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>>They need to be laying off a lot more people than that. Terrible stock.

A friend is a financial guy there. He's buying stock. Take it for what it's worth.

He also thinks that this should be about the last round of downsizings. I think he had to cut 4 from around 30, and says it is really hard, because all that are left are really top-notch people.

U.S. stocks ponder slew of data Thursday August 14, 9:30 am ET By Julie Rannazzisi NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- U.S. stock investors had a slew of economic numbers to ponder Thursday, with the latest data revealing mild inflation and a recovering job market.

The number of workers filing for state unemployment benefits remained under the key 400,000 mark for a second week, suggesting improvements in the labor market. Cornering the actual number, weekly claims rose 2,000 to 398,000 in the week ending Aug. 9.

Additionally, the overall producer price index rose a mild 0.1 percent in July and 0.2 percent at the core, which excludes the often- volatile food and energy components -- the biggest gain since March. Economists had expected a 0.1 percent increase both overall and at the core.

Finally, the U.S. trade deficit contracted by a larger-than-expected 4.7 percent to $39.5 billion in June as exports surged.

A number of analyst actions surfaced on Thursday. Wachovia Securities sliced its view on Dow stock McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - News) to a "market perform" rating from an "outperform" based on the fast food colossus' valuation.

In other moves, Smith Barney downgraded its rating on Dow component 3M (NYSE:MMM - News) to an "in line" from an "outperform," citing valuation as the primary reason. While Smith Barney notes that the diversified industrial company continues to impress "with strong execution" and "solid, above-average core growth," it concedes that further upside may be constrained by the stock's current valuation.

And SoundView Technology Group upped Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - News) to an "outperform" rating from a "neutral" on belief the chip company is the "best proxy for the semiconductor industry, [which] is in the process of a mild/gradual recovery."

Finally, CSFB cut its weighting on the technology sector to a "market weight" from an "overweight" due to recent rise in long-term interest rates and to higher optimism among market participants. CSFB believes technology stocks are feeling the weight of rising rates more than any other sector. Treasury issues extended their recent losses, ruffled by economic news showing that the U.S. economy is on the mend.

In recent trades, the 10-year Treasury note was down 14/32 to yield (CBOE:^TNX - News) 4.615 percent while the 30-year government bond inched down 2/32 to yield (CBOE:^TYX - News) 5.45 percent.

In currencies, the U.S. dollar was generally higher against its major counterparts, adding 0.3 percent to 119.50 yen while the euro sagged 0.4 percent to $1.1264.

A few years ago, when Lucent stock started to dip a little, my financial advisor called me up and told that Lucent was trading at around $56 a share. "This is a huge, huge company, with a great future, and this stock will probably never see $56 again! What an opportunity! You should buy it!"

I bought a bit. And you know what? I think he was right -- that stock will never see $56 again!!!