Analysts at Goldman Sachs got more optimistic about large U.S. banks Monday, raising their coverage view on the sector to attractive from neutral. Among specific names, they upgraded Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) to buy. -Marketwatch

Stock were headed for an opening bounce on Monday, with investors scooping up shares beaten down in last week’s selloff, while a report that Brocade Communications Systems Inc (NASDAQ: BRCD) put itself up for sale may fan deal optimism. Before the bell, Brocade shares rose 15 percent to $8.80 after the Wall Street Journal reported the data storage equipment maker has put itself on the selling block, citing people familiar with the matter. –Reuters

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) and Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (NYSE: PBG) are also scheduled to report their third-quarter results this week, and analysts anticipate that they are holding on, more or less. Soft drink and snack food giant PepsiCo said it would merge with Pepsi Bottling, as well as invest in Russia, during the three months that ended in September, and it is expected to post a profit of $1.02 per share, four cents per share less than a year ago. Revenue for the quarter is expected to come to $11.3 billion, about the same as last year. - BloggingStocks

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) plans to select an emergency chief executive officer this week if legal issues force Ken Lewis to leave before year-end, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the situation. The banking company began working on its contingency plan began before Lewis announced his retirement, the person told the paper. The person said a five-person board committee led by the bank’s chairman Walter Massey, which was formed earlier this year to respond to concerns raised by U.S. banking regulators, is leading the process. –AOL Money & Finance

California, suffering from record unemployment and the lowest credit rating of any state, plans to borrow $4.5 billion this week for schools, parks and hospitals after municipal bond yields fell to a 42-year low. California’s record 12.2 percent unemployment rate in August compared with 7.6 percent in 2008 and 5.5 percent two years earlier. The Labor Department reported last week that the nation’s unemployment rate reached 9.8 percent in September. -Bloomberg

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) kicks off another earnings season this week, and analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for another net loss for the third quarter. Can we take that as a sign of things to come, or as a bellwether for the economy? Well, barring a big downside surprise, this will be the third narrower quarterly loss for Alcoa. But while Alcoa beat estimates in July, it missed them in April. Alcoa’s shares, on the other hand, are up 145.6% since the March low, which is well more than twice as much either the Dow or the S&P 500. –BloggingStocks

by Jutia Group