Stocks opened lower this morning and have trended down all day. There was no major news today, although major European exchanges closed the year with losses: Germany’s DAX was down -15% on the year, France’s CAC was off -17%, and the UK’s FTSE was down almost -6%. Asian equities also finished the year with losses: the Nikkei was down -17%, the Hang Seng was down -20%, and Shanghai was down nearly -22%. US Treasuries closed the year up 9.6%, better than any of the major US indexes. Crude oil is down slightly today, but higher for the year. WTI crude is down -0.68% at $98.97/barrel and Brent crude is down -0.67% at 107.29. Gold has stopped its recent slide, rising about 1.5% to $1,564.30/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 70 points to 12,217.18 (-0.57%), the NASDAQ fell more than 8 points (-0.33%) to2,605.15, and the S&P 500 fell -0.43% or more than 5 points to 1,257.60.

There were a few analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Sears Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) and Molycorp Inc. (NYSE: MCP) added to ‘strong sell list’ at Zack’s Investment Research; Rayonier Inc. (NYSE: RYN) and Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) added to ‘strong buy list at Zack’s; and Windstream Corp. (NASDAQ: WIN) started as ‘neutral’ at Piper Jaffray.

There was just a single earnings report of note scheduled today: Pansoft Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: PSOF) is down nearly -15% at $1.80 in the last half hour of trading.

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

MoSys Inc. (NASDAQ: MOSY) is up more than 37% at $4.07. The memory chip designer has sold a portfolio of patents to a subsidiary of Tessera Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: TSRA) for $35 million in cash.

Tegal Corp. (NASDAQ: TGAL) is up more than 40% at $3.24. The green energy product maker has sold patents valued at about $4 million.

American Realty Investors Inc. (NYSE: ARL) is up more than 19% at $1.80. The real estate investment company could be responding to technical breakthrough, or there could be some short covering going on.

Meru Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: MERU) is up nearly 22% at $4.17. The wireless networking company could also be gaining from short covering. As of December 15th, about 25% of the company’s shares were short.

Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) is up nearly 10% at $9.32. The wireless carrier has been mentioned as a possible takeover target for AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) now that AT&T’s deal for T-Mobile USA has been abandoned.

US markets are closed Monday. Stay tuned for Tuesday. Here are the noteworthy events on the schedule (all times Eastern):

• 10:00 a.m. – ISM manufacturing index
• 10:00 a.m. – Construction spending
• 11:30 a.m. – 3- and 6-month Treasury bill auction
• 2:00 p.m. – Federal Open Market Committee minutes released

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Have a Happy New Year!

Paul Ausick

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