Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Hold from Underperform on valuation. The stock has gone down 40% since they initiated coverage on September 19. The firm maintains a $29 target.
  
• Citigroup upgraded EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), Quicksilver (NYSE: KWK) and Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) to Buy from Hold on their belief U.S. natural gas-focused E&P companies have near-term upside.
  
• Barclays upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Equal Weight from Underweight citing the $425M private equity investment, which reduces liquidity risk, and its reduced cost structure.
• Brandywine Realty (NYSE: BDN) and AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Merrill Lynch.
  
• tw telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  
• AmeriCredit (NYSE: ACF) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded Macquarie Infrastructure (NYSE: MIC) to Hold from Buy to reflect the company's sensitivity to the economic slowdown and funding risk. The firm lowered their target to $9 from $40 after the company announced a dividend reduction.
  
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was cut to Sell from Neutral at UBS due to the company's exposure to potential generic competition and a lack of new products.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Cleveland Cliffs (NYSE: CLF) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered their target to $42 from $50 to reflect the risk of further production cuts.
• Credit Suisse lowered Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Delta Petroleum (NASDAQ: DPTR) was downgraded at Deutsche Bank to Sell from Hold.
  
• Siemens (NYSE: SI) was downgraded to Sell from Buy at UBS.

Analyst initiations:

• Goldman initiated Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY) with a Buy rating and $27 target as they believe it is making progress in becoming a mid-sized specialty biopharmaceutical company. The firm expects the company to be active in M&A and to spin-off or divest its slow-growth or fast-growing assets, such as virology and oncology.
  
• Goldman believes Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) needs a "radical transformation" and restructuring that includes a break up, spin and merger in order to outperform over the next several years. Shares were assumed with a Sell rating and $19 target.
  
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $65 target at Banc of America. The firm prefers to be on the sidelines given uncertainties surrounding 2009 revenue growth and the potential for negative rhetoric out of Washington on pharma costs.
• Acorda (NASDAQ: ACOR) was started at RBC Capital with an Outperform rating and $30 target.
  
• Cavium Networks (NASDAQ: CAVM) and NetLogic (NASDAQ: NETL) were initiated with Neutral ratings at Cowen.
  
• Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) was assumed with a Buy rating and $61 target at Piper Jaffray.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Merck, On2 Technologies and Zions Bancorp were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• UBS downgraded Merck & Co Inc (NYSE: MRK) to Neutral from Buy citing slowing Gardasil trends and vaccine supply issues.
• Merriman cut On2 Technologies Inc (AMEX: ONT) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the reduced visibility into financials and management changes.
• Baird downgraded shares of Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ: ZION) to Neutral from Outperform to reflect deteriorating credit quality and growing capital concerns. The firm lowered their target price to $32 from $43.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• AstraZeneca Plc (NYSE: AZN) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
• JP Morgan lowered Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE: MI) to Underweight from Neutral.
• Acme Packet Inc (NASDAQ: APKT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Piper.

SmartPros (AMEX: PED) is trading up 24% on positive earnings. And PeopleSupport (NASDAQ: PSPT) is up 16% on record results for the last quarter.

Nastech Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: NSTK) is off 21% after Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) pulled out of a joint venture with the company. And Acme Packet (NASDAQ: APKT) is off 12% on a drop in last quarter's profits.

Pre-market prices may not be the same as the price at the open.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: News Corp, Limelight Networks, Corning and Carmike Cinemas were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital is positive on News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) strategy of investing cash flow away from mature enterprises to fund high-growth initiatives such as Sky Italia and Fox Interactive Media. The firm initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $26 target.
  
• Kaufman Brothers rates Limelight Networks Inc (NASDAQ: LLNW) a Sell based on a significant increase in the competitive environment with Akamai discounting on large deals, Level 3 Communications Inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) introducing a competitive offering in November 2007, Korean major-CD Networks becoming aggressive, and new entrants becoming aggressive with their value propositions.
  
• Deutsche Bank initiated Corning Inc (NYSE: GLW) with a Buy rating and $31 target as they believe shares are fundamentally undervalued given the company's strong fundamentals and promising outlook.
  
• Carmike Cinemas Inc (NASDAQ: CKEC) was started at JP Morgan with an Overweight rating. The firm said the company is the most exposed to 3-D, which could lead to potential upside due to low margins and leverage capital structure.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• UBS started shares of St. Jude Medical Inc (NYSE: STJ) with a Sell rating and $43 target and shares of Medtronic Inc (NYSE: MDT) with a Buy rating and $64 target.
  
• Bear Stearns initiated shares of TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX) and Ross Stores Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) with Peer Perform ratings.
  
• KeyBanc initiated shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) with a Hold rating.
  
• Caris started shares of Acme Packet Inc (NASDAQ: APKT) with an Above Average rating and $17 target.

Despite the difficulties faced by Vonage (NYSE: VG), the future for VoIP -- Voice over Internet Protocol -- remains attractive to growth-oriented advisors. Jim Oberweis Jr. notes, "VoIP is finally gaining traction -- and people are now getting rid of their phone lines in droves, as the quality of VoIP has dramatically improved."

Indeed, the money manager and editor of The Oberweis Report notes, "At my home, we've replaced our regular phone service with a VoIP connection and I find it virtually indistinguishable from traditional land-line connections."

For those unfamiliar with the technology, he explains, "With VoIP, your voice is converted into a digital signal that travels over the internet. The price is right -- around $35 bucks a month -- for unlimited calls around the world."

Importantly, he does not see the upside opportunity among telephony service providers. Rather, he sees the potential among companies that make the equipment that enables VoIP networks to operate.

He notes, "VoIP is causing an exponential increase in demand for bandwidth." And that, he notes, takes lots of investment and equipment. It represents, he suggests, "the renaissance of the telecommunications equipment industry after six long years in the doldrums." So what companies will benefit from this renaissance?

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc (TTWO), Sony Corp (SNE), Sun Microsystems, Inc (SUNW), PetSmart, Inc (PETM) and Constellation Energy Group, Inc (CEG) were today's more notable initiations:

• Prudential started Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) with a Neutral rating and $25 target, citing valuation and limited impact from GTA IV for the rating.

• Prudential believes Sony Corp (NYSE: SNE) is well-positioned to benefit from digital media revolution in consumer electronics and that operating margins will continue to improve; Sony was initiated with an Overweight rating and $62 target.

• Cowen views Sun Microsystems' (NASDAQ: SUNW) valuation full and initiated shares with a Neutral rating.

• Pali Capital initiated PetSmart, Inc (NASDAQ: PETM) with a Buy rating and $37 target, room for price optimization as their recent checks suggest that consumers prefer PETM, regardless of price.

• Credit Suisse initiated shares of Constellation Energy Group (NYSE: CEG) with an Outperform rating and $94 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Stifel initiated several stocks in the network technology sector: Juniper Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: JNPR) was initiated with a Buy rating and $23 target, while Acme Packet, Inc (NASDAQ: APKT), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Polycom, Inc (NASDAQ: PLCM) were initiated with Hold ratings.

• First Albany initiated NutriSystem (NASDAQ: NTRI) with a Buy rating and $57 target.

• Piper Jaffray started OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: OSIP) with an Outperform rating and $42 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Most Noteworthy: Acme Packet (APKT) and Ultrapetrol (ULTR) were the only two initiations on today's list.

• Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT) was initiated at ThinkEquity with a Buy and $20 target and initiated at Credit Suisse First Boston with an Outperform and $21 target, both firms cited the emerging Session Border Controller market as the reason for their positive ratings.
• Ultrapetrol (Bahamas) Ltd. (NASDAQ:ULTR) was initiated at Jefferies & Co. with a Buy and $16 target due to its attractive valuation and exposure to the high growth in the South American river barge trade and the expanding PSV market.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).