Analyst upgrades- Baird upgraded Con-Way (NYSE: CNW) and Old Dominion (NASDAQ: ODFL) to Outperform from Neutral due to the benefits of a likely bankruptcy of YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW). Old Dominion's target was raised to $40 from $26 and Con-Way's was raised to $42 from $22.
- Citigroup upgraded Pride International (NYSE: PDE) to Hold from Sell as it believes higher valuation levels are warranted with the upcoming spin-off of Seahawk Drilling. Citi raised its target on shares to $25 from $18.
- Jesup & Lamont upgraded FedEx (NYSE: FDX) to Buy from Hold with a $63 target as it believes the worst is largely behind the company.
- Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
- ArvinMeritor (NYSE: ARM) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.
Analyst downgrades
- Baird downgraded Harman International (NYSE: HAR) to Underperform from Neutral and lowered its target to $15 from $19 based on revenue growth concerns, valuation, and the timing/size of cost cutting efforts.
- Oppenheimer downgraded The9 (NASDAQ: NCTY) to Perform from Outperform on expectations the company will report operating losses for the next few quarters. The firm finds the risk/reward unfavorable at current levels.
- Needham downgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Underperform from Hold citing early signs of weakness in the NAND sector, which will lead to lower prices.
- YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Baird.
- Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at Macquarie.
- Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
- Cowen believes the growth potential of the "new" IBM (NYSE: IBM) is underappreciated. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating. Cowen initiated Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) with an Outperform rating.
- Wachovia started Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) with a Market Perform rating.
- AT&T (NYSE: T) was initiated with a Sell rating and $20 target at Pali Capital.
- Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM) was assumed at Baird with a Neutral rating and $11 target.
- Covidien (NYSE: COV) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $41 target at Piper Jaffray.
Ray of light: U.S. temp worker hiring increased by 34k in October
Closing Bell: Bulls gutting bears (ATVI, EWBC, GE, JASO, ENZN, MCD)
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein pulls a Jeff Skilling in an interview
