GOLDMAN SACHS

Scorching heat across the U.S. Midwest has almost certainly cut corn yields, and it appears that the grain futures market has largely factored this into prices.

The earnings season is when a large number of publicly traded companies release their quarterly earnings reports. The earnings season is so far topping Street views at a pace above typical quarters.

Responding to apparent customer backlash over yesterday's price increases, an indifferent Netflix brushed off concerns, comparing the increases to the prices of day-to-day items.

Netflix provoked an unprecedented outpouring of backlash across the Internet as the company unveiled plans to raise prices on its movie-rental services, but many across the Street believe the move will bode well for the company in the long-term.

Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director, can proceed with a suit claiming the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission violated his rights when it filed an administrative action accusing him of passing illegal stock tips and thereby denying him a jury trial, reports say.

Germany based solar panel technology leader Q-Cells SE scored its fourth world record for solar cells and modules this year by breaching the 18% level for yields in solar panel modules. But despite of this success it was removed from the PPVX share index a renown German magazine of the solar sector after Goldman Sachs and HSBC both gave bad grades in their reports.

Wall Street banks are reported to post poor second quarter results this week, accounting for nearly a 20 percent drop in sales and trading revenues and prompting another round of layoffs, according to the New York Times.

Dunkin' Brands, owner of Dunkin' Donuts, is nearing its IPO. Shares are expected to be priced between $16 and $18 per share. The stock will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol DNKN.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: APAC Customer Services, Hi Tech Pharmacal, Rediff.com India, Sky-mobi, EnerNOC, and Nova Measuring Instruments. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Affymetrix, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Gulf Resources, Logitech International, Aixtron, and Starbucks.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Thursday are: Target Corp, Limited Brands, Urban Outfitters, Macy's, Gap, Sprint Nextel, Chesapeake Energy, Corning, Yum! Brands and Wellpoint Inc.

Zynga Inc, developer of popular Facebook games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars, is all set to hit the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO). The company filed with regulators for an IPO of up to $1 billion on Friday, hopping that its close ties with Facebook will be a key to its future success.

The company behind Farmville, Mafia Wars, Words With Friends, Empires and Allies and many other social games has officially filed for an IPO. In doing so, it follows in the footsteps of fellow social comapny, LinkedIn, which had an impressive IPO of its own last month.

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), one of the nation's largest banks by assets, has confirmed an $8.5 billion settlement with high-profile investors over mortgage loans, and would report a second-quarter loss in the range of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion.

Perhaps the time has come to turn the page on Warren Buffett's leadership role

Firm settles regulatory probe for misleading investors

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling places new limits nationwide on class-action suits. Companies facing similar suits to benefit from the ruling include Cigna Corp., Goldman Sachs Inc., Bayer AG, Deere Co., and Costco Wholesale Corp. The case one of the most important for U.S. businesses in a decade.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: AeroVironment, Asia Entertainment & Resources, A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Globus Maritime, and Merge Healthcare. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: NuVasive, Adobe Systems, Atmel, Globe Specialty Metals, Altera, Research In Motion, and Apple.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Monday are: CF Industries Holdings, Peabody Energy, CONSOL Energy, Sprint Nextel, PNC Financial Services, Nabors Industries, Akamai Technologies, Carnival Corp, Nike and Sandisk Corp.

Facebook is getting closer to its eventual IPO, and speculations are rife that the offering could value the social networking giant at $100 billion. But considering reports on privacy issues that made Mark Zuckerberg put his foot in his mouth a few times, questions over his ability to manage the $100 billion Facebook seem to be logical.

Speculations have been made that Facebook's initial public offering, which is likely to hit capital market by the first quarter of 2012, could value the popular social networking site at worth of $100 billion.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Thursday are: ING Group, Companhia Brasileira, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding, EnergySolutions and American Reprographics. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Lender Processing Services, Cal Dive International, Pandora Media, TRC Companies and CarMax.