Analyst upgrades:

• Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) was upgraded at Jefferies to Hold from Underperform following Q3 results. The firm believes the Wavecom acquisition integration is progressing better than expected and finds the valuation attractive at current levels. The firm raised its price target to $10 from $5.
• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank to reflect the company's recapitalization and better-than-expected occupancy. The firm raised its target to $69 from $46.
• Wyndham (NYSE: WYN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital after the shares sold off following the company's Q3 results. The firm raised its target to $23 from $15.
• Human Genome (NASDAQ: HGSI) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan. Target was raised to $25 from $14.
• Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) was upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel as they expect a "meaningful sales and earnings improvement in Q4." Target was raised to $39 from $32.
• Methanex (NASDAQ: MEOH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, citing improved methanol demand following the Q3 report. Target was raised to $19.50 from $17.
• Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) was upgraded at Raymond to Market Perform from Underperform.

Boston Properties is performing admirably, despite the commercial real estate market's woes and above-average vacancy rates.

Hence, I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP), first recommended on June 11, 2009 at a price of $48.89. If you bought BXP then, you're up about 28%.

Analyst upgrades:

• Roth Capital upgraded MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $90 from $70, citing encouraging Q2 results, new product cycle catalysts, a lift from Europe, and cost reductions.
• William Blair upgraded Costco (NASDAQ: COST) to Outperform from Market Perform after meeting with management as it believes sales and earnings could beat expectations over the next year.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $29 from $23. The firm cites higher Samsung capex forecast, high leverage, and low expectations.
• Home Properties (NYSE: HME) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBC Capital, while Douglas Emmett (NYSE: DEI) and Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) were raised to Market Perform from Underperform.
• Agilent (NYSE: A) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Cemex (NYSE: CX) to Buy from Hold on decreased dilution risk following the company's successful refinancing and raised its target on shares to $15 from $11.20.
• Rochdale upgraded Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $65. The firm is positive on Wal-Mart's defensive characteristics, cyclical upside, and competitive position.
• JPMorgan upgraded Gartner Group (NYSE: IT) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect stabilization in IT industry spending and the stock's attractive valuation. The firm has a $23 price target on the stock.
• Cavium Networks (NASDAQ: CAVM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Borg-Warner (NYSE: BWA) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Nanometrics (NASDAQ: NANO) was upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says in the wake of an upgrade, FCX has to do a big equity offering.

What will Richard Adkerson do? I can tell you what the CEO of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take) ought to do in the wake of the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch upgrade to buy from sell. He ought to do the biggest darned equity offering in history.

I like Richard. He's candid, he's a great copper man, but he spent too much at the high on Phelps Dodge and wasn't prepared when copper prices plummeted as his balance sheet's simply not so hot. So he had to cut his dividend at the bottom, literally at the exact bottom.

Given the worst commercial conditions in more than 20 years, commercial real estate and retail plays are best avoided, but there are exceptions, and Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) is one.

In general, most analysts expect downward momentum on rents to continue though at least early F2010, due to job losses in key urban markets.

Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP - option chain) stock is falling today after the company announced an offering of 15 million common shares priced at $50 per share. This action will probably place a ceiling on this stock around $50 for the short-term. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BXP.

This morning, BXP opened at $50.64. So far today the stock has hit a low of $49.80 and a high of $51.22. As of 12:30, BXP is trading at $50.92, down $2.09 (-3.9%). The chart for BXP looks neutral and S&P gives BXP a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Alkermes (NASDAQ: ALKS) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation, as they believe the current share price undervalues Risperdal Consta and provides little to no value for other pipeline drugs.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q1 results, as they believe further estimate reductions are unlikely.
  
• UBS expects ITT Educational (NYSE: ESI) to benefit from strong enrollment growth and they see less private student lending risk. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Neutral.
• BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman and added to the firm's Conviction Buy List.
  
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Covance (NYSE: CVD) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at First Analysis.

Analyst downgrades:

• UBS downgraded Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Neutral from Buy and added shares to its Short-term Sell list citing the significant reduction in 2009 coal prices and estimates.
  
• Friedman Billings cut Century Aluminum (NASDAQ: CENX) to Market Perform from Outperform and lowered its target to $8 from $18 shares to reflect a lowered aluminum price forecast and financing concerns.
  
• Bernstein downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Market Perform from Outperform citing recent share performances and the difficult macro environment.
• CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman and added to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• TomoTherapy (NASDAQ: TOMO) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at William Blair.
  
• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was lowered to Neutral from Buy at UBS.

Analyst initiations:

• Morgan Keegan initiated Brinker (NYSE: EAT) with a Market Perform citing the difficult macro economy, relative debt levels and the competitive environment.
  
• Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) was initiated at Oppenheimer with an Outperform rating and $12 target. The firm expects the company to benefit from growing demand for higher acuity assisted living.
  
• Baird initiated Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) with an Underperform rating and $19 target citing the company's premium valuation vs. the group.
• UBS initiated Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), and Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) with Neutral ratings citing the difficult near-term demand environment.
  
• FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was started at Jesup & Lamont with a Hold rating.

Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) acquired the General Motors Building and a portfolio of office towers from Macklowe Properties for $3.9 billion in cash and debt.

Bank of America says: "Macklowe acquisition a Win-Win; Reiterate Buy."

