• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of DealerTrack (NASDAQ: TRAK) to Hold from Buy on valuation and ongoing auto demand challenges.
• HSBC cut Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) to Neutral from Overweight, citing the acquisition of Merrill by Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded BB&T (NYSE: BBT) and New York Community Bank (NYSE: NYB) to Underperform from Market Perform on valuation and expectations for continued deterioration in the Mid-Atlantic region.
• PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) and Public Service Enterprise Group (NYSE: PEG) were lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
  
• Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW) and Avnet (NYSE: AVT) were downgraded at Credit Suisse to Neutral from Outperform.

Analyst initiations:

• Jefferies believes United Therapeutics (UTHR) can solidify its position as a market leader in pulmonary arterial hypertension. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $141 target.
  
• Affymax (AFFY) was initiated at Stanford with a Buy rating and $29 target. Stanford believes the company could benefit from the reimbursement and contract shifts that are set to occur in 2011.
  
• Deutsche Bank believes Alvarion (ALVR) competes well against larger rivals and stands to benefit from any success in the WiMax market, initiating shares with a Buy rating and $8 target.
• UBS initiated Patriot Coal (PCX) with a Buy rating and $67 target. Intermune (ITMN) was assumed with an Outperform rating and $35 target at JMP Securities.
  
• New York Community Bancorp (NYB) was initiated with a Buy rating and $18.50 target at Merrill.