in construction of multi-family dwellings. Housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 658,000 in September, 15 percent above the revised August estimate of 572,000. Economists had expected starts to increase to 590,000. Read More

Commodities were under pressure amid Dollar strength and concerns over global growth. Crude oil was falling 2.4% to $77.40 per barrel, which in turn added pressure to the energy sector, which was already seeing weakness as coal companies were being hit after Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), the Missouri based coal producer, cut its guidance below consensus last Friday. The stock was tumbling 8.57% to $13.33 after posting a new 52-week low at $13.25.

The news also pressured Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR), the steam and metallurgical coal producer, which extended its losses from last quarter. Alpha was the weakest in the sector, tumbling 7.46% to $16.36 after posting a new yearly low at $16.10. The stock was the worst performer of the S&P 500 last quarter, plunging 61%.

Financials were also under pressure, on concerns over the European debt crisis and its impact on the European banking system and as shares of Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, broke down below $6 per share after a report from FBR Capital Markets stating that the federal housing insurance program may be forced to deny bank claims for money lost in home loan foreclosures, costing them another $13.5 billion in mortgage-related losses, amid increasing political pressures to deny claims. According to the analyst Bank of America could face $2 billion more in losses.

Reports that its website was again malfunctioning on Monday, despite reports that it had fixed the issues over the weekend were affecting the stock as well. Credit Suisse reduced its target price to $13 and cut its estimates on the lender, but still reiterated it’s outperform rating. The stock nevertheless broke down and was plunging more than 8% to post a new multi year low at $5.60

Rival Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), San Francisco based financial firm, was falling 2.26% to $23.57 after the FBR Capital report said that Wells could face up to $3 billion in losses from claims that the FHA could deny.

Other stocks seeing notable moves were

Alcoa (NYSE:AA), the aluminum producer, was tumbling 5.64% to $9.03 after posting a new multi-year low at $8.95. The stock was feeling the pressure of lower metal prices on concern over the global economy and as it was downgraded to a Hold from a Buy at Deutsche Bank.

AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR), the parent of American Airlines, was plunging 25% to $22.22 after posting a new multiyear low of $1.75. The stock was falling the most since 2001 on bankruptcy speculation, as the airline has to deal with high jet fuel prices and higher labor costs than competitors, amid an aging fleet.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was falling 113% to $377 amid broad weakness in the market. The stock was outperforming in the session ahead of the unveiling of its new iPhone scheduled for tomorrow. Ticonderoga issued a research note in which it states that Apple stock has not performed like in past years ahead of its new iPhone launch, given the underperformance in the last 2 weeks. Last week the stock tumble close to 6% amid concerns over the iPad production estimates, as Amazon unveiled a new tablet and JPMorgan said that its production orders for the 4th quarter had been cut 25%. Jefferies acknowledged JPMorgan’s research note, saying that iPad production plans have scaled back but as a result of a shift of a portion of its supply chain to Brazil and an earlier than anticipated launch of the iPad 3 for January 2012. The firm reiterated its Buy rating and $500 price target, however this failed to lift the stock. Apple is now trading between its 50day moving average at the $385 area and its 200day moving average at the $353 area.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), the video subscription service, was adding 1.18% to $114.61 after it was named long Research Tactical Idea at Morgan Stanley. The firm said that Wall Street was not valuing the streaming business correctly and that they expect price to rebound in the next months. Netflix tumbled 57% last quarter, as the stock was hit after the lowered guidance in subscriptions following customers cancelling its DVD mail in plan at a faster pace than anticipated in reaction to a price increase.

