Analyst upgrades: SHPGY, JCP, VISN, NOV, X, APOL

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Shire Plc, J.C. Penney and VisionChina Media were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Goldman upgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Buy from Neutral on expectations for share gains in the second half of 2008 following the launch of Vyvanse in adults. Goldman also added the stock to the Conviction Buy List.
Deutsche Bank raised J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) to Buy from Hold after channel checks indicated recent sales trends have improved. The firm finds the risk/reward compelling at current levels with a $46 target.
Oppenheimer upgraded shares of VisionChina Media (NASDAQ: VISN) to Outperform from Perform following the recent pullback, after channel checks indicated the company is seeing greater traction with larger advertising clients.

OTHER UPGRADES:

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE: NOV) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform.
Goldman added US Steel (NYSE: X) to the Conviction Buy List.
Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) was upgraded at ThinkPanmure to Buy from Accumulate.

Tags: apol, inthenews, jcp, nov, shpgy, visn, x

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