Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ:STMP) has seen a nearly 600% volume increase today after the company announced third quarter results. STMP saw total revenue increase 20% compared to the same quarter last year. Ken McBride, CEO of Stamps.com, had this to say about the company’s third quarter results. “”We continued to experience record results in nearly every area of our business during the third quarter.” McBride continued, “We achieved the highest year-over-year growth rate we have ever seen in our core PC Postage business revenue at 25%, and we achieved 52% year-over-growth in our non-GAAP net earnings per share. STMP is trading up $6.20 at $32.11, a gain of 24%. Over 1.7 million shares of STMP have been traded today, its 3 month daily average volume is only 345 thousand shares.

FEI Company (NASDAQ:FEIC) has traded over 1.3 million shares today, an increase of over 300% its normal volume. FEIC is continuing higher after announcing record earnings and a $50 million share repurchase program on Thursday. FEI Company’s revenue was up 34% over the previous year’s quarter at $205.3 million. FEIC is up $5.34 at $41.85, an increase of over 14% today.

Deckers Outdoor Corp. (NASDAQ:DECK) has seen a 200% increase in volume today with over 3 million shares traded. The company announced their third quarter results yesterday after market close. Profits in the third quarter rose 48% on higher sales of their signature UGG boots. Deckers also expects 2011 earnings to beat expectations of 17% and be 22% over 2010. DECK is up over $10 at $116.93, a jump of over 10%.

CEVA Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA) has traded close to 400 thousand shares so far today, well above its daily average of 259 thousand shares. CEVA announced third quarter results yesterday and the company raised its 2011 forecast for the third time. CEVA is up $1.15 at $32.66 today, a gain of over 3%. Since announcing third quarter results, CEVA has been up as much as $6.

Buckeye Technologies Inc. (NYSE:BKI) is trading double its 3 month daily average volume today with over 700 thousand shares traded. Buckeye announced their first quarter fiscal 2012 results earlier this week and revealed the company’s income doubled in Q1. BKI is up $2 today at $31.08, a jump of nearly 7%.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) more than doubled its third quarter profits surpassing Wall Street’s expectation. Chevron reported its third quarter results on Friday saying its revenue growth was slower than expected.

Chevron based out of San Ramon, CA said it earned $7.83 billion, or $3.92 a share, last quarter, compared with a profit of $3.77 billion, or $1.87 a share, a year earlier. Analysts had forecasted an earnings per share (EPS) of just $3.48.

Chevron reported revenue increased 30% to $64.43 billion, widely trailing estimates for $67.93 billion. Operating margins expanded to 20.7% from 13.8%.

“We had another successful quarter,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson, “with both strong earnings and cash flow. Current quarter earnings for our upstream operations benefited from higher crude oil prices on world markets. At the same time, gains on asset sales and improved margins for refined petroleum products contributed to increased earnings for our downstream businesses.” Watson commented, “We continue to progress our major capital projects. The recent decision to develop the Wheatstone LNG project represents a major milestone in the company’s efforts to commercialize our significant natural gas resource base in Australia. The Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG projects are expected to provide substantial new energy supplies to meet growing demand in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Chevron reported its average sales price per barrel of crude oil and natural gas liquids was $97 in the third quarter 2011, up from $69 a year ago. The average sales price of natural gas was $4.14 per thousand cubic feet, compared with $4.06 in last year’s third quarter.

Shares of CVX were trading up at $109.58 at 11:19 am ET.

Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) shares could see some movement today after they announced the company plans to cut 5,000 jobs to help reduce cost. This round of job cuts equates to roughly 10% of the workforce in both North America and Europe. A good portion of these cuts, 1,200 jobs, will occur when the Fort Smith Arkansas refrigerator manufacturing plant closes in 2012.

Whirlpool is having to tighten the reigns on spending cost for materials is continuing to rise while demand for new appliances is continuing to soften with the recent economic slowdown. The company has been trying to combat rising cost by raising price on products to consumers to help combat decline in appliance purchases. The cuts will save Whirlpool nearly $400 million by 2013.

Recently Whirlpool reported third quarter earnings in which the company reported a net income of $177 million, or $2.27 per share. This third quarter result fell well short of Wall Street expectations which included earnings per share of $2.73. This has caused Whirlpool to lower their annual guidance to $4.75-5.25 per share down from previous guidance of $7.25-$8.25 per share.

About Whirlpool Corporation:

Whirlpool Corporation engages in the manufacture and marketing of home appliances worldwide. Its principal products include laundry appliances, refrigerators, cooking appliances, dishwashers, mixers, and other small household appliances.

Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup are all rallying along with Wall Street today after big news from Europe on a euro zone debt deal. European leaders agreed today to cut Greece’s debt load and prevent the sovereign debt crisis from spreading to other larger countries such as Italy.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is up 7.66% this afternoon at $7.09 with a high of $7.15. BAC is rallying along with the overall stock market despite being downgraded by Morgan Stanlely. Morgan Stanley downgraded BofA down to “equal weight” from “overweight,” and also warned that there are no stock gain catalysts in the near future.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) is the biggest winner in the financial sector today with gains of over 15% at $19.13. MS is up on above average volume with 36 million shares traded with about 2 hours left in the trading day.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE:C) is up over 8% today at $33.74 with an intraday high of over $34. A U.S. federal judge is questioning the settlement between the company and the SEC this afternoon. One of many questions the judge brought up is why Citigroup is only paying a $95 million which is one-fifth the fine that Goldman Sachs had to pay in a similar case last year. This news isn’t affecting Citigroup today though as it rallies with the overall stock market on the news out of Europe.

Other U.S. banks rallying today include Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) up 7.68%, SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) up 8.30% and Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) up 8.13%.

Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) based out of Overland, KS, reported on Wednesday a less than expected quarterly loss thanks to 1.3 million new wireless subscribers. Sprint reported it lost $301 million, or 10 cents a share, last quarter. Analysts had been forecasting a loss of 22 cents a share. A year earlier it posted a deeper loss of $911 million, or 30 cents a share. Revenue inched up 2.2% to $8.33 billion, narrowly missing the Street’s view of $8.38 billion. Gross margins grew to positive 2.5% from negative 2.6%.

Recently, Sprint inked a deal with Apple Inc. to start selling the iPhone. Sprint has come under pressure from, shareholders and credit ratings companies due to the heavy cost of supplying the iPhone. Shareholders appeared concerned about the new cash-flow forecast. Sprint announced it had raised the limit on its credit line by $150 million and amended the terms so that an increase in the total amount of phone discounts doesn’t affect its creditworthiness. It said it had $1 billion undrawn credit on the line. Sprint’s stock declined 5.19% to $2.57 Wednesday morning, adding to its 2011 loss of more than 36%. The company’s shares have plunged about 50% over the past 13 weeks alone.

Chief Financial Officer Joe Euteneuer said each iPhone will cost the company about $200 more than other smartphones. Sprint expects its four-year purchasing agreement with Apple to add $7-$8 billion to its bottom line.

CEO Dan Hesse compared getting the iPhone to signing a star baseball player to the Sprint team. “He has an expensive contract, but he’s worth every penny,” said Hesse. Sprint does not expect the iPhone to be a moneymaker for the company until 2014 due to the upfront costs of the iPhone.

Shares of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) fell as much as 14% to $195 following the company’s third quarter earnings report. The company reported a 73% drop in third quarter earnings at $63 million, or $0.14 a share. Revenue saw a 44% increase to $10.88 million, but spending was even higher. The release of the company’s Kindle Fire helped send spending higher.

Most analysts forecast Amazon’s earnings to be at $0.24 a share and revenue of $10.95 billion for the third quarter. Amazon also released its fourth quarter forecast with revenue of $16.45 billion to $18.65 billion. This is lower than Wall Street’s projection of $18.15 billion.

Amazon’s media business, which includes books, CDs and DVDs, saw a 24% increase in revenue. Amazon’s revenue from electronics and other merchandise rose nearly 60%.

Amazon has been growing fast this year though as it continues to open fulfillment centers around the country at a fast rate.

“You have to go back to year 2000 to see those kind of growth rates,” Chief Financial Officer Tom Szkutak said during their conference call.

CEO Jeff Bazos also gave some details about their Kindle business during the conference call. He stated that September 28 was the Kindle’s, “biggest order day ever” as the company released several new Kindle models including the Kndle Fire.

Amazon expects to have a good quarter during the holiday season later this year.

Adolor Corporation (Nasdaq:ADLR) shares have seen a huge jump today climbing nearly 142% to $4.66 per share. Volume has been very heavy as 13.4 million shares have exchanged hands in trading today. All of this action comes on the announcement that Cubist Pharmaceuticals plans on acquiring Adolor in a deal worth up to $415 million.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:CBST) announced Monday that they will acquire Adolor for $4.25 per share. There is a a contingency payment possible for an additional $4.50 per share if certain FDA regulatory approvals are achieved. Adolor is currently in the testing phase for a treatment for opiod induced constipation. The contingency payment is based on the approval and development of this drug on a commercial level.

According to Cubist CEO Michael Bonney, “This transaction is an excellent strategic fit for Cubist and the latest milestone in what has been a transformational year for the company.” Both boards of directors approved the acquisition and the deal is expected to close out in the fourth quarter of this year. CBST is currently down nearly 2% on the acquisition news.

About Adolor Corporation:

Adolor Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel prescription pain and pain management products.

About Cubist Pharmaceuticals:

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment.

Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) got some good news from Standard and Poor’s Ratings Service today. The S&P boosted Ford’s rating within one notch of investment grade. S&P said the outlook for Ford Motor is stable. The increased rating follows on the heels as Fitch Ratings gave the automaker a one notch boost on Thursday to BB+, just one notch below investment grade. Moody’s Investors Service currently has Ford’s rating at Ba2, just two notches below investment grade.

