Analyst upgrades: ERIC, TOT, RIMM, MA and JAVA

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ericsson, Total SA, Research in Motion, MasterCard and Sun Microsystems were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Goldman upgraded shares of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Buy from Neutral and added the company to their pan-Europe Conviction Buy List, as they believe the factors that lead to the October earnings miss will be rectified and the company will report upside to Q4 estimates.
Credit Suisse upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and expectations for a return in upstream volume growth in 2008.
Credit Suisse also upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Outperform from Neutral, citing RIMM's expanding international market share.
MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was raised to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank, as they believe the company's margin potential is yet to be fully priced into shares or Street estimates.
Citigroup raised shares of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's improving product line, restructuring, and share buyback. They find the risk/reward attractive and expect solid Q2 results.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Goldman added Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) to its Conviction Buy List.
Citigroup upgraded American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) to Hold from Sell.
KeyBanc raised its rating on Comstock Resources (NYSE: CRK) to Buy from Hold.
Millennium Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen.
Roth Capital upgraded Gevity HR (NASDAQ: GVHR) to Hold from Sell.