"Our goal is helping investors grow their capital and income base from which to derive cash for their current and future needs," notes dividend expert Kelley Wright.

The editor of Investment Quality Trends explains, "To that end we believe that high-quality stocks purchased at historically low-price-to-high-yield offers the best potential for downside protection and upside appreciation. Our Timely Ten list represents our current top ideas.

Analyst Upgrades

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Leap Wireless (LEAP) and MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Sun Bancorp (SNBC) to neutral from sell at Janney Capital.
• American Tower (AMT), SBA Communications (SBAC) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

The shares of dependable AT&T (T), which I first wrote about here on February 11, 2009, at a price of $25.89, have meandered near $28 for the past six months, save one probe of the $30 level. But the business model is still preferred at this juncture. Here's why.

AT&T's proposed acquisition of 34-million-subscriber T-Mobile USA for $34 billion will face intense regulatory scrutiny, and I think there's a better than 50% chance the deal will be negated on market concentration grounds.

AT&T (T) recently announced its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile in a cash and stock offer valued at roughly $39 billion. This is a significant announcement given the size of the two companies and since there was speculation that Sprint (S) might look to acquire T-Mobile. Sprint's shares were down 14% on this news. AT&T's move pits it firmly against Verizon (VZ) as both operators continue to build out their 4G networks.

Our price estimate for AT&T's stock stands at $35.80 which is around 40% ahead of the market price.

A great three day rally went from news and excitement to what was really just a dull quiet day for the market as a whole. Earnings and analysts drove some shares but the news of a downed airplane in Libya and more unrest growing in the Middle East region just failed to make markets move so much.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,018.63 -17.90 (-0.15%)
S&P 500 1,293.77 -4.61 (-0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,683.87 -8.22 (-0.31%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Yesterday's announcement of the AT&T (T) and T-Mobile deal gives both companies a clear "win" in the telecommunications sector. Who are the "losers"?

The tower companies have experienced downward pressure today, with American Tower (AMT) currently trading down over 8%, SBA Communications (SBAC) currently down over 10%, and Crown Castle International (CCI) currently hovering down almost 5%.

A relief rally recovery is how you would describe Monday. The no-fly zone success of Libya over the weekend and the 'no more bad news' out of Japan were the two major contributors today. The US even announced that it would begin selling off the Treasury's $142 billion mortgage-backed securities portfolio.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels today:

Dow Jones 12,036.53 +178.01 (1.50%)
S&P 500 1,298.38 +19.18 (1.50%)
Nasdaq 2,692.09 +48.42 (1.83%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

Verizon (VZ) primarily competes with Sprint Nextel (S) and AT&T (T) in the mobile subscription plan business. The average monthly fee that Verizon's postpaid wireless subscribers pay for wireless service, excluding data service, has been consistently declining over the past few years. The decline in pricing is mainly attributable to nearing saturation of the U.S. cellular market, creating fierce competition among telecom players to maintain and increase their market share.

A successful Verizon-iPhone (AAPL) deal and rising data revenues from smart phone penetration could, however, offset declines in average mobile plan prices.

Tomorrow is a big day for Verizon (VZ) customers who have been waiting to get their chance to join the iPhone revolution, and we now learn that Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) will also be carrying the Verizon iPhone 4 at 600 retail stores across the nation.

As of today, when you visit Apple's (AAPL) website you are given the option to order an iPhone for use on either AT&T (T) or Verizon, with the price being the same for either option.

Analyst Calls

• Medtronic (MDT) to buy from neutral and 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• CarMax (KMX) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Points International (PTSEF) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Nokia (NOK) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.
• Amdocs (DOX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Western Alliance (WAL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Carbo Ceramics (CRR) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Rackspace (RAX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Brinker (EAT) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.

Old reliable AT&T (T), first written about here on February 11, 2009, at a price of $25.89, has meandered near $28 in the past three months, after probing the $30 level, but that doesn't change the view from here that argues it pays to own to some shares of T.

And the reason is obvious enough: AT&T remains well-positioned to be a force in the Internet/communications revolution in the years ahead. Look for AT&T's revenue to grow about 1% to 3% in 2011, led by an impressive increase in cell phone customers (which numbered about 93 million as of June 2010) and wireless data service customers.