Research in Motion Limited and Motorola receive upgrades

While I once swore I would never be surprised by analyst moves, the downgrade on QCOM actually surprises me. The stock is a solid intermediate-term performer, as it is riding along support from its 10-week moving average. This rally has the stock positioned in the $47 region, which has been a bit of a boondoggle in the past. Nevertheless, the shares could garner enough momentum to break through this region's resistance.

Furthermore, all three of the major monthly trendlines I like to follow (10-, 20-, and 50-month) are in a position to provide support. A glance at the long-term chart also shows that the $52 level could act as resistance, but there is room for the stock to run before this resistance could come into play.

I am also a bit surprised by the upgrade on MOT, at least in a technical sense. This stock is among the most-loved on the Street, and it has recently turned its lagging performance around. That said, the equity is about to run headlong into its descending 20-month moving average. The shares have not closed atop this trendline since the end of 2006. In fact, MOT has only advanced past this trendline once since that time, demonstrating that the resistance is a bit stout.

I'm not quite comfortable believing that MOT will be able to advance to the $9.50 target price, mainly because of the overhead resistance. If the equity can topple this resistance, then we could see $9.50 hit by the phone firm, but it could take quite a while.