GLOBAL MARKETS

Despite a last-hour market sell-off, stocks gained modestly in thin trading volume as the major indices look to be on course for a strong December rally.

Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) are surging this morning after the New York Post reported that a private equity firm may launch a hostile bid for the warehouse retailer.

US stocks advanced in early trade on Wednesday with S&P 500 Index advanced 1.63 points, or 0.13 percent, to trade at 1,260.14 at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 24.86 points, or 0.21 percent, to trade at 11,600. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.10 percent.

Rockville-based biopharmaceutical company Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) announced the start of a early-stage clinical trial for its third generation Anthrax vaccine candidate called NuThrax.

BlackRock is planning to launch an internal trading platform next year, a move that could put a pressure on the profits of many Wall Street firms.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Rightnow Technologies, Cardiome Pharma, DepoMed, Subaye, Ceragon Networks, Hutchinson Technology, XOMA, AudioCodes, Alvarion, and AgFeed Industries.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to modestly higher opening on Wednesday with futures on the S&P 500 up 0.10 percent, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.10 percent and Nasdaq100 futures up 0.25 percent.

Shares of General Motors rose more than 2 percent Tuesday after a slew of analysts advised buying shares of the automaker, which has raised $23 billion recently in the world's largest IPO.

McAfee expects Apple’s iPhone, geolocation services such as Foursquare, and mobile devices to be the target of malware attacks in 2011. The computer security company also predicts attackers targeting shortened URL services and internet TV platforms as well as a rise in politically motivated hacktivisim, as more groups are expected to repeat the WikiLeaks example.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Bottomline Technologies, Whitney Holding, Broadwind Energy, First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Smart Grid Infrastructure Index Fund, Hancock Holding, FuelCell Energy, AXT, RealNetworks, Zions Bancorp, and Power-One.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Rightnow Technologies, BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, CardioNet, FSI International, AgFeed Industries, XOMA, Affymetrix, Stein Mart, Glu Mobile, and Immucor.

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in very light holiday trading as the bitter cold weather in the eastern U.S. helped to push up energy stocks. Traders seemed to shrug off an unexpected dip in consumer confidence and more bad news on housing prices.

Bruce Berkowit, president of Fairholme Capital Management has a huge stake in bailed-out insurance company American International Group (NYSE: AIG) which has just about doubled in price year-to-date (from just under $30 per share to just under $60).

Spot gold prices surged up on Tuesday as it was supported by a weaker dollar and strong buying interest in Asia, while investors hoped for a further rally in prices next year. Spot gold gained gained nearly one percent to $1,402.40 an ounce by 1352 GMT.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Banner, Eurand, Ascent Media, Baidu, Prospect Capital, NVIDIA, Applied Materials, Netflix, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and Amazon.com.

The top pre-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Santarus, MannKind, Logitech International, DryShips, Tesla Motors, JA Solar Holdings, Cisco Systems, Huntington Bancshares, optionsXpress Holdings, and American Capital Agency.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to higher opening on Tuesday ahead of economic data including S&P/CaseShiller house price index.

Amazon.com announced that its third generation Kindle e-reader is now the bestselling product in its history, surpassing Harry Potter 7.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market losers are: Alterra Capital Holdings, Celera, Infinera, Aruba Networks, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Alphatec Holdings, optionsXpress Holdings, A123 Systems, Informatica, and Applied Micro Circuits.

The top after-market NASDAQ stock market gainers are: Coldwater Creek, Hercules Offshore, LoJack, Cytokinetics, Zix, Tesla Motors, DryShips, Silver Standard Resources, Stanley Furniture, and DepoMed.

Stocks finished narrowly mixed in very light trading as a monstrous snow storm on the East Coast likely kept many traders home and a rate hike over the weekend by China dampened some investor sentiment.

Basili Alukos, an equity analyst at Morningstar, estimates that U.S. airlines may lose between $130-million and $190-million of revenues per day due to the winter blizzard.

Shares of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) are dropping after the tax preparation company said that HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC) has ended funding its refund-anticipation loans (RALs).

India’s Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) has introduced a new stock index which comprises companies that satisfy the legal codes of Islam.

Shares of American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) are soundly higher this morning after the company said it entered bank credit facilities totaling $3-billion.

Big players of the U.S. technology sector, who are flush with cash and looking to expand their horizon, returned to the merger and acquisition space this year after recovering from the 2009 recession.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to lower opening on Monday after China's central bank raised one-year lending and deposit interest rates for the second time in 2010 on Saturday.

Goldman Sachs has adopted a new long-term bonus plan that lets the board award cash and stock on top of existing compensation, but lets the firm take back money if the employee takes too much risk, the investment banker said in filing with securities regulators.

Since, Apple has cleared the first hurdle in gaining enough traction for its product, the iPhone maker needs to generate material revenue from Apple TV to justify its investment.