BXP overall option implied volatility of 32 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risk.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

MOST NOTEWORTHY: REITs, Business Objects, Allstate Corp and P&C Insurance were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded REITs AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB), Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP), Health Care REIT (NYSE: HCN), Kimco (NYSE: KIM) and Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) to Hold from Buy on valuation following the recent share appreciation.
  
• Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Baird following its acquisition by SAP AG (NYSE: SAP).
  
• Wachovia downgraded Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) to Market Perform from Outperform and P&C Insurance (NYSE: PGR) citing deteriorating fundamentals in personal lines.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• UBS downgraded BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• JP Morgan downgraded Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Banc of America.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded technology stocks, lowering ASE Test Limited (NASDAQ: ASTSF), ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML), KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and Rudolph Technologies (NASDAQ: RTEC) to Market Perform from Outperform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AutoNation (AN), Darden Restaurants (DRI), Rare Hospitality (RARE) and ChoicePoint (CPS) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Goldman cut AutoNation (NYSE: AN) to Sell from Neutral based on potential for additional earnings shortfalls. The firm does not expect a sharp rebound in shares.

• Bear Stearns downgraded Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) to Peer Perform from Outperform following its acquisition of Rare Hospitality.

• Rare Hospitality (NASDAQ: RARE) was cut to Hold from Buy at Keybanc following the acquisition offer from Darden.

• ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) was cut to Reduce from Neutral at Suntrust, citing the difficult macro environment, which will impact revenue growth in its low-barrier commoditized non-insurance operations...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Alliance Holdings (NASDAQ: AHGP) was cut to Hold from Buy at AG Edwards.

• UBS downgraded SL Green Realty (NYSE: SLG) and Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) to Neutral from Buy.

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sanofi-Aventis (SNY), Dell (DELL), Warner Music Group (WMG), KeyCorp (KEY) and SanDisk Corp (SNDK) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• HSBC upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the company's new drug pipeline investments.

• ThinkEquity raised Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to buy from Sell based on expectations for a better-than-expected July quarter due to strong consumer business demand.

• Pali Research upgraded Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) to Neutral from Sell on valuation with the stock down 40% year-to-date.

• Merrill upgraded KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) to Neutral from Sell following better-than-expected Q2 results.

• JP Morgan upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Neutral citing increased demand for NAND applications and supply constraints...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bernstein upgraded Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP) was raised to Hold from Underweight at Keefe Bruyette.

• Matrix upgraded Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) to Strong Buy from Buy.

• Bernstein raised Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Coca-Cola (KO), Fiserv, Inc (FISV) and several real estate companies were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup, as the firm believes the company is addressing growth issues through recent acquisitions and notes that there are signs of stabilization in Japan.
• Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Cowen based on valuation, upside from restructuring, new management's willingness to unlock value, and the potential possibility of a company sale.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Apartment Investment and Management Co (NYSE: AIV), AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB), Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP), Developers Diversified Realty Corp (NYSE: DDR), Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE: KRC), Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE: KIM), Macerich Co (NYSE: MAC) and Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG).

OTHER UPGRADES:

• RBC Capital upgraded Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ: TXRH) to Outperform from Sector Perform, citing valuation and improved EPS outlook.
• Kenexa Corp (NASDAQ: KNXA) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse, citing valuation and reduced risk from the BrassRing acquisition.
• Goldman Sachs added Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) added to its Conviction Buy List, citing valuation and leverage to energy infrastructure build and power.
• Goldman also added ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) to its Conviction Buy list, citing upside to FFO guidance, favorable domestic and international demand and above-average development margins.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MGM Mirage (MGM), KLA-Tencor Corp (KLAC), Raytheon Co (RTN) and four apartment REIT's were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear Stearns upgraded MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to Outperform from Peer Perform following Kirk Kerkorian's intentions to purchase the Bellagio and City Center and also pursue strategic alternatives for the rest of the company.

• Matrix raised KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Buy from Hold, believing that growing demand for memory chips used in computers is leading to increasing revenues and profits.

• Cowen upgrade shares of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) to Outperform from Neutral based on cash deployment potential from the RAC sale, pension EPS tailwind, foreign sales cycle, and strong execution.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) and Apartment Investment and Management Co (NYSE: AIV) to Outperform from Market Perform and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) and UDR, Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Market Perform from Underperform...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• AG Edwards upgraded Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RSA.A) to Buy from Hold.

• Stifel raised Citrix Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold.

• RBC Capital raised Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE: KRC), Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) and Maquire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

It's a good week for Sam Zell, who sold Equity Office Properties Trust (NYSE: EOP) for $39 billion. In all, he takes about $900 million. At age 65, he is certainly a veteran player of the real estate game.

One of his peers, Steven Roth – who is the CEO of Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) – is 64 years old. He dropped out of the bidding for EOP because he thought the valuation was too rich.

And, today, another Old Guard real estate mogul, Mortimer Zuckerman, is taking money off the table. He is the chairman of Boston Properties Inc. (NYSE: BXP) and is 68 years old.

According to an SEC filing, he is selling roughly $75 million of his stock.

But, despite all of this, Blackstone's real estate chief, Jonathan Gray, was willing to buy EOP – which is likely to have a big impact on real estate valuations.

His age: 37.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.