"In any industrialized nation, it's important for people to have post-secondary education in order to be attractive in an increasingly competitive workplace," says China stock specialist Keith Fitz-Gerald.

The editor of The New China Trader explains, "And that is just as true in China as anywhere else in the world. That's why I returned to an old favorite, ChinaCast Education Corp. (CAST), on my recent trip to Beijing.

"The firm offers accredited degree programs to approximately 32,700 traditional university students and 143,000 E-learning students throughout China.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and a potential margin rebound at Linens N' Things.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) to Hold from Sell on valuation and believes expectations have been reset to a reasonable level. The company's target was lowered to $27 from $33.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent weakness and thinks the Army will move forward with a larger XSAPI procurement in FY09. The firm raised their target to $30 from $26.
• Goldman added Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades: