Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) to Outperform from Perform following the better-than-expected Q3 results to reflect an improving outlook for all the company's segments. The firm raised its target on shares to $36.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded C.R. Bard (NYSE: BCR) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company's underlying growth trends will improve. The firm raised its target on shares to $88 from $78.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm upgraded the stock after Cognizant reported better-than-expected Q3 results.
• Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
• Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Collins Stewart and to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Steris (NYSE: STE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Analyst upgrades:

• Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Gymboree (NASDAQ:GYMB) to Buy from Underperform and raised their target to $33 from $15 following the company's Q1 comparable store sales guidance.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) to Outperform from Perform after channel checks indicated the company's shipments are gaining momentum. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $35 from $20.
  
• Owens & Minor (NYSE:OMI) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse. The firm upgraded shares but lowered their target to $45 from $46 citing underappreciated earnings growth and valuation.
• Albermarle (NYSE:ALB) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Protective Life (NYSE:PL) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• Maxim (NASDAQ:MXIM) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Canaccord.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Anchor Bancorp, TomoTherapy and Skillsoft Corp were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated Anchor Bancorp (NASDAQ: ABCW) with a Market Perform rating and $18 target, as they prefer to wait for credit and capital concerns to subside.
  
• Jefferies believes TomoTherapy (NASDAQ: TOMO) should trade higher based on the company's strong new order growth and would be buyers at current levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $17 target.
  
• Skillsoft (NASDAQ: SKIL) was assumed with an Outperform rating at William Blair, as they believe the NETg acquisition will drive significant operating margin improvement in the coming years.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman reinstated MarkWest Energy (NYSE: MWE) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Friedman Billings initiated C.R. Bard (NYSE: BCR) with a Market Perform rating and $102 target.
  
• Wachovia initiated Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) and Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TNB) with Market Perform ratings.

On last night's "MAD MONEY" on CNBC, Jim Cramer wanted to show defensive stocks in the medical industrial field. He has seen enough earnings from big companies and he is fed up with the Fed sitting around while the U.S. economy is slowing to a halt. He wants an "Ultimate Defensive Portfolio" of three stocks that are defensive but whose businesses are still growing. He even wanted to take out the companies that are only growing because of foreign business.

1) Bard (C.R.) (NYSE: BCR) is one stock he's been behind since 2005, and he is still behind it. Besides thinking it can still be bought, there is more to like on it, especially its catheter business, but its biopsy technology and the angioplasty operations as well.

2) Becton, Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) is a safe traditional medical device and diagnostics company. BDX has been up 31% since Cramer first recommended it, and he thinks it will go higher. More on BDX here.

3) Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) was Cramer's #3 spot as the best of breed, but he only wants to buy it now if it sells off. You can read what else he noted on it.

Back in February I came up with a list of 20 Defensive Stocks for a Crummy Market. After those 20 stocks, I even came up with a list of 15 Second Line Defensive Stocks. Many of my names were different than Cramer's names at the time. Some of my picks were medical and some were not, and most were chosen at a time that fear and panic were starting to come front and center. These picks that Cramer came up with are all different in that they may grow, and not only because of the weak dollar.

Jon Ogg is a partner at 24.7 Wall St.; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.