7 Stocks you need to know for Thursday

Disappointing same store sales for September will likely mean lower profits third quarter profits for retailers J.C. Penny (JCP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and Kohl's (KSS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating).

Continued weakness in the aluminum market led to another day of declines for Alcoa (AA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), which was down more than 10% on Wednesday, though significantly off its intraday lows.

Citigroup (C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) downgraded both Ford Motor Company (F | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) and General Motors (GM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) from "hold" to "sell", citing the global credit crunch.

A fourth day of rising gold prices helped send shares of Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) higher by more than 15% on Wednesday