Analyst upgrades:

• Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) was upgraded at Jefferies to Hold from Underperform following Q3 results. The firm believes the Wavecom acquisition integration is progressing better than expected and finds the valuation attractive at current levels. The firm raised its price target to $10 from $5.
• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank to reflect the company's recapitalization and better-than-expected occupancy. The firm raised its target to $69 from $46.
• Wyndham (NYSE: WYN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital after the shares sold off following the company's Q3 results. The firm raised its target to $23 from $15.
• Human Genome (NASDAQ: HGSI) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Target was raised to $25 from $14.
• Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) was upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel as they expect a "meaningful sales and earnings improvement in Q4." Target was raised to $39 from $32.
• Methanex (NASDAQ: MEOH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, citing improved methanol demand following the Q3 report. Target was raised to $19.50 from $17.
• Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) was upgraded at Raymond to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst upgrades:

• American Express (NYSE:AXP) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital, as the firm sees limited near-term downside in the stock. The firm raised its target price on the shares to $37 from $25.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) to Outperform from Sector Perform. Target to $44 from $34. UBS upgraded Nestle on expectations the company will begin returning cash to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.
  
• Piper Jaffray raised Dicks Sporting (NYSE:DKS) to Neutral from Underweight following positive channel checks and raised its target on the shares to $28 from $18.
  
• Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Pali Capital.
  
• Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) was raised to Buy from Hold by Natixis.
  
• Sunpower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Macquarie.
• China Automotive (NASDAQ:CAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merriman.

You can tell the oil market's in rough shape when companies are drilling more to pull in smaller profits. This is the situation in which Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) finds itself, with lower energy prices pushing down the cash that comes through the door.

So, its revenue was up for the most recent quarter, but earnings were down. The $262 million that came to the bottom line is 61% lower than the profit for the same quarter the year before.

We had a lot of big names trading up to new 52 week highs again today. The overall markets were pretty flat, with the DOW closing the day down 0.14%, the NASDAQ closing the day's trading up 0.04%, and the S&P ending the day a bit lower to finish today's trading down 0.28%.

Here are a few of the names that moved higher during the day to set new 52 week highs.

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

• AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss as steel prices rise.
• Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE: BSX) posted a better-than-expected Q2 profit on strong overseas sales.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) shares jumped after it beat earnings, missed revenues, and offered guidance.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) shares declined after it posted a higher-than-expected profit but lower revenue.
• Eaton Corp. (NYSE: ETN) disappointing results were a sign that the bulls are in charge, said Jim Cramer.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) Q2 earnings and sales declined, dragged down by finance and NBC units.

This morning, oil firm Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) posted second-quarter earnings and a warning about North American natural gas markets. First things first, HAL reported second-quarter earnings of 30 cents per share (excluding a $12-million charge stemming from job cuts). While these results were far worse than the 55 cents per share the company earned a year ago, they still managed to top the consensus estimate by four cents per share. The situation was the same for quarterly revenue, which fell to $3.49 billion (from $4.49 billion a year ago) but still managed to outpace the Street's expectations - which called for $3.41 billion.

"Many experts believe that oil prices are at unsustainably low prices now, and they expect a sharp rise in the commodity price as supply and demand come back into line again," says turnaround expert George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he suggests, "If oil does begin to rise again, the oilfield service stocks could rebound sharply." Here, he takes a look at large cap plays on a rebound within the oilfield services sector.

"We all know that oil prices have fallen dramatically from their highs in the summer of 2008. But different types of oil-related stocks have reacted quite differently to the price change in the underlying commodity.

"For example, while oil itself has dropped nearly 70% from its 12-month high, the stock of the largest integrated oil company, Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM), is down only 26%, less than the stock market as a whole.

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

• Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) Q4 profit rose on higher prices, and its forecast matched expectations.
• Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) Q4 earnings grew on cost cutting but revenue remained flat.
• Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE: BDK) shares tanked after the dismal Q4 report, and it announced job cuts.
• Carpenter Technology Corp. (NYSE: CRS) Q2 numbers resulted in a downgrade from one analyst.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) reported a Q4 loss due to writedowns from recent acquisitions.
• DuPont (NYSE: DD) swung to a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss and its revenue fell as well.
• Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) swung to a Q4 loss on acquisition costs but reaffirmed its guidance.

Here's a quick look at some of Monday's earnings results:

Netflix Inc.'s (NASDAQ: NFLX) fourth-quarter earnings jumped 45% percent to nearly $23 million, or 38 cents per share, which surpassed analysts' estimates. Revenue in the period rose 19% to $360 million. The company ended 2008 with 9.4 million subscribers, a gain of 718,000 customers from the end of September. Shares fell $0.29, less than 1% Monday.

Amgen Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMGN) fourth-quarter profit grew 15% percent to $961 million, or 91 cents per share, mostly due to lower expenses. Revenue was $3.75 billion about the same as last year. Results included $60 million in restructuring costs a year ago. Shares rose $1.22, or 2.3%, but fell in after-hours trading.

