Author: FX_Trdr

Concho Resources (CXO) was upgraded by Wells Forgo to outperform from market perform, as the company should continue to experience growth in the Permian basin. Shares are higher by about 2.75 percent.

The markets were lower today following a statement from the Federal Reserve which indicated no new stimulus and pledged to take measures if the job market fails to improve. On the economic front, the private sector added 163,000 jobs in July, according to the ADP employment report.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task talks to Jessica Caldwell about the auto sector.

The Daily Ticker’s Aaron Task and Henry discuss the latest Wall Street scandal.

As the saying goes, there are many possible reasons for an insider to sell a stock, but only one reason to buy — they expect to make money. So let’s look at two noteworthy recent insider buys.

In trading on Wednesday, diagnostics shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 10.1%. Leading the group were shares of China Cord Blood (CO), up about 150.6% and shares of Laboratory American (LH) up about 5.2% on the day.

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group (DTG) announced that net income in the second quarter increased by 16 percent, mainly due to lower costs. The company earned $49.4 million, or $1.69 per share, versus $42.5 million, or $1.36 per share in the same period last year.

This is your Mid-day Market Update. Stocks open to up arrows but are not slipping in the afternoon session on Monday. This over concerns of the anticipated European Central Bank talk in the week ahead.The slip below Monday’s open were led by tech stocks. However, Apple and Cisco are keeping the sector from falling further. Both gained close to 2% in the session but now have fallen slightly below 1.5%.Oil also went above the $90 a barrel mark this morning but has recently slipped below that. Analysts are saying many investors are waiting to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve will say later this week.And stocks could be lower because of the anticipation of the meeting between Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Germany’s Finance Minster Mario Draghi. They will discuss the challenges facing Europe and the global economy. Hopefully good news will come out of that to stoke the markets.Currently, the Dow is down 22 points to 13,054. The Nasdaq is down 13 and the S&P is down just 4 points. For more market updates and analysis of the business world follow us on twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung battling in U.S. court today over a big patent-infringement lawsuit.The maker of the iPhone and iPad is accusing Samsung of creating illegal knockoffs of its popular products. Apple is looking for $2.5 billion in damages in the lawsuit. Samsung claims Apple’s complaints are not valid, saying the patent infringements the company is being accused of, such as the rounded-back of Apple’s iPhone and iPad, have been industry standards for years.And this is just one of the many lawsuits in the mobile phone and tablet industry. There is even another trial involving the same two companies in the United Kingdom and Germany over similar issues.No matter what the outcome will be of this trial and the many sure to come, these lawsuits show that all of these tech companies are vying for supremacy in the market that currently at $219 billion and growing. For more on this story and analysis of the business world follow us on twitter @FNNOnline or check out our website at fnno.com.

Drugmaker Eli Lily (NYSE:LLY) receiving a downgrade from Jefferies this morning. The analyst firm’s said it downgraded the company because it expects Eli Lily’s Alzheimer’s treatment to tail in late-stage testing. Jefferies added that the drug only has a 25% chance of being effective in a niche population.Eli Lily’s rating is now underperform at Jefferies, down from a hold. The firm also dropped its price target to $35 from $37.Results from late-stage testing of the drug solanezumab is expected to be released some time this quarter. The big reason why analysts are worried is a similar drug tested by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson yielded very poor results. Currently, Eli Lily stock is down almost 1% to $43.98.