Analyst Upgrades

• McAdams Wright expects Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN) near-term momentum to continue but has long-term concerns that Street estimates are too high. The firm upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.
• JPMorgan upgraded Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation, potential catalysts from Colorado's easing gaming regulations, and the company's strong free cash flow. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $20.
• Citigroup upgraded Valspar (NYSE: VAL) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated paint demand is shifting to big-box retailers, the company's primary sales channel. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $19.
• Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Disney, McClatchy News and McDonald's were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded shares of Disney (NYSE: DIS) to Sell from Hold after their databases indicated a slowdown in Parks is likely. They believe the slowdown in Parks will be coupled with a broader ad slowdown and lowered their target to $26 from $36.
  
• Wachovia lowered its rating on McClatchy News (NYSE: MNI) to Market Perform from Outperform and has concerns that the California and Florida markets could weaken further.
  
• McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear. The firm cited slowing US sales, international business sensitivity to the economy, and valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• NYMEX (NYSE: NMX) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
  
• Oppenheimer downgraded Albermarle (NYSE: ALB) to Perform from Outperform.
  
• Goldman downgraded Grupo Aeroportuario (NYSE: ASR) to Sell from Neutral.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"Although high oil prices and a weak US dollar are hurting some vacation areas, these trends are also creating enormous opportunities; indeed, Mexico is a country where the dollar still gets you a fistful of pesos and a plane ticket doesn't cost as much as an oil well," says Frida Ghitis, contributing editor for Global Investing.

"Aeropuertos del Sureste (NYSE: ASR), known as ASUR, operates nine airports," explains Ghitis. "Want to visit Mexico's Caribbean coast, luxury resorts, and nearby Mayan ruins? Unless you go by sea, chances are that you'll have to stop by one of ASUR's airports.

"One of its airports is the newly expanded Cancun facility, which saw almost ten million passengers last year. Every passenger pays airport fees, and every dollar spent on food, drinks, or gifts at the airport adds to the bottom line.

"Most of the airports are in the Southeast of the country, but the company also runs the facilities in the key tourist destinations of Oaxaca and Huatulco on the Pacific. Altogether, some 13 million passengers traveled through the company's airports last year.