Just as we were getting used to write about how bad trading has been, today came around and was positive throughout. The housing data from existing home sales sent the markets up, despite mostly dismal news from the industrials. Bank stocks had yet another up day.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced a deal to acquire rival Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) for $68 billion, or $50.19 a share, a 15% premium to Friday's close of $43.74. This cash-and-stock deal is the largest in the drug sector since 2000 and many see it as a precursor to a flourishing M&A season as the credit markets are slowly starting to improve. Pfizer also reported a 90% profit drop for the fourth quarter due to charges. PFE shares declined 3.4% in premarket trading, while WYE shares gained nearly 5%.

Barclays (NYSE: BCS) shares surged in London Monday after the firm reassured investors in a letter to shareholders it didn't need more capital. But France's BNP Paribas said it would take more cash from the government following a 1.4 billion euro ($1.8 billion) loss in the latest quarter. Finally, ING (NYSE: ING), the Dutch financial services firm, also received government aid as it is expected to announce it had a net loss of 3.3 billion euros in the fourth quarter, that it would cut 7,000 jobs, and that its CEO would step down. BCS shares gained over 44% in premarket trading and ING's gained over 19%.

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) are two Dow components set to report earnings this morning. CAT said its fourth-quarter profit fell to $661 million, or $1.08 a share, from $975 million, or $1.50 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 6% to $12.9 billion. For 2009, Caterpillar gave a a much lower guidance than analysts had expected, $2.50 vs. $4.35 EPS. CAT also said it would slash 20,000 jobs. CAT shares fell over 11% in premarket trading.
Meanwhile, MCD delivered what at first glance seems to be better-than-expected earnings of 87 cents vs. 84 cents. It even plans to invest $2.1 billion of capital to open about 1,000 new McDonald's restaurants.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is the third Dow component tor report quarterly results after the close of trading today and is expected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 20 cents a share.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) warned late Thursday of significantly lower fourth-quarter earnings than in the previous quarter. This isn't surprising as there has been a steep drop in energy prices from the record oil prices in the prior quarter. Chevron also said it experienced narrower refining margins, but didn't give any estimates.

Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) may be naming a new CEO as soon as next week, according to The Wall Street Journal. Ex-Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz is the leading candidate. YHOO shares traded 3.7% higher in premarket action.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) reported total revenues for the fourth quarter ended November 30, 2008 were $919.0 million, down from $2.07 billion for the year-earlier quarter, and a net loss of $307.3 million, or $3.96 per diluted share. Analysts had expected a fourth-quarter loss -- excluding any charges -- of $1.23 a share. KBH shares were nearly 3% higher in premarket trade.

The elections are upon us with less than 24 hours before the polls open. Our current president George W. Bush has sat by as the economy went from good to bad to worse and his reputation and political standing went with it.

I have voted Republican and I have voted Democrat. I vote for the person, not the party. As the nation ponders who will be sitting in the Oval Office in 2009 I am quite confident that I am not alone. From day one I have felt that Dubya was in the White House because of dear old dad, the senior being far more qualified than junior. Junior became the front man for ideologues more intent on forcing their will upon others after a very dubious election result than all else.

From what I have seen and read, GWB has never been a great success at anything but politics, and now that reputation is toast too. While history has been kind to some past presidents allowing at least partial redemption -- Truman as direct, honest and a strong leader, Nixon on foreign policy issues, and most recently Carter as a humanitarian -- our current president has little to show for his eight years.

U.S. stock futures were somewhat higher Monday morning as investors put October -- one of the worst months ever -- behind them and braced for the impact of the presidential election. A slew of economic data will be released this week, including September construction spending and the October release of the ISM index due today after the market opens. Global stocks were generally higher even as oil slipped again.

PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP) said Monday it will invest $1 billion in China over the next four years. The beverage company wants to expand local manufacturing capability, research and development and sales force.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) -- the company has been in the process of trying to find a way to merge with Chrysler. While we didn't hear much about the merger so far from the United Auto Workers union, it seems
it intends to play a key part in it and has has retained an adviser to help with workers' concerns should the merger occur, the WSJ reported.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) saw its 27,000 machinists resuming work Sunday after a 57-day strike that shut down production. Because of logistics, it will take several weeks before Boeing is running normally. The company missed at least 70 deliveries as a result of the strike. Seems it may miss more until production is properly under way. Boeing was downgraded to Conviction Sell from Neutral by Goldman Sachs, saying investors should sell into the strength from the resolution of the machinists union strike.

We know that some of that money went to pay for plush resort vacations in California. But that is only the small amounts. The Administration just figured -- "Heh, it's not our money going out the door -- who cares what happens to it?"

It was the same thing with $44.5 billion worth of government contracts for Iraq -- give friends the billions and let them do with it what they want. This attitude led to the firing of an Army official who refused to authorize $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the unit of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) that Dick Cheney formerly ran.

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) is not required to report how it's spending our money, but hints have surfaced about where some of it went: $18 billion to cover losses on AIG's securities lending -- where it lent out securities which then declined in value, and $13 billion to pay guarantees on Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs). I know I had nothing to do with these bad business bets so why am I paying for them?