Analyst calls: SNV, BASFY, AKZOY, FUL, GA, WLT, AHD, OZM, HOG, MRK

Analyst upgrades:

Friedman Billings upgraded Synovus (NYSE: SNV) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation following the recent weakness. BASF (OTC: BASFY) and Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS on valuation and believes cash flows can cover the company's dividend.
JP Morgan upgraded H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) to Overweight from Neutral citing benefits from lower raw material costs.
CA, Inc (NASDAQ: CA) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
Goldman removed Boeing (NYSE: BA) from the Conviction Sell List.
WABCO Holdings (NYSE: WBC) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Analyst downgrades:

Oppenheimer downgraded Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) to Perform from Outperform following the company's Q3 results as they believe a recovery of revenue from ZT Online will take longer than expected.
Friedman Billings cut Walter Industries (NYSE: WLT) to Market Perform from Outperform as they believe the decline in steel demand will pressure met coal prices. The company's target was lowered to $30 from $53.
Citigroup downgraded shares of Atlas Pipeline (NYSE: AHD) Holdings to Sell from Hold as they believe the company could potentially be in violation of its debt covenants as early as Q1. The company's target was lowered to $4 from $31.
Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
Dover (NYSE: DOV) and Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) were downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.

Analyst initiations:

Jefferies initiated Och-Ziff Capital (NYSE: OZM) with a Buy rating and $8 target. The firm believes the company should gain significant market share from competitors as capital is re-allocated to larger, more experienced investment maVnagers.
Deutsche Bank initiated Harley-Davidson (NYSE: HOG) with a Hold rating and $18 target and wants to see signs of an improving consumer or a normalizing credit market before getting positive on the stock.
Banc of America started Merck (NYSE: MRK) with a Neutral rating and $32 target. The firm believes investors can be patient in buying shares given the current valuation and potential headline risk out of Washington.
Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) was initiated at Morgan Keegan with a Market Perform rating.
VMWare (NYSE: VMW) was assumed with a Market Perform rating at JMP Securities.
Barclays started Radian (NYSE: RDN) with an Underweight rating.