The National Retail Federation recently announced its projections for the coming holiday season and predicted that overall holiday sales will fall by 1% over the year. In another report, Forrester Research estimated 8% growth in online holiday sales to $44.7 billion; growth will likely come at the...

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Blue Nile Inc. (NILE) reported earnings growth in the third quarter. The company is growing market share but the stock is simply overpriced. Watch for a 50% drop in the coming months.

• Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) reported fourth quarter earnings of 24 cents a share, up from last year's 10 cents, above Zacks estimates of 21 cents, as revenues dropped 3.7% to $2.42 billion. The firm raised its 2010 guidance to 15-20% earnings growth from prior guidance of 13-18% growth

• Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) shares gained 12% on their NYSE debut.  The company sold 38 million shares at $25 per share

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) lifted its price target on Ford (NYSE:F)

• The smartphone marketplace will watch today's launch of Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) much-heralded new "Droid" launch, using Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android operating system

• AIG (NYSE:AIG) reported third quarter earnings of $2.85 ex-items

• Bernstein upgraded General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) shares

• JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded Macy's (NYSE:M) shares

• Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) upgraded Blue Nile (NASDAQ:NILE) shares, lifting the price target from $30 to $50

Zacks Investment Research

This morning, the jobless claims numbers were much less than expected.  Adding to CSCO’s positive outlook from last night, the market was in a rallying mood from the open.  In our Trading Room, I commented: November 5, 2009 6:58 AM good morning! market nice economic data this morning; market should have a solid day to test SPX [...]