The last time Ford Motor Co. saw its credit rating at investment grade, was back in 2005 just before the company borrowed heavily to finance its restructuring. Ford did not take a bailout from the government during the financial crisis of 2008, and was rewarded with increase in sales by American consumers.

Ford workers just ratified a new four year contract between the UAW and Ford on Wednesday.
S&P said, “We believe the contract will allow for continued profitability and cash generation in North America. Ford has a two-year track record of profits and cash flow generation in its global automotive operations, supported by strong performance in North America.”

S&P also said that Ford has “good prospects for generating at least $2 billion in automotive cash flow in 2012.” Currently, the cash flow in 2011 will be at the $5 billion mark according to S&P analyst Robert Schulz.

Ford shares have risen 29% since the auto maker’s negotiators reached a tentative labor contract with the UAW on Oct. 4. Ford shares were trading up 4.57% at $12.23 on Friday.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) reported on Friday that its profit rose to $1.38 billion, or 49 cents per share, from $659 million, or 23 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter. Excluding items, Verizon earned 56 cents per share, which compared with Wall Street expectations for 55 cents.

Revenue rose to $27.9 billion from $26.5 billion and was slightly ahead of analyst estimates of $27.88 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Verizon also stuck with its previous forecast for 2011 earnings growth of 5-8% and revenue growth of 4-8%.

Referring to the strike by workers back in August, the company’s CEO Lowell McAdam said, “We faced significant challenges in recent months, yet delivered results that keep us on track to meet our 2011 earnings and revenue guidance, with great momentum expected entering 2012.”

Verizon also reports its subscriber growth was slower than expected in the quarter due to anticipation of the new iPhone 4S launch by Apple. Verizon is one of three carriers of Apple’s iPhone. Although Verizon’s subscriber growth was slow,, the company still beat out the nation’s number one mobile carrier-AT&T in terms of subscribers.

Verizon boasts a global IP Network of 2700 cities in 150 countries. Access to the Verizon Wireless network covers more than 290 million people; nearly the entire U.S. population. Verizon also has 200 plus data centers scattered around 20 countries.

Shares of Verizon were trading down this morning at $36.95.

Travelers posted the largest gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the company said it increased third quarter policy sales and was raising customer rates. The insurer advanced $2.86, or 5.6%, to $54.32 at 10:05 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, the biggest jump since August.

CEO Jay Fishman said in the company is charging more for coverage in the face of the huge catastrophe costs and near record low interest rates which damper investment income. “With third quarter earnings being meaningfully impacted by a number of significant catastrophes, including Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, the strength of our business enabled us to generate net income of $333 million and to grow book value per share to $60.98, up 4% from year-end 2010,” commented Jay Fishman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We extend our sympathies to those affected by these events, and I would like to express my appreciation to our claim organization for the speed, dedication and professionalism with which they respond to our customers and agents.

“We are very pleased with our progress to date,” Chief Executive Jay Fishman said of the rate increases. “While no one can predict the future, we intend to continue this strategy and remain cautiously optimistic that we will continue to be successful in achieving pricing gains.” Fishman said the quarter marked the third consecutive period of improved pricing, and noted that price increases accelerated as the quarter wore on. He said the September rate changes on renewing policies in its business-insurance segment exceeded the company’s estimate of the pace at which claims costs will climb.

Travelers has been among the more optimistic insurance companies when discussing its ability to raise prices especially for business insurance.

Premium revenue rose 3% to $5.6 billion.

Johnson & Johnson (NASDAQ:JNJ), the health-care giant reported it’s third quarter profit fell 6% mostly due to large overhead and production costs and a one time charge offset higher foreign sales.

Johnson & Johnson reported on Tuesday that net income was $3.2 billion, or $1.15 per share. That’s down from $3.42 billion, or $1.23 per share, a year earlier. Excluding a 9 cent charge for the pending acquisition of medical device maker Synthes Inc., net income would have been $3.4 billion, or $1.24 per share. John son & Johnson, maker of baby products and biologic drugs, had revenue totaling $16 billion, up 7% from a year ago.

Johnson & Johnson based in New Brunswick, N.J., raised the low end of its 2011 profit forecast, to between $4.95 and $5 per share, from its earlier forecast of $4.90 to $5 per share. Both sets of figures exclude one-time items. The company also reported sales in all three of its divisions were down in the United States market. U.S. prescription drug revenue fell 6%, mainly due to generic competition for the antibiotic Levaquin and the Duragesic pain patch. The consumer division declined 4.5% as the product recalls, mainly nonprescription medicines made by its McNeil Consumer Health-care Business, kept Tylenol, Motrin and other products off store shelves.

Internationally, revenue rose 16.4% driven by sales in all areas excluding the United States.
“Our solid results this quarter reflect the success of many of our recently launched products,” CEO William Weldon said in a statement.

Johnson & Johnson’s shares rose 5 cents to $63.84 in morning trading.