• Share prices of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) increased 1.63% after the board of directors authorized the division of the energy company into two publicly traded firms

• Maker of chips for mobiles, PC's and automobiles Fairchild Semiconductor's (NYSE:FCS) shares gained 2.85% to close at $16.59 after the company released an optimistic outlook for the fiscal

• Analysts at Wedbush upgraded NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) from “Neutral” rating to an “Outperform” rating with a target price of $19 on its stock. Following this upgrade, the shares gained 5.44% to close at $15.11

• U.S. listed shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (NYSE:LYG) gained momentum in the day’s trade after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) added the London bank to its conviction "Buy" list citing the bank has little exposure in the ongoing European debt crisis and its shares are attractively priced

• Late on Wednesday, supplier of satellite-control products Frequency Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FEIM) forecasted robust revenue growth for the fiscal 2011

• According to a report by Bloomberg, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) has made an initial offer to bond insurers MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) in an attempt to settle a legal dispute related to defective mortgages

• Share prices of pipeline company Southern Union Company (NYSE:SUG) increased 4.37% after Williams Cos. (NYSE:WMB) raised its offer for the company, beating Energy Transfer Equity, L.P.'s (NYSE:ETE) bid of $5 million

• Shares of Marriott International Inc. (NYSE:MAR) lost 6.60% a day after the largest publicly traded U.S. hotel-chain operator released its third-quarter earnings forecast that came in below expectations

• Analysts at Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has lowered its rating on the shares of RTI International Metals (NYSE:RTI) to "Sell" rating from "Neutral" rating and slashed the target price from $40 to $31