Closing Bell

Dow Stocks News:

Unilever (UN), the Anglo-Dutch food and household products maker, said it's signed a memorandum of understanding to enter into due diligence to outsource data center operations, server and database management, and application hosting to Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). The pact would cover the Americas, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. The companies hope to reach a definitive agreement in the first half of this year. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Century Aluminum (CENX): ABOVE $43.42, with a $48 first target, a $59 second target, and a $39 stop loss. Confirmation Volume Area= 645K Risk Rating= 5
Wyeth (WYE): ABOVE $51.68, with a $55.50 first target, a $61 second target, and a $48.50 stop loss. Confirmation Volume Area= 5.95M Risk Rating= 2

Nokia Corp. delivered Thursday a forecast-beating 19% increase in fourth-quarter profit as the world's largest maker of mobile phones managed to hold the line on margins in its handset business. Nokia also said it plans to buy back up to 4 billion euros in stock.
Big Oil companies are expected to remain immensely profitable, but the fourth quarter could kick off a slowdown in consistent earnings growth. - WSJ
AMEX hired Morgan Stanley to review strategic opportunities.
GERI announced retail lending of $10 million for the month of December. Another announcement may be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks. May be positioned for a bounce should volume come in.

Oculus Innovative Sciences Inc. (OCLS) priced its initial public offering at $8 a share, the bottom of its $8-$10 price range, for its stock market debut on Thursday. The maker of products to prevent infection in wounds raised about $24 million by offering 3 million shares with Roth Capital Markets. - MarketWatch
Meruelo Maddox (MMPI) offered 40 million shares at $10 a share in a bid to raise $400 million in its initial public offering on Thursday. The real estate company cut the price from the estimated range of $12-$14 a share with underwriters Friedman Billings Ramsey and UBS. - MarketWatch