Analyst upgrades:

• Kaufman Bros. upgraded American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) to Buy from Hold as it believes the follow-on contract from Sinovel has positive implications. The firm has a $36 price target on shares.
• Goldman upgraded Nike (NYSE: NKE) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation, visible long-term growth, and signs of sales stabilization. The firm has a $75 target on shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent underperformance. The firm raised its target on shares to $5.50 from $4.
• Novartis (NYSE: NVS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at ThinkEquity.
• China Precision Steel (NASDAQ: CPSL) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Roth Capital.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: OptionXpress, China Precision Steel and WMS Industries were today's noteworthy initiations:

• JMP Securities expects OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) to continue to benefit from continued retail adoption of options and futures trading and expansion of its platform outside the U.S. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $29 target.
  
• Merriman believes China Precision Steel (NASDAQ: CPSL) should be able to gain market share as it mainly competes against foreign imports and currently has a lower cost to manufacture. The firm started shares with a Buy rating.
  
• Soleil expects WMS Industries (NYSE: WMS) to do well as it benefits from market share gains and continues to boost operating efficiencies. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $34 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) was initiated at Societe Generale with a Sell rating.
  
• Pacific Growth initiated Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS) was started at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating.

As I wrote a few weeks ago, traders and fans of low priced stocks should ignore fallen blue chips like Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) and focus more on smaller volatile stocks like China Precisions Steel Inc (NASDAQ: CPSL) and Solarfun Power Holdings (NASDAQ: SOLF). Not just because fallen blue chip stocks are all about guessing major business trends and the time lags involved with pricing those into their stocks -- good luck with that -- but because these lesser known plays offer much more predictability due to their speculative nature.

Earnings, profit margins, product potential is all well and good for long-term investors in higher-priced names, but here in the gutter of the stock market (also known as penny stock land), those variables are highly irrelevant to predicting hourly, daily and even weekly price swings. Down here it's all about self fulfilling prophecies, pumping and message board hype.

Take for example, Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MBRK), mercilessly pumped by TheStreet.com's Adam Feuerstein for the past several months as a takeover candidate, as his sources indicate bidders in the $6 to $8 range. Now he might be right -- not that it's going to matter to the SEC -- and while he certainly can't compete with CNBC, in terms of effectiveness, his credibility and frequent teasing have predictably pumped this stock up a solid 20-30% so far.

Forget about overwhelmingly random stock market noise and small daily percentage moves exemplified by the likes of all the most popular names such as Yahoo! Inc (Nasdaq: YHOO), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE), Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Apple Inc (Nasdaq: AAPL). Don't be fooled by the all-too-frequent daily commentary-those stocks are really only good for long-term investors and the few truly professional traders out there.

If you're neither, focus more on market inefficiencies because not only are they more predictable, but they're ideal for smaller investors and traders thanks to their illiquidity. Meaning the market offers up these high profit probability opportunities that the big boys can't and won't take advantage of-they're strictly for us little guys.

I'm talking about price moves created by the quirks of the finance industry itself-namely the media circus, stock promoters and hype that influence the great derided microcap market. For example, when a CNBC reporter inadvertently suckers amateurs by pumping a penny stock (good short selling opportunity as the stock is now down 50% in a month) or when a stock promoter is paid to hype a stock (another one down 50%+ in one month since).

Ready to make some serious money? Wall Street Warrior Timothy Sykes isn't playing around -- he wants to make you rich. In this edition of StockWatch: Between the Bells, the MSN Money host and author of An American Hedge Fund: How I Made $2 Million as a Stock Operator & Created a Hedge Fund riffs -- and dances -- on a fistful of market strategies.

Tim has three daring tips for you. Digital content storage provider Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN) is sitting at an all-time low, more than 70% off its high at the start of the year, and looks priced to buy. Genetics biotech Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ: ILMN) is currently trading around $52; Tim sees ILMN climbing to $60. Sound a little too risky? Tim suggests checking out The Bruce Fund (BRUFX), a mutual fund focusing on domestic common stock, convertible bonds and zero-coupon government bonds.

Considering a short-selling strategy? Tim calls out China Precision Steel (NASDAQ: CPSL), which has jumped more than three-fold in little more than a week and looks set to slide.

Jamba Juice (NASDAQ: JMBA), meanwhile, is giving Tim fits -- revenues are up while same-store sales are slipping. He advises to stay away from JMBA.

Enjoy the clip, and let us know which of your favorite stock gurus you'd like to hear from in the next StockWatch: Between the Bells!