Priceline.com (NASDAQ:PCLN), the name your price online travel company, was climbing 1.26% to $455.13 after it was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

United Continental (NYSE:UAL), the world’s largest airline, was tumbling 10% to $17.41 after it was downgraded to a Hold from Buy at Citigroup. The stock was also receiving pressure from the price action at AMR.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), the Internet media company that owns the second largest search engine, was gaining 2.24% to $13.47 after trading as high as $14 on continued M&A speculation. Jack MA, Chariman of Alibaba Group, said at a speaking investment in Stanford that its company is very interested in Yahoo. The company has been involved in takeover speculation since it ousted its CEO Carol Bartz. Read More

Financials were clobbered amid the Greek default fears and concern a potential recession in the U.S. and global slowdown could dampen the banks’ earnings potential. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, broke down below $6 per share after a report from FBR Capital Markets stating that the federal housing insurance program may be forced to deny bank claims for money lost in home loan foreclosures due to political pressures added pressure in the stock. The Charlotte, NC based bank traded as low as $5.52 per share, a level not seen since March 2009 even as Credit Suisse reiterated its outperform rating, while reducing its target price to $13.

Citigroup (NYSE:C), the third largest lender, was also under heavy pressure, logging the biggest decline in the sector. Citi tumbled 9.8% to $23.11 after logging a new low at $23.05 on weakness in the sector and on news that it was facing a probe by a Japanese regulator for various issues. Credit Suisse also cut its target price to $50 from $57.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), the operator of a global securities business, tumbled 7.7% to $12.47 after posting a new multiyear low at $12.36. Morgan has been under heavy pressure on concern over its exposure to European banks. Jim Cramer said earlier that Morgan is a great long-term buy and said that the market has overreacted to the exposure to Europe. Other analysts also said that Morgan is also a Buy as it trades at half tangible book value.

Commodities were under pressure amid Dollar strength and concerns over global growth. Crude oil fell 2% to close below $78 per barrel, which in turn added pressure to the energy sector, which was already seeing weakness as coal companies were being hit after Arch Coal (NYSE:ACI), the Missouri based coal producer, cut its guidance below consensus last Friday. The stock plunged 9.33% to $13.22 after posting a new 52-week low at $13.09.

The news also pressured Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE:ANR), the steam and metallurgical coal producer, which extended its losses from last quarter. Alpha was the weakest in the sector, tumbling 9.33% to $16.04 after posting a new yearly low at $16. The stock was the worst performer of the S&P 500 last quarter, plunging 61%.

But Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) buckled the trend in the sector and was able to add 0.33% to $27.15.

Lower prices in oil are normally a boost for airlines, however this time the space was under heavy selling pressure. AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR), the parent of American Airlines, plunged 33.11% to $1.98 after posting a new multiyear low of $1.75. The stock tumbled the most since 2001 on bankruptcy speculation, as the airline has to deal with high jet fuel prices and higher labor costs than competitors, amid an aging fleet.

And US Airways (NYSE:LCC), the Phoenix based airline, tumbled 15.82% to $4.63 after posting a new multiyear low at $4.53. The stock traded at levels not seen since 2009 after it was downgraded to a Sell from Hold at Citigroup.

In the materials sector, gold received a lift from safe haven demand, rallying to trade above $1650 per ounce. This lifted shares of Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM), the largest gold producer, to a gain of 0.51% to $63.27.

Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), the largest publicly traded copper producer, fell 1.9% to $29.87 on lower copper prices, which continued to be under pressure from fears of faltering demand. The Stock posted a new 52-week low at $29.85 despite Deutsche Bank upgrading it to a Buy from Hold.

In tech land, chipmakers were a big dragged to both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), the dynamic random access memory chips maker, plunged 14.09% to $4.33 after posting a new record low at $4.32. Micron posted the biggest decline in the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100. Last week the company posted an unexpected loss, missing earnings estimates as pricing pressures in DRAM memory impacted results.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), the world leader in visual computing technologies, tumbled 5.60% to $11.81 following weakness in the space and after Needham lowered its estimates on the space. Last quarter NVIDIA tumbled 26%.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, fell 1.76% to $374.60, outperforming the broad market index and the NASDAQ ahead of the unveiling of its new iPhone scheduled for tomorrow. Ticonderoga issued a research note in which it states that Apple stock has not performed like in past years ahead of its new iPhone launch, given the underperformance in the last 2 weeks. Several rumors circulated aabout what would be unveiled tomorrow but the most persistent one is that it will be the iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 will have a better camera and CDMA and GSM capability and a thinner form factor, while the 4S will be a revamped iPhone 4, tailored as a cheaper offering. Last week, Apple fell close to 6% amid concerns over the iPad production estimates, as Amazon unveiled a new tablet and JPMorgan said that its production orders for the 4th quarter had been cut 25%. Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and $500 price target, saying that the production cuts are a result of a shift of a portion of its supply chain to Brazil and an earlier than anticipated launch of the iPad 3 for January 2012; however the stock failed to stage any meaningful reaction to the firm’s move. Apple’s price action placed the stock between its 50day moving average at the $385 area and its 200day moving average at the $353 area.

