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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: BHP, MRK, LUV, MA, AAUK ...

Analyst upgrades:

ING believes BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) will grow through acquisitions and is in a good position relative to peers. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Hold.
KeyBanc upgraded Kaman (NASDAQ: KAMN) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, higher foreign 2009 sales, and exposure to the military helicopter market, among other reasons.
Merck (NYSE: MRK) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of Amerca/Merrill on valuation.
J Crew (JCG) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
UBS upgraded Expeditors (NASDAQ: EXPD) to Neutral from Sell.
CVB Financial (NASDAQ: CVBF) was raised to Hold from Sell at Sandler O'Neill.

Analyst downgrades:

Morgan Stanley downgraded Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) to Equal Weight from Overweight and lowered their target to $25 from $26 based on valuation and high Street estimates given lower oil prices and weaker currency.
CIBC downgraded Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX) to Sector Performer from Outperformer. The analyst believes LPX may have to issue equity at these depressed levels given the tight credit markets and ongoing cash losses.
Calyon downgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) to Sell from Underperform and lowered their target to $7 from $8. The firm recommends taking profits in Southwest due to unit cost challenges given slowing growth and its reduced fuel hedging program.
CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Bernstein.
Keefe Bruyette downgraded shares of Amcore Financial (NASDAQ: AMFI) to Market Perform from Outperform.
Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Royal Bank of Scotland.

Analyst initiations:

Citigroup believes MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is vulnerable to the consumer spending slowdown and expects a more cautious outlook from management when the company reports earnings. Shares were initiated with a Sell rating and $110 target.
Janney Montgomery initiated GameStop (NYSE: GME) with a Buy rating and $34.50 target