Even though we can anticipate billions of dollars in claims there still are buying opportunites.

Do you have any interest in insurance companies amidst the turmoil, disaster and current crises in Japan? A crises that followed so closely on the heals of the destruction of the New Zealand city of ChristChurch by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Perhaps you think this is even a poorer idea than catching that proverbial falling knife we are always hearing about when stock prices are collapsing.

Certainly there will be billions of dollars in claims. On the other hand, perhaps the burden will be spread around the globe to reinsurer's such that none is struck too hard and this is a buying opportunity. After all, when the dust settles, insurers will cry for mercy, and in particular, rate increases. It is also likely those that never saw the need for insurance have been awakened and demand will increase.

MetLife (MET - option chain) stock is trading lower today along with most other insurance companies this morning after the cost to insurers related to Friday's earthquake in Japan was estimated to be between $15 to $35 billion. Prudential Financial (PRU) and AIG (AIG) are also down so far in today's trading. Even if these insurance companies are actually on solid footing financially with regard to their expected claims, I expect investors could be frightened for several months to come, which could keep share prices depressed. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on MET.

Hartford Financial (HIG) is one of the largest providers of investment products, individual life, group life and group disability insurance products, as well as property and casualty insurance products in the U.S. In addition to the U.S., the company has operations in Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil and Ireland. Its main competitors include large insurers like MetLife (MET), Prudential (PRU) and AIG (AIG).

We have a price estimate of $23.68 on Hartford Financial's stock, which is about 20% below the current market price. We estimate that property and casualty insurance in the U.S. constitutes about 37% of the company's stock value.

MetLife reported a 36% increase in premiums, fees and other revenues from the insurance business outside of the U.S. in the year 2010, mainly due to the addition of about $836 million from ALICO's one month operations. MetLife acquired ALICO for about $15.5 billion from AIG as a part of its strategy to grow internationally. The acquisition has enabled MetLife to serve 90 million customers in over 60 countries and has significantly boosted MetLife's position as a leading insurance company in the U.S, Japan, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Eaton (ETN) to conviction buy from neutral.
• AECOM Technology (ACM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Hologic (HOLX), Gen-Probe (GPRO) and Qiagen (QGEN) to overweight from neutral.
• GeoMet (GMET) was upgraded to accumulate from neutral at Global Hunter.
• Accretive Health (AH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Reinsurance Group (RGA) to overweight from equal weight.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Clearwire (CLWR) to neutral from underperform.

Analyst Upgrades

• Auriga upgraded Leap Wireless (LEAP) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and analyst day, citing valuation, longer-term potential for consolidation and prospects for business improvements. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $16 from $19.
• Goldman upgraded Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell following the company's announcement to explore strategic alternatives. The firm raised its price target to $15 from $12.
• RBC Capital upgraded ESCO Technologies (ESE) to sector perform from underperform following the better-than-expected Q3 report. The firm raised its price target to $30 from $28.
• MetLife (MET) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• HSBC (HBC) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at CLSA.

By and large, earnings expectations remain high as earnings season rolls on this week. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect double-digit annual earnings growth from Avon (AVP), Kellogg (K) and Whirlpool (WHR) to Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), DuPont (DD) and Northrop Grumman (NOC).

Big Oil steps into the earnings spotlight this week as well. Wall Street is anticipating big profit growth from BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), which we look at more closely below, Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), as well as from Apache (APA) and Occidental (OXY). Even Hess (HES) is forecast to have swung to a profit from last year's net loss.

It looks like American International Group (AIG) has found another $15.5 billion. The insurance company is selling its American Life Insurance Co. division to MetLife (MET) for $6.8 billion in cash and $8.7 billion in equities. Approximately $9 billion from this sale will be used to repay funds provided by the Federal Reserve, totaling $182.3 billion. This follows the announcement of Prudential's $35.5 billion designs on AIG's Asian operations.

Robert Haines, analyst at CreditSights, tells Bloomberg News, "This is a sizeable transaction." He continues, "It demonstrates they're making some tangible progress on their plan to divest assets."