Citigroup (NYSE: C) analyst David Driscoll raised his rating on Kellogg (NYSE: K) to buy from hold on Friday, citing lower expenses and a big share buyback at the cereal and snacks maker. "We believe information issued in conjunction with Kellogg’s [third-quarter] earnings report will significantly increase investor confidence of sustained earnings growth at Kellogg," he wrote in a note to clients.

Cost-cutting helped NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) earnings expectations, and the transatlantic exchange operator announced the sale of a big stake in its U.S. derivatives exchange. The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange said underlying costs dropped 10 percent in the third quarter and forecast that expenses this year would be considerably below its previous estimate. -Reuters

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) raised concerns about Galleon hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and his associates as far back as 2001, the Financial Times reported, citing an internal company document seen by the newspaper. Rajaratnam, 52, was arrested on October 16 along with five others in what prosecutors described as the biggest hedge fund insider trading case ever. The JPMorgan note alleged that the principals of Galleon "liked to operate in the ‘grey areas’" of the markets, the Financial Times wrote. –Daily Finance

ChiNext, China’s Nasdaq-style stock market, opened with a roar as its initial batch of companies logged gains of as much as 210%, underscoring China’s investors’ seemingly insatiable appetite for new listings. The share gains fueled concerns that ChiNext — set up as a fund-raising venue for small, innovation-driven firms, which were largely shut out of China’s recent lending boom — would mirror the performance that tends to define new listings in China: large initial gains followed by a brutal pullback. –The Wall Street Journal

New York has withstood the worst economic crisis in seven decades and remains the leading global financial center, followed by Singapore, which topped London as investors’ preferred place for doing business, according to Bloomberg Global Poll. Twenty-nine percent of respondents in the quarterly poll of investors, traders and analysts who subscribe to the Bloomberg terminal say New York will be the best place for financial services two years from now. Singapore is chosen by 17 percent of respondents and London is the pick of 16 percent. Shanghai has 11 percent, while Tokyo, once considered a global hub, gets the nod from only 1 percent. -Bloomberg

-Jutia Group