Analyst downgrades: AKH, BHP, AZN, BRCM and SVVS

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Air France, BHP Billiton, AstraZeneca, Broadcom and Savvis were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Goldman removed shares of Air France (NYSE: AKH) from its Conviction Buy List due to the increase in the price of fuel and the possibility of an economic slowdown.
Goldman downgraded BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) to Neutral from Buy and removed the stock from its Pan-Europe Buy List due to valuation.
Merrill Lynch downgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral to reflect increased competition from generic-drug makers, a poor pipeline and slow earnings growth.
Wachovia downgraded shares of Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) to Hold from Buy to reflect valuation and the company's lower than expected Q3 results. Shares were also lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
Stanford lowered Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) to Hold from Buy and notes that the company's Q3 results and Q4 revenue guidance brings the company's 2007 revenue outlook $15M below the consensus, and advises investors to remain on the sidelines. The firm believes the company's strategy is sound, but that its execution has been slow.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI) and Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) were downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
Friedman Billings downgraded the E&P sector, including Brigham Exploration Company (NASDAQ: BEXP), Mariner Energy (NYSE: ME) and Nobel Energy (NYSE: NBL) to Market Perform from Outperform.
Baird downgraded Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) to Neutral from Outperform.
Goldman downgraded Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) to Neutral from Buy.