Other notable movers in the session were the automakers. Ford (NYSE:F), the Dearborn, MI based automaker, tumbled 3.1% to $9.37 and traded very close to its yearly low of $9.32. Ford posted a 9% increase in September sales over a year ago period, however concerns over s recession in the U.S. and in Europe weighed on the stock.

General Motors (NYSE:GM), the second largest automaker, also posted a sales increase for September, with sales jumping 20%. GM still fell 2.23% to $19.37. The company disappointed with sales of its electrical vehicle the Volt, with sales coming well below what the company expected for the year of the launch.

Jim Cramer, host of the Mad Money TV show, said that he would not buy automakers despite car sales tracking in the U.S. at the 12.5 million for the year, due to the heavy exposure to Europe.

And Eastman Kodak (NYSE:EK), the maker of digital cameras, film and printers, was also a notable mover, rebounding 71.7% to $1.34 after the company denied it has a bankruptcy plan. Last week, the stock lost more than half of its value following new that it had access $160 million from a credit line facility and on news that it was hiring a law firm specialized in restructuring. Read More

AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR), the parent of American Airlines, will be in focus and after yesterday it plunged 33.11% to $1.98 after posting a new multiyear low of $1.75. The stock tumbled the most since 2001 on bankruptcy speculation, as the airline has to deal with high jet fuel prices and higher labor costs than competitors, amid an aging fleet. Dahlman Rose noted that the company made a debt deal last week raising $725.7 million and has the option of doing a second tranche of $200 million, but at this point all of the airline assets have been encumbered. The firm said that AMR has other assets it could sell to raise capital, but it continues to be concern about liquidity, but this is no different than a week or two weeks ago, they believe the company needs to do something drastic, however AMR management is intent on not filling for bankruptcy, even if it’s a pre-packaged deal.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was adding 0.11% to $375.01 in pre-market, as the day of the iPhone unveil event finally arrived. The Let’s talk iPhone event is scheduled to start at 1 pm EST, and will likely include not only the new iPhone but also the new carriers, like Sprint that will begin selling it. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint committed to buying at least 30.5 million iPhones to sell, even though that the carrier will likely loose money on the deal through 2014. The iPhone is an important contributor to Apple’s success with more than 55 million iPhones shipped so far in the first nine months of the company’s current year, making it the best selling smartphone in the world. It’s expected that the new iPhone 5 will have a larger screen, improved resolution, and a better camera. The device is also expected to have a faster Internet connection that will likely be three times as fast as the current Apple’s iPhone 4, as it will include a new modem that is intended to yield a 4G like experience. The metal casing is also likely to return with this model, which will also include a redesigned antenna aiming to fix the antenna issues that the previous devices had. Amid the many new features, the iPhone 5 will also include the iCloud service and Apple’s new-patented voice control feature. Shares of Apple had underperformed in the last 2-weeks leading to the event amid concerns over iPad production cuts and as fears of the global economy slowing down, spurred concern that the company will not be able to meet heightened expectations, as also competition from the likes of Samsung and Amazon increases. Apple broke below its 50day moving average at $385 last week and now is trading between its 50day and 200day moving average at $353.33. Separately, on the Samsung and Apple patent wars, an Australian court ruling regarding a selling ban of Samsung’s line of Galaxy tablets is expected sometime this week. Samsung had planned to launch the device in Australia last week but decided to wait until a the court makes its ruling.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), the largest U.S. lender, was falling 1% to $5.7 in pre-market, trading in new multiyear low territory and levels not seen since March 2009, with the market basically pricing a 2008-2009 doom scenario for the Charlotte, NC based bank. Weakness in European banks on escalating fears of a banking crisis in Europe, as Greece is looking less able to avoid default will maintain pressure in U.S. banks despite limited exposure to Europe. Participants keep dumping the stock amid the unknown and uncertainty of the headlines from overseas and from back home, where mounting political pressure continues to build against the banks. According to FBR Capital BofA faces $2 billion of additional losses as that the federal housing insurance program may be forced to deny bank claims for money lost in home loan foreclosures due to political pressures. Yesterday Credit Suisse cut its target price to $13, while reiterating its Outperform rating.

