Analyst upgrades: MRK, European semiconductors, TMA and PRU

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Merck, the European semiconductor sector, Thornburg Mortgage and Prudential were today's notable upgrades:

Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Bank of America, which believes the company's sales momentum will continue.
The European semiconductor sector, which includes Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE: IFX) was upgraded to Positive from Neutral by Lehman Brothers, as they believe a recovery is under way in the industry. The firm upgraded Infineon to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Thornburg Mortgage Inc (NYSE: TMA) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Piper, as they see limited liquidity risks, given the strong quality of the company's mortgage assets.
Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE: PRU) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Friedman Billings, which cited valuation and the quality of the company's investment portfolio.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Citigroup assumed coverage of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) with a Buy from a Sell.
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) was added to the Focus List at Friedman Billings.
Lehman Brothers upgraded Unilever plc (NYSE: UL) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Cincinnati Bell Inc (NYSE: CBB) was added to the Focus List at JMP Securities.

Tags: analyst, cbb, cincinnati bell, CincinnatiBell, firm, general motors, GeneralMotors, gm, ifx, infineon, merck, mrk, nucor, nue, pru, prudential, recommendation, thornburg, tma, ul, unilever, upgrade

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9-13-2007 @ 6:07PM

Unilever's upgrade could be inresponse to an article in the WSJ today http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118963983165125765.html?mod=hps_us_pageone. Actually a really cool article on the success of Unilever's new deal with MTV. News Visual also did an article on this as well http://www.newsvisual.com/newsvisual/2007/09/viacom-and-unil.html

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