24/7 Wall St. Closing Bell -- May 30, 2012 (NOK, LNKD, AIG, ABX, LULU, BAH, TFM, HSOL, YGE, JOSB, CIEN, JDAS, JOY, MOV, SAI, VRA, PBY, SHLD, EPD)

The three major US stock indexes opened lower this morning as investors did not pay attention to a report that the eurozone would allow its bailout fund to be used to recapitalize the continent’s banks. And with good reason — shortly following the report, Germany reiterated its “well-known” opposition to such a plan (more coverage here). The report on pending home sales came in at a disappointing -5.5% month-over-month reading (more coverage here). The US dollar index rose today, now up 0.64% at 83.007. The GSCI commodity index is down about -0.5% at 617.67, with commodities prices down virtually across the board on the strengthening dollar. WTI crude oil closed down -3.2% at $87.82/barrel, its lowest close since October, and Brent crude trades down -3.2% at $103.27/barrel. Natural gas fell -2.5% today to $2.42/thousand cubic feet. Gold is settled up 1% today, at $1,565.70/ounce.

The unofficial closing bells put the DJIA down nearly 161 points to 12,319.86 (-1.28%), the NASDAQ fell nearly 34 points (-1.17%) to 2,837.36, and the S&P 500 fell -1.43% or more than 19 points to 1,313.32.

There were several analyst upgrades and downgrades today, including Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) cut to ‘sell’ at MKM; LinkedIn Corp. (NYSE: LNKD) raised to ‘buy’ at Citigroup; American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) raised to ‘buy’ at Sandler O’Neill; Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE: ABX) started as ‘neutral’ at Sterne Agee; and Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) started as ‘outperform’ at Wedbush.

Earnings reports since markets closed last night have led to some price changes as of the last half hour of trading today: Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp (NYSE: BAH) is up 14.2% at $16.99; The Fresh Market Inc. (NASDAQ: TFM) is up 14.6% at $55.97 after posting a new 52-week of $56.38 earlier today; Hanwha Solarone Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSOL) is up 2.6% at $0.90; Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is down -0.4% at $2.75; and Jos. A Banks Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) is down -6.7% at $44.59.

On Thursday, we are scheduled to get earnings reports from Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN), JDA Software Group Inc. (NASDAQ: JDAS), Joy Global Inc. (NYSE: JOY), Movado Group Inc. (NYSE: MOV), SAIC Inc. (NYSE: SAI), and Vera Bradley Inc. (NASDAQ: VRA).

Other standouts from today include the following stocks:

Pep Boys – Manny, Joe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) is down -19.7% at $8.90. The auto parts retailer’s acquisition by private equity firm Gores was killed. More coverage here.

Sears Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SHLD) is down -8.7% at $52.50. The retailer had no news today, but an overall lack of confidence in retailers focused on Sears today. More coverage here.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is down -2.2% at $49.00. The pipeline MLP was downgraded by Zack’s and raises questions about the whole sector. Our coverage here.

Stay tuned for Thursday. Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto is giving a speech. We have also noted the following events on the schedule for Tuesday (all times Eastern):

• 7:30 a.m. – Challenger job-cut report
• 8:15 a.m. – ADP employment report
• 8:30 a.m. – US GDP report
• 8:30 a.m. – New claims for unemployment benefits
• 8:30 a.m. – Corporate profits
• 9:45 a.m. – Chicago PMI
• 9:45 a.m. – Bloomberg consumer comfort index
• 10:30 a.m. – EIA natural gas storage report
• 11:00 a.m. – EIA weekly petroleum status report
• 4:30 p.m. – Fed balance sheet and money supply

Paul Ausick