The price of oil dropped to less than $89 per barrel on Wednesday hitting a low of seven months as sovereign debts woes in Europe pushed markets lower. The price of oil in New York dropped to $87.90 as of 12:30 pm, down close to $2.80 per barrel from Tuesday’s close. The main reason for the drop was Spain. The European Central Bank said it did not approve a bailout plan for Bankia, Spain’s fourth largest bank, and such recapitalization could not be supported by the euro region. However, the bigger... 

Charles Taylor the former President of Liberia will most likely spend his remaining years in jail. A U.N. supported court sentenced the former leader to 50 years behind bars for war crimes. Taylor becomes the first former leader to be found guilty by an international court for war crimes, since Nazi leaders were convicted at the Nuremburg trials following the end of World War II. Taylor received his conviction for helping to plan war crimes with the rebels of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra... 

Equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) to $570.00 in a report issued on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “We recently surveyed general surgeons (n=28) to gauge interest in the use of da Vinci for new indications, beyond the early successful foothold in prostatectomy and hysterectomy. The results were more positive than we had anticipated, and point to the likely rapid and significant conversion of several large... 

Equities researchers at Sterne Agee dropped their earnings per share (EPS) estimates on shares of TRW Automotive Holdings Corp. (NYSE: TRW) in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a “buy” rating and a $59.00 target price on the company’s shares. The analysts wrote, “We have reduced our earnings assumptions for 2012 and 2013 to reflect growing concerns in Europe, especially in Spain. …TRW’s margin at the EBITDA level should decline in 2012 as the company... 

Frontline (NYSE: FRO) was downgraded by investment analysts at Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. They currently have a $6.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $2.00. The analysts wrote, “Market concerns that FRO would be seriously weakened to the benefit of Frontline 2012 (FRTN.NWTC; NR, NOK24.00) after the December 2011 restructuring of FRO, appear to be confirmed.... 

Linkedin (NASDAQ: LNKD) was upgraded by Citigroup (NYSE: C) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a $125.00 price target on the stock. The analysts wrote, “Through 4 quarters as a public company (and several years as a company), LNKD has delivered consistent and impressive results – 7 consecutive quarters of 100%+ Revenue growth, 8 consecutive quarters of 100%+ Corporate Customer growth, close to 20%... 

Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN) was upgraded by equities researchers at Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a $650.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $136.00. The analysts wrote, “Wynn shares have underperformed as controversies around Macau market growth, Okada litigation and Cotai development have clouded investors’ appreciation for one... 

Investment analysts at Sterne Agee assumed coverage on shares of EverBank Financial Corp (NASDAQ: EVER) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $13.00 price target on the stock. The analysts wrote, “We view EVER as an asset generator first, and deposit gatherer second. Since before the recession began, management has maintained strong financial and operational prudence, which has provided the company the opportunity to bolt on earning assets,... 

SunoCo Logistics Partners LP (NYSE: SXL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “We upgrade SXL to Neutral considering 1) SXL’s recent unit price pullback (SXL has declined 15.3% since the end of April compared with a 5.7% decline of the Alerian MLP Index (AMZ)), 2) wide Brent/WTI crude oil spreads (~$16/bbl currently),... 

Equities researchers at Compass Point upped their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) from $141.00 to $144.50 in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. The analysts wrote, “We continue to view AVB’s high quality portfolio as the strongest in the industry, and while we believe the stock has limited upside and is fairly valued at current price levels with an implied 5.12% cap rate, the stock is becoming... 

Equities researchers at Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) dropped their target price on shares of Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX) to $35.00 in a report issued on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “The Long Run – we continue to favour exposure to search, Russia and competitive success, we like Yandex. The Short Run – Yandex looks more stressed, the stock overhang, gross margin pressure and the emergence of an alternative way to play Russia Internet creates a pause for thought. In conclusion –... 

Investment analysts at Canaccord Genuity cut their target price on shares of Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) from $12.00 to $10.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “Consistent with our checks indicating very soft BlackBerry smartphone sales in recent months, RIM provided updated guidance for an expected operating loss for the May quarter or well below our 5.4% operating margin estimate. While RIM no longer provides guidance, RIM management does expect continued... 

Investment analysts at Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) dropped their target price on shares of Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to $10.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “RIM pre-announced a non-GAAP operating loss in FQ1 (May) due to lower handset volumes and ASPs. Our checks indicate FQ2 (Aug) could be worse Q/Q ahead of a likely Oct launch of BB10. We do not believe the hiring of strategic advisors portends an imminent sale of the company as we think BB10 (and... 

Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP) from $39.00 to $37.00 in a report issued on Wednesday. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. The analysts wrote, “We had modeled a 4Q:14 generic launch and have updated our numbers to reflect the most conservative scenario of a Sept. 15, 2013 Watson (NYSE: WPI, NC) generic. We have also taken 2013 Lidoderm revenues down by an additional $96M toaccount... 

Investment analysts at Wunderlich began coverage on shares of SandRidge Mississippian Trust II (NYSE: SDR) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. The analysts wrote, “We believe SandRidge is a solid investment for severalreasons, including: it offers a relatively high yield and the distribution should increase over the next years; it has a parent with a history of strong operating results; and once the trust’s... 

Air France announced plans to reduce staff and reduce its short- and medium-distance fleet in an effort to cut costs.  The airline said that services that are losing money and are deemed as having no prospect of making money would be suspended.  The executives at the company are trying to return the airline to growth in the face of rising competition and increasing fuel bills. Alexandre de Juniac, chief executive of Air France (a unit of Air France-KLM), said in a statement, “The objectives are... 

Cisco Systems reported that net income was up 22% in its fiscal third quarter, compared to the same quarter last year.  Cisco reported net income of $2.2 billion, or $0.40 a share, for the quarter ended April 30.  This is up from net income of $1.8 billion, or $0.33 a share, a year ago.  Company revenue was $11.6 billion, up from $10.9 billion last year.  The results were slightly ahead of the forecast of surveyed analysts. Cisco’s solid earnings report was mainly the result of job cuts and... 

Research analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) began coverage on shares of Advisory Board (NASDAQ: ABCO) in a report released on Tuesday. The firm set a “market perform” rating on the stock. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call. Advisory Board traded up 3.20% on Tuesday, hitting $97.64. Advisory Board has a 52-week low of $46.72 and a 52-week high of $92.32. The company has a market cap of $1.633 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.76. Advisory Board last... 

Watsco, Incorporated (NYSE: WSO) was upgraded by Zacks from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm currently has a $86.00 target price on the stock. Zacks’ analyst wrote, “Watsco reported first quarter earnings per share of $0.24, up 14% year over year and on par with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Total revenue increased 19% year over year to $634 million, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $581 million. Watsco... 

Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) was downgraded by Zacks from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. They currently have a $52.00 target price on the stock. Zacks’ analyst wrote, “We are downgrading our recommendation for Enterprise Products Partners to Neutral from Outperform. Although the partnership handily beat our expectation in the first quarter, gross margin of its Petrochemical & Refined Products... 

Sanderson Farms (NASDAQ: SAFM)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The analysts wrote, “SAFM (CL-Buy) reported 2QFY12 (April end) EPS of $1.04, modestly below our $1.15, but above the $0.95 consensus. On the EBIT line results were nearly in line with our Street-high estimate ($41 mn versus GS $42 mn), while below-the-line items drove -$0.07 of the miss versus our number. …We believe this solid beat versus... 

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The analysts wrote, “According to Bloomberg, the computer systems used by NASDAQ to set the stock’s opening price wereoverwhelmed by order cancellations and updates, resulting in an imbalance of buys and sells that led to a thirty-minute delay in trading. At 11:30am ET, NASDAQ officials manually intervened to... 

Miller Tabak lowered their price target on shares of Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) to $17.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday. The analysts wrote, “We are revising our Live Nation Entertainment (LYV-$9.39-Buy-ST Target $12, LT $17) estimates to reflect 1Q12 results that were in-line to slightly-better than expected. We increase events and attendance for an incremental 55 festivals (3 mm expected attendance) the company will produce globally this year. Artist Nation should have... 

Ntt Docomo (NYSE: DCM) was downgraded by Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday. The analysts wrote, “We lower our rating to Hold and set a TP of ¥143,000 because we do not see upside despite the shares’ lower price. NTT DoCoMo is taking a new direction to attract subscribers, but we are unsure on the efficacy its pricing strategy can have without carrying the iPhone, and see risk of a war of attrition.... 

Law enforcement in Miami are searching for additional witnesses after one of their police officers shot and killed a naked man, after the man refused to stop biting the face of another man who was also naked. The man continued chewing the other’s face even when the police officer had hit him with his first gun shot. Police would like to hear from people who could help describe what happened and what led to the scene where the man, identified as Rudy Eugene, chewed the face of another man and growled...