The interest in using natural gas as an alternative to crude has helped natural gas-based companies appreciate in value. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) has benefited from that interest, with a gain of more than 20% this year.

CHK is an interesting story in that during the craze in energy prices in 2008, the CEO of the company was forced to liquidate his entire position. That forced selling created an opportunity to buy the stock at an incredibly cheap price, even beyond the artificially low energy prices reached earlier this year.

You have to love OPEC. It's not uncommon for the barons of the giant cartel to voice their interest in seeing oil at such-and-such a price.

Recently, OPEC reiterated its desire to see oil prices at $80 per barrel. This, they claim, is the price needed to spur additional investment in crude projects. Apparently, anything less will result in oil sitting idle in the ground.

As I've written in the past, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon has come under some well-deserved fire for his high compensation in the face of poor results and a declining stock price. He was paid a one-time $75 million bonus at the end of 2008 -- suspicious timing given that the stock had lost most of its value in recent months and Mr. McClendon had lost his entire stake in the company to margin calls.

The company also made the extremely unusual decision to use $12.1 million of company money to buy some of McClendon's collectible maps to decorate the company's offices.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they expect the company to benefit from higher natural gas prices in 2010. The firm has a $34 target on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Energy Conversion (NASDAQ: ENER) to Hold from Sell on valuation is it finds the risk/reward balanced at current levels. The firm raised its target price to $16 from $13.
• Jefferies upgraded Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ: LCUT) to Buy from Underperform to reflect reduced liquidity concerns and an improved outlook for Global Direct Sellers. The firm raised its target price to $4 from $2.
• American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight and to Outperform from Netural at Credit Suisse.
• STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) Q1 results beat expectations and raised its guidance.
• Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (NYSE: ANR) shares surged after the it reported strong Q1 earnings.
• Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) just missed swinging to a loss due to to hefty investment losses.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) surprised with a net loss in Q1 as revenue and cash flow declined.
• Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) shares fell after it reported disappointing results for the quarter.

Ben Bernanke tried to talk up the markets today in light of reports that ten of nineteen banks under the stress test needed capital. Bernanke said that a recovery does lie ahead and that housing is near a bottom. At the end of the day, it was hard to get any feeling for gains or profit taking.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 8,410.65 -16.09 (-0.19%)
S&P 500 903.80 -3.44 (-0.38%)
Nasdaq 1,754.12 -9.44 (-0.54%)

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The board of directors at Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) is under fire for the compensation package handed to CEO Aubrey McClendon -- and with good reason: He took home $112 million last year even as the stock tumbled from a 52-week high of $74 to its current price of $20.

According (subscription required) to The Wall Street Journal, "The compensation package, one of the largest for any corporate executive last year, included a one-time $75 million bonus, a $975,000 base salary, and $32.7 million in stock, according to the company's proxy statement. Chesapeake, one of the biggest U.S. producers of natural gas, also disclosed several transactions involving Mr. McClendon or companies in which he has an interest, including a deal to buy Mr. McClendon's collection of maps and artwork for $12.1 million."

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Steve Smith.

Someone seems to think shares of Apache (NYSE: APA) could go on the bullish war path. Even after the stock moved up some 18%, from $52 to$61 last week, investors are still after the energy producer.

This morning saw a big slug of the April $70 calls purchased. The notable transaction was 2,000 contracts trading at $1.15 which was the offer price at that point. The stock has continued higher and those calls are now fetching $1.55 a contract.

Analyst Phil Weiss of Argus Research is none too impressed with the recent debt offering by Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK). The natural gas concern on Wednesday sold $1 billion in six-year notes, with proceeds going toward outstanding indebtedness under CHK's credit facility. The offer was hiked from its initial planned value of $500 million.

Additionally, Chesapeake said it "anticipates reborrowing [under its revolving bank credit facility] from time to time to fund drilling and leasehold acquisition initiatives and for general corporate purposes." It seems the commodity firm is growing steadily more cavalier with its balance sheet -- CHK ended the fiscal year with just $1.75 billion in cash, compared to its December forecast of $2.5 billion.

Back in October, Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon watched his company's stock price tumble along with energy prices -- as a result he faced margin calls and was forced to sell about 94% of his stake in the company.

The stock is still down more than 75% from its 52-week high, but apparently the board of directors' independent compensation committee saw fit to reward McClendon with a new contract that included a one-time $75 million retention payment.

Under this new deal, McClendon will take a salary of $975,000 per year and agrees not to leave for five years.

Normally, I'd be skeptical of a new employment agreement and retention payment to a guy who's stock has lost most of its value. But McClendon's huge stake in the company -- and willingness to borrow money to increase it -- demonstrated tremendous confidence in the company's future and he personally lost about $2 billion when he received those margin calls. The recent decline in energy prices aside, he has a pretty impressive track record and he's worth retaining.

This oil trade takes the cake.

At the zenith of the speculative bubble in the oil patch -- when crude hit $147 per barrel in July -- you had everyone from T. Boone Pickens to Prince Alaweed touting $200-per-barrel oil by the end of the year.

