Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Hold from Sell citing reduced legacy risks and strength in the fixed income franchise.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Fuel Systems (NASDAQ: FSYS) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation, the OEM market in Europe for alternative transportation is growing faster than expected, and the $30M equity raise was smaller than expected.
• Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by FBR Capital. The firm believes that the company will benefit from copper supply issues over the long term, and it thinks the stock has reached an attractive entry point.
• Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• American Tower (NYSE: AMT) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Boeing (NYSE: BA - option chain) stock is falling today after the company postponed the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner again to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft. The maiden voyage of the plane is already two years behind its original schedule. 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 BA.

This morning, BA opened at $44.39. So far today the stock has hit a low of $42.52 and a high of $44.50. As of 12:25, BA is trading at $42.77, down $4.13 (-8.6%). The chart for BA looks neutral and S&P gives BA a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

With international sales of its new F-35 fighter jet coming, Lockheed (NYSE: LMT) is maneuvering Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Saab AB out of the hostile skies.

The program manager of this particular jet believes that there will be fewer prime manufacturers in the future. This won't impact lower-level suppliers substantially, though, as they will have an ample role with the F-35 and continue to service existing aircraft from other manufacturers. These suppliers contributed more than 70% of the work to the F-35.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that it's a jobs play with actual profit that doesn't need help from the government.

Does a rising tide lift all B.O.A.Ts? I am talking about the quad-bull that seems to be the leadership here: banks, oils, aerospace (new one, touched on last night on "Mad Money") and tech? Is it enough? I think so.

Aerospace is ready. The new plane cycle the majors have been waiting for is ready. The dollar's down enough to make it pretty stupid to go with Airbus vs. Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take) if you are going to expand your fleet. The new planes have just enough oil-saving to make it so the upgrade is almost going to have to happen.

"Golf has Tiger Woods, novelists have Tom Clancy, and the investment community has stars such as Bruce Berkowitz, Bill Nygren, Charlie Dreifus, and Mario Gabelli," states Paul Tracy.

In his The Street Authority Market Advisor, he suggests, "These money managers are at the pinnacle of their craft." Here, he takes a look at these "celebrities" and some of their current top stock holdings.

"These money managers have all amassed prodigious gains over the years for their shareholders. Over the past few months, these gurus have come out with ringing endorsements for certain stocks. This isn't empty talk -- they are putting their money where their mouth is.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) Q1 profit blew away estimates, sending shares soaring.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) topped analysts expectations and offered conservative guidance.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) reported better-than-expected results but warned that if faced challenges.
• Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) topped Q3 profit estimates and announced the start of quarterly dividends.
• Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL) widened is net loss in Q1 but still beat low Wall Street estimates.

Readers of this space know that the investment bias is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and who have a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable, global trend as a support. And with the aforementioned in mind, Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) is worth a review.

Just call Precision Castparts a hybrid cyclical/defensive. The company is a large manufacturer of forged components for the power generation market, and in case one hasn't noticed, upgrades and expansion of power generation facilities should benefit from the Obama administration's initiatives to renovate the nation's electric grid, among other energy projects. Demand for industrial gas turbine parts should remain more than adequate.

In this market, where a sneeze by a hedge fund manager can cause the Dow to fall 200 points, or so it seems, you take the positive data points where you can get them.

Boeing supplied one on Tuesday, reaffirming that its next-generation 787 Dreamliner remains on schedule for its earlier-stated Q1 2010 delivery and Q2 2009 first test flight, the company announced during a presentation at the J.P. Morgan Aviation and Transportation conference.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Abercrombie & Fitch Inc. (NYSE: ANF) beat Q4 earnings estimates handily, sending shares higher.
• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) did well in the holiday period but offered weak guidance.
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) one-time gains offset write-downs and said it expects to resume dividend payments.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) shares fell after it announced that it had understated its Q4 and fiscal 2008 loss.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) topped Q4 earnings estimates due in part to volume gain internationally.
• Diageo (NYSE: DEO) earnings rose in the first half, but it cut its full-year forecast.
• GSI Commerce Inc. (NASDAQ: GSIC) "solid" Q4 results led to an analyst downgrade.

Boeing (NYSE: BA - option chain) stock is falling today after the company revised its fourth-quarter loss to 12 cents per share, from an earlier report of 8 cents per share. In late January, when BA first reported this loss, the stock dropped $3, and today it is down another $2. 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 BA.

This morning, BA opened at $41.29. So far today the stock has hit a low of $40.05 and a high of $42.23. As of 12:25, BA is trading at $40.35, down $2.45 (-5.7%). The chart for BA looks neutral and S&P gives BA a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Most companies saw sales weakness in January, and The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) was no exception. As the global economic slowdown continues to drag out, the company saw sharp drops in order for both freight and passenger jets in the month.

The figures are pretty staggering. In January, the company only received order for 18 jetliners. When you compare this with January of last year, when the company had orders for 65 of its planes, you see a year over year decline of 72%.

If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares surged after earnings easily topped Q4 expectations.
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) reported that its Q4 earnings fell while its revenue rose marginally.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) posted a big loss and lower revenue due to strikes and design changes.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported that Q4 profit fell despite higher revenue and lowered its guidance.
• Danaher Corp. (NYSE: DHR) lower Q4 profit topped analysts' estimates, sending shares higher.
• Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) reported a Q4 net loss and announced additional job cuts.

Talk about a triple-whammy of bad news: The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) announced Wednesday a modest Q4, a workforce reduction, and the cancellation of some 787 orders.

Boeing, quintessential example of American capitalism and innovation, announced Wednesday (pdf) Q4 EPS of 62 cents, excluding charges, compared with a First Call Q4 earnings consensus estimate of 78 cents per share. Including charges, Boeing lost 8 cents a share in Q4. In Q4 2007, Boeing earned $1.36 per share.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) lost money and its sales plunged in the fourth quarter. Its stock is down in pre-market. It looks like things are going to get worse for Boeing before they get better.

How bad was Boeing's fourth quarter? It lost $56 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.36 a share, in 2007. These charges were significant. It took a $1.09 per share charge related to the 58-day strike last year of its 27,000 machinists. It also took charges of 61 cents per share and 9 cents per share for its 747 program -- which has been set back by design changes and lack of engineering resources -- and legal reserve. The scariest thing of all, though, is that its sales plunged 27% to $12.7 billion as aircraft deliveries for the period fell to 50, down from 112 in the same period last year.