This report is a mid-day check of some of the more notable stocks that have hit a 52-week high or low so far today. It is a brief list, and not meant to be a complete listing. 52-Week High: Eldorado Gold Corp. (NYSE: EGO) high of $19.07. Gold miners are taking some benefit from a recent resurgance of gold prices to near record highs over the lea...

EpiCept Corporation (Nasdaq: EPCT) 36.4% LOWER; announced today that it entered into definitive agreements for the purchase of approximately 6.1 million shares of its common stock at $1.10 per share, five year warrants to purchase up to approximately 4.6 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.57 per share exercisable beginning De...

Gainers Semiconductor HOLDRs (NYSE: SMH) up 1.47% to $27.57. Semis up today ahead of Micron’s (NYSE: MU) third quarter earnings report, expected after the market closes today, and the Supreme Court overturning a portion of the Sarbanes-Oxley law which would create a public oversight board for corporate accounting practices, deeming it uncon...

UPGRADES Deutsche Bank reinstates coverage on Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and upgrades the stock from Hold to Buy. The firm also raises its price target on DOW shares from $30 to $32. Click Here for more color. BMO upgrades Amylin Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMLN) from ‘Under Perform’ to ‘Market Perform’. Raises price target from...

EpiCept Corporation (Nasdaq: EPCT) 36.4% LOWER; announced today that it entered into definitive agreements for the purchase of approximately 6.1 million shares of its common stock at $1.10 per share, five year warrants to purchase up to approximately 4.6 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.57 per share exercisable beginning De...

Noble Corporation (NYSE: NE) today announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which it will acquire privately held FDR Holdings Limited (”Frontier”) in a cash transaction which values the enterprise at $2.16 billion. Frontier is an independent drilling company consisting of three dynamically positione...

There was a positive response to the G20’s stance on deficit reduction and banking sector reform ...

US stocks rallied, boosted by data showing personal spending was stronger than expected last month and following the G20 meeting where leaders agreed to delay far-reaching policy changes on bank regulation ...

Exchanges are racing to get traders into facilities where they can put their computer trading systems next to the exchange’s matching system ...

Mining and oil companies help London’s benchmark index hold steady, with banks taking confirmation of new capital requirements after the G20 summit in their stride ...