Crude is now trading around $40 -- down $107 per barrel in less than six months. Unbelievable!

And this latest drop comes after OPEC voted to cut daily production by an eye-popping 4.2 billion barrels per day.

Looks like the world is awash in crude oil.

Needless to say, those euphoric longs in the oil stocks got destroyed. Most energy stocks lost 50% to 70% of their value during the course of the sell-off in crude.

And remember those television commercials with T. Boone and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon pushing for the expansion of natural gas?

Well, natural gas prices are down 60% from their mid-year highs.

If you put money into T. Boone's Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) as recently as September, when the stock was trading at $20, you now own Mr. Pickens' vision for $5.

Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded Altria (NYSE: MO), citing the company's 25% cash return to shareholders by 2010 and its market leadership.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB) based on its solid balance sheet and liquidity, strong market positions, and technology-driven products.
  
• RBC Capital believes Schlumberger's (NYSE: SLB) earnings will decrease the least vs. its peers through 2010 and notes its breadth of products/services.
• Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  
• Bally Tech (NYSE: BYI) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Analyst downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) citing consumer spending concerns and valuation.
  
• Merrill downgraded JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) citing expectations for credit costs to get worse in the US.
  
• Wachovia downgraded a handful of names, including Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK), in the Exploration & Production space as they believe natural gas prices have more downside in order to balance supply/demand fundamentals.

Energy stocks are getting hammered today, thanks in no small part to renewed demand concerns following the Labor Department's gruesome nonfarm payrolls report. Natural-gas concern Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE: CHK) is blazing the path lower, with the shares hitting a new 5-year low of $9.86 earlier today.

In fact, CHK has been reeling since late November, when the commodity firm filed a shelf registration to issue $2 billion worth of shares in a bid to raise cash. The move sparked anxiety among investors about share dilution, and it also raised questions about Chesapeake's liquidity position. In response to the news, brokerage firm Calyon Securities on Wednesday slashed the stock's rating from Buy to Underperform, and cut its price target from $41 to $15.

Other analysts are concerned, too; Phil Weiss of Argus Research told Reuters today that "the stock could easily go to $2 a share on fear and panic." Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon asserted yesterday that his company is "in excellent position to weather the current difficult economic situation in the U.S.," but it remains to be seen whether this comment will be sufficient to soothe an increasingly emotional market.

Plus, CHK looks highly vulnerable to more downgrades in the near future. Zacks reports a staggering 16 Strong Buy ratings from analysts, along with one Buy, six Holds, and absolutely no Sells. Any further negative notes from brokerage firms could potentially smack the shares deeper into single-digit territory.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.

Seems that even this shortened week was full of news and happenings, in the U.S. and around the world. With Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) being bailed out by the U.S. government at the beginning of the week and China announcing fiscal and monetary stimulus plans, the Dow industrials finished in positive territory four days in a row.

But as analysts and pundits, as well as each and every economic release -- in the U.S. and around the world -- remind us, we are not out of the woods yet and the rally has really been a bear-market rally.

Investors looking to take advantage of such rallies, or at least feel they hold stable long-term holdings, can search this week's BloggingStocks' contributors' picks:

Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) and Devry Inc. (NYSE: DV) -- It's often been suggested that educators do well in times of recession and high unemployment as workers look to improve or change their education to get a better job. Leo Fasciocco thinks these two are poised for a breakout.

Dollar Tree Inc. (NASDAQ: DLTR) reported stronger-than-expected earnings this week and also hiked its forecast. Not surprisingly, cash-strapped consumers turn more and more to discounters. Dollar Tree may continue to benefit from the economic downturn and the stock could also experience a short-squeeze rally.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if the commodity were going to fall further, it would have done so by now.

Has natural gas hit bottom? One thing that has endlessly plagued this market is the belief that there is no bottom to oil or natural gas.

I think that we are seeing some stickiness in oil in the $50s. I am looking for that to be challenged and held today and tomorrow when inventories are broadcast. But more important, I think there is a place where natural gas is having trouble going down now because it is too cold. We are in the season where natural gas should have fallen more before it got here, because without some sort of unseasonably warm snap, we will now believe that nat gas is permanently above $5 and change, where a whole host of prudent companies, like Equitable (NYSE: EQT) (Cramer's Take) for yield and Ultra (NYSE: UPL) (Cramer's Take) for growth, make a lot of money.

We have more than a couple of ways to play this. Equitable has a decent dividend, one of the rare natural gas E&P companies with one of those. Equitable's finding costs are less than half the current pricing. The conservatives can play it with the Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) (Cramer's Take) preferred; nice upside while you wait. Another way is Anadarko Pete (NYSE: APC) (Cramer's Take), run by industry stalwart Jim Hackett, who came on "Mad Money" recently and said that his company's oil and gas mixture is equal to about $10 a barrel but the stock is only at $37, and I suspect that it could go back to its $35 price if the oil futures stay this gloomy.