Ford Motor (NYSE:F), the Dearborn, MI based automaker, was falling 0.21% to $9.35 in pre-market. According to CNBC, the company had reached a tentative labor agreement with the UAW and will hold a press conference at 9 am eastern. Yesterday, Ford posted a 9% increase in September sales over a year ago period, as industry wide U.S. auto sales increased 10% in September despite strong economic headwinds. The industry sold 1,053,761 light vehicles, pushing the seasonally adjusted annual selling rate to 13.1 million, the best sale rate since the April’s 13.2 million. However concerns over s recession in the U.S. and in Europe weighed on the stock. Jim Cramer, host of the Mad Money TV show, said ahead of the sales figures release that he would not buy automakers despite car sales tracking in the U.S. at the 12.5 million for the year, due to the heavy exposure to Europe.

Molycorp (NYSE:MCP), the owner of the world’s largest non-Chinese rare earth metals deposits, was jumping 6.27% to $32.01 on reports that its set to announce a new discovery at a Conference in Washington sponsored by the Energy Department. The stock plunged 41.8% last month on worries pricing for rare earth will be under pressure amid a global economic slowdown, especially as prices have fallen substantially after hitting highs in July. Last month, JPMorgan downgraded the stock to a Neutral from Overweight.

Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), the luxury casino operator, will be in focus after the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported that September gross revenues jumped 38.8% year over year to 21.2 billion patacas. The revenue in August had surged 57% year over year to a record of 24.77 billion patacas. Wynn generated about 71% of its second quarter revenue and about 70% of its second quarter adjusted EBITDA in Macau. Casino stocks with operations in Macau have been under selling pressure in the last week on concern gaming revenues in the Asian gambling capital will suffer amid a Chinese economic slowdown and tighter credit. Its estimated that 2/3 of gaming revenues in Macau come from mainland Chinese that gamble with borrowed money from tour operators, which are financed through China’s underground lending system. Wynn has cut its year to date gain to 6.6%.

Its rival, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), the owner and operator of casino resorts and convention centers in the U.S., Macau, and Singapore, was falling 0.57% to $36.50, extending its move below calculated support at $40.66. Las Vegas Sands generated about 50% of its revenue and 40% of its EBITDA from Macau. The company’s president said over the weekend that they were bullish in Macau and despite the recent concerns the company has not seen any negative signals in its business at the Asian gambling capital. Year to date the stock has tumble 20%. Read More

In the face of the shrinking economy and broad market decline, AAPL yesterday surged 2.8 percent at $411.65 a share for a market valuation of $381.62 billion. The Cupertino, California gadget king has been worth more than Exxon Mobil since August 2011. The latter used to be the world’s most-valued company bar none for a long time. Apple’s market cap is also approaching the combined value of Microsoft and Google. Read More

US equities mostly continued Thursday's slide as worries over the direction of the global economy continue to grip investors.

As at 10.33 am EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 21.12 points, or 0.2%, at 10,712.71. The S&P 500 however recovered slightly, trading up 0.07% or 0.84 points at 1,130.40 and the tech-focused NASDAQ was 0.35% higher at 2,464.21.

Europe's debt crisis has gripped markets for the past months, and to make matters worse, in an interview with Reuters, Deutsche Bank warned that European banks could suffer more losses than anticipated on Greek debt.

Ratings agency Moody's also downgraded the credit ratings of eight Greek banks, slashing them further down into junk status.

G-20 finance ministers said they are committed to a "strong and coordinated international response" to address the concerns facing the global economy, specifically with regards to Europe. The group highlighted that it will implement actions to expand the bailout fund for debt-stricken countries in the eurozone by its next meeting in October.Read More

A city-wide power outage hit refineries in Texas City, Texas, during the evening of Sept. 22. As of the morning of Sept. 23, Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) said units at its 76,000 barrel-a-day refinery were back online; a source familiar with the operations of BP PLC's BP 406,570 barrel-a-day refinery said there was no significant impact. Valero Energy Corp. VLO was investigating the impact at its 225,000 barrel-a-day refinery in the city.

Alon USA Energy Inc. ALJ reported a fire at its 53,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Paramount, Calif., on Sept. 22. The company did not disclose the extent of the damage.

Total SA TOT is performing maintenance work for six weeks at its 232,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur, La., that includes work on the crude distillation unit and fluid catalyst cracker, a source familiar with the refinery said Sept. 21.

Alon USA Energy Inc. ALJ took the FCCU offline at its 67,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Big Spring, Texas, for unplanned maintenance, the company said Sept. 21 in a filing with state regulators.

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM completed maintenance turnarounds for the hydroformer and hydrodesulfurization units at its refinery in Baytown, Texsa, a company spokeswoman said Sept 20. The 560,640 barrel-a-day refinery is still performing maintenance on the aromatics and flexicoker units, the spokeswoman said.

Sunoco Inc. SUN on Sept. 9 placed a hydrotreater unit at its Philadelphia refinery in circulation mode. The unit shut down by safety manager due to faulty instrument, a government filing made public on Sept. 19 said.

Valero Energy Corp. VLO reported flaring on Sept. 18 because of equipment failure at its 195,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Memphis, Tenn., according to a government filing made public on Sept. 18. The malfunctioning unit wasn't specified in the refiner's report to the National Response Center.

BP PLC BP said it would conduct planned flaring through Sept. 19 at its 253,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Carson, Calif., as it does routine maintenance work. There would be no significant impact to production, a soure with the company said.

Total shut down a crude distillation unit over the weekend at its 232,00 barrel-a-day refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, traders said Sept. 12. The company planned the unit to be back up within the week, traders said.

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM on Sep. 12 said planned work at its joint venture refinery in Chalmette, La., caused emissions at the sulfur plant on Sep. 11. The work is expected to continue for less than two weeks and is not expected to impact production.

PBF Energy's 193,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Delaware City, Del., experienced an emissions release of sulfur dioxide on Sep. 9 due to maintenance at the plant's hydrocracking unit, not the key gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking unit as had been reported to state regulators. The company declined to estimate when the unit would start up.

Conoco Rodeo, CA 120.0 Emissions/flaring reported on Phillips Sep. 12 owing to unspecified unit start-up.Read More

NEW YORK : Investors on Wall Street and around the world sold stocks with abandon Thursday, more convinced than ever that the United States and perhaps the globe are headed for a new recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 527 points, the second consecutive rout in the stock market since the Federal Reserve announced a change in strategy for fighting the economic slowdown.

One financial indicator after another showed that investors are quickly losing hope that the economy can keep growing. The price of oil and metals, both of which depend on economic demand, fell sharply. Traders bought bonds for safety.

"Markets rely on confidence and certainty. Right now there is neither," said John Canally, an economic strategist at LPL Financial, an investment firm in Boston.

Economic news was bad around the world. A closely watched survey in Europe indicated a recession could be on the way there, and a manufacturing survey suggested a slowdown in China, which has been one of the hottest economies. Read More

Apple's stock recently crossed the $400 threshold, leading to speculation that the company could join the elite group of companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

This speculation might be premature, as Eric Savitz writes for Forbes. There are financial hurdles preventing Apple from easily hopping on the DJIA. First, the DJIA is price-weighted, so any change in Apple's $400 stock would have a huge impact on the index. So much influence that Bespoke Investment Group said the DJIA would need to be renamed to the Dow Jones Industrial Apple.

Even a small US$1.82 change would cause the Dow Jones average to jump by 14 points. Imagine the boost the DJIA would get from Apple's stock price, which has climbed $90.89 in the past. Read More