Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Accenture (ACN) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q4 results, citing improved tone and increased visibility. The firm raised its target range for shares to $51 to $53 from $41 to $44.
• Macquarie upgraded FirstMerit (FMER) to outperform from neutral and has a $21 price target on the stock. The firm cites FirstMerit's strong fundamentals and competitive advantage for the upgrade.
• Macquarie transferred coverage on Marshall & Ilsley (MI) with a neutral from an underperform based on improved risk/reward.
• Eaton (ETN) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• HSBC (HBC) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Walgreen (WAG) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from hold and raised its price target for shares to $40 from $28 following the company's acquisition of Qualitest. The firm believes the deal makes financial and strategic sense. Shares were also upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer with a $40 price target following the company's acquisition of Qualitest. The firm views the deal as potentially transformative for Endo.
• Goldman upgraded Carnival (CCL) to buy from neutral, citing low supply growth and cost-cutting measures. The firm also raised its price target to $44 from $36.
• Needham upgraded Jabil Circuit (JBL) to strong buy from buy with a $23 target.
• Siliconware Precision (SPIL), United Microelectronic (UMC) and Advanced Semiconductor (ASX) were upgraded to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Check Point (CHKP) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Raymond James (RJF) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Franklin Resources (BEN) to outperform from market perform and raised its target price for shares to $127 from $105 to reflect its belief the company is well positioned in the current environment.
• UBS upgraded Nuance (NUAN) to buy from neutral and has an $18 price target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company could be an acquisition target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded DryShips (DRYS) to equal weight from underweight and has a $5.50 target on the stock. The firm cites the firmer ultra-deepwater drilling market for the upgrade.
• Becton Dickinson (BDX) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Edwards Lifesciences (EW) was upgraded to market perform at Rodman & Renshaw.
• Arkansas Best (ABFS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• HSBC upgraded Massey Energy (MEE) to overweight from neutral based on improved 2011 pricing power given industry supply-side discipline. Despite the upgrade, the firm cuts its price target to $40 from $54.
• Needham upgraded Blue Coat Systems (BCSI) to buy from hold following yesterday's announcement that Michael J. Borman has been named the new CEO. The firm has a $27 price target on the stock.
• Citigroup upgraded Teekay Offshore Partners (TOO) to buy from hold after the company announced shuttle tanker contracts to reflect improved operating performance. The firm raised its target for shares to $26 from $15.
• Prosperity Bancshares (PRSP) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Ceradyne (CRDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• CTC Media (CTCM) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Upgrades

• CLSA upgraded Capital One (COF) to outperform from underperform based on valuation and an acceleration in loan growth. The firm raised its price target to $43 from $40.
• KeyBanc upgraded Brush Engineered (BW) to buy from hold based on increased confidence in profit momentum in Specialty Engineered Alloys, valuation and value-added revenue unit growth. The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Heico (HEI) to buy from hold with a $42 target, citing the better-than-expected Q3 results.
• Greenbrier (GBX) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Paychex (PAYX) was upgraded to hold from sell at Deutsche Bank.
• A. Schulman (SHLM) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Norfolk Southern (NSC) to overweight from neutral, citing the company's leverage to coal and position relative to peers. The firm has a $68 price target for shares.
• Benchmark upgraded Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) to hold from sell based on a more favorable earnings outlook and reduced dividend risk.
• UBS upgraded Costco (COST) to buy from neutral based on valuation. The firm raised its price target to $63 from $62.
• Visa (V) was upgraded to gonviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• KLA-Tencor (KLAC) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) to Neutral from Sell and Advanced Semiconductor (NYSE: ASX) to Buy from Neutral as it is seeing early signs of stabilization in the semiconductor industry.
  
• Jefferies upgraded VCA Antech (NASDAQ: WOOF) to Hold from Underperform as it does not see significant downside in the stock given the low expectations. It raised its target price to $22 from $15.
  
• Baird upgraded Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $16 from $9 as it expects revenue growth to resume in 2009 driven by IPTV end-demand.
• Goldman removed Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) from the Conviction Sell List.
  
• Portfolio Recovery (NASDAQ: PRAA) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
  
• Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Hold from Sell.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that last minute shopping in the days before Christmas salvaged a slight increase in overall retail sales for the season, but the total still fell short of predictions with gasoline-price inflation factored out. According to MasterCard SpendingPulse, total U.S. retail sales, excluding automobile sales, rose 3.6% for the holiday season spanning the day after Thanksgiving to midnight Monday.
• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) announced it would pay $4.5 billion for a 60% stake in Marmon Holdings, an industrial conglomerate. The deal, Mr. Buffett said, is Berkshire's largest acquisition outside of the insurance industry, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) said it aims to boost global sales by 5% in 2008 to 9.85 million cars, pulling further ahead of rival General Motors (NYSE: GM). Toyota also said it expects global sales this year of 9.36 million vehicles, up 6% from 2006.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Japan's NTT DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) is in talks with Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) to strengthen its business alliance in a bid to upgrade services for its mobile phone users, DoCoMo officials said Tuesday, reported Bloomberg.

WEBSITES:

• Advanced Semiconductor (NYSE: ASX) has laid off over 40 workers at its flip chip substrate plant in northern Taiwan and has reportedly suspended a plan to expand its FC substrate capacity, DigiTimes.com reported.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Gander Mountain, Lev Pharmaceuticals, Intermune, Aetna and Medco Health were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Nollenberger initiated shares of Gander Mountain Company (NASDAQ: GMTN) with a Sell rating and $5.00 target, and believes the company's goal of reaching profitability in 2007 could prove overly optimistic.
  
• Lev Pharmaceuticals (OTC: LEVP) was initiated with a Sector Outperformer rating and $3 target at CIBC, as the firm believes Cinryze will likely be approved in 1Q08 and they expect the company to have significant pricing leverage.
  
• JP Morgan resumed coverage of Intermune Inc (NASDAQ: ITMN) with an Overweight rating and expects shares to be driven by the company's pipeline in IPF and HCV.
  
• Aetna Incorporated (NYSE: AET) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Wachovia. The firm feels Aetna is positioned for better growth and higher quality earnings than its peers.
  
• William Blair started shares of Medco Health Solutions Inc (NYSE: MHS) with an Outperform rating, as they believe an aging population, rising health care costs, and an acceleration in new product introductions should increase demand for PBM services over the next five years.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• ABN Amro started shares of Siliconware Precision Industries Company Ltd (NASDAQ: SPIL) and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (NYSE: ASX) with Buy ratings.
  
• Goldman initiated Silicon Image Inc (NASDAQ: SIMG) with a Sell rating and $4.50 target, and initiated Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: SIRF) with Neutral ratings and a $43 target and $19 target, respectively.