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BBEP posts

Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: LNC, AZN, APOL, PNRA ...

Analyst upgrades:

Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Underperform and raised its target to $17 from $10 citing expectations that the company will "qualify for and accept TARP funding."
Credit Suisse upgraded AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO) to Outperform from Neutral as it believes inventory levels are low end demand is better than expected.
JP Morgan upgraded Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm views the recent pullback in shares as a buying opportunity given the company's attractive nuke position and expected ramp in government spending.
Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
Stryker (NYSE: SYK) was lifted to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Palm (PALM), Fuel Tech (FTEK), Weyerhaeuser (WY), and John Wiley & Sons (JW.A) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Morgan Keegan, who expects PALM's recapitalization to bring more financial discipline, better growth from new products, and views the valuation as compelling.
FuelTech Inc (NASDAQ: FTEK) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at ThinkEquity, which believes the company technologies are well-positioned as the U.S. Clean Air Act takes effect.
Bank of America upgraded Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation and their prediction that the company's restructuring will create value for shareholders.
John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW.A) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Stifel Nicolaus & Co, which views the company as a consistent performer with emerging catalysts and reasonable valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC) was added to the SMid Money List at JP Morgan.
Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Bernstein.
BreitBurn Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: BBEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by AG Edwards.

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