Analyst upgrades:

• RBC Capital upgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Outperform from Sector Perform and said the company has attractive franchise value and earnings power, and is nearing the start of a credit driven earnings recovery. The firm raised its target to $22 from $19.
• Oppenheimer assumed coverage of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and upgraded shares to Outperform from Perform. The firm expects Amazon's revenue growth to re-accelerate over the next several quarters, making consensus estimates too conservative. Opco set a $130 price target on the stock.
• Barclays upgraded Ford (NYSE: F) to Equal Weight from Underweight and believes the company will report Q3 results above the Street. The firm raised its Q3 EPS estimate to 7 cents from 16 cents, vs. consensus of 21 cents, and its price target to $8 from $7.
• Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
• Briggs & Stratton (NYSE: BGG) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) started off the new earnings season with disappointing results that helped to stifle the recent rally. Was that enough of a sign of what's to come? No, probably not. But the earnings reports start to fly in earnest this week, which should provide a more detailed picture of the state of things.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that some of the biggest names will prove to be holding their own. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to post a profit of $4.91 per share, marginally higher than a year ago, and Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) expected $1.22 per share profit is slightly lower year over year. Even Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE: MAT) estimated loss of $0.13 per share is the same as in the year-ago period.

Engine equipment maker Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG) continues to struggle with the impact on earnings of a snow engine recall. Thus far in fiscal 2008, warranty expenses for the snow engine recall total more than $20 million in 1Q2008 and an additional $18 million in 2Q2008. Even though net sales increased by 13% to $479 million, the company is still running a half-year operating loss of $15 million due to the negative impact from warranty expenses. To cover the warranty expenses, Briggs & Stratton sold an investment in preferred stock, realizing $25 million in after-tax gains.

Briggs & Stratton 2Q earnings were also negatively affected by higher fixed-production costs but lower production output due to expenses incurred in closing one production facility and opening a new production facility for lawn and garden equipment. A bit of good news was that interest expense for the quarter was down due to lower average borrowing because of inventory reductions.

The company is forecasting FY2008 net income in the $60-$68 million range, with diluted EPS of $1.21-$1.37, if -- and it is a big if -- net sales grow at a rate of 7%-8%. Investors were prepared for the unpleasant earnings news. The stock closed recently at just over $17, with little drop in price as a result of the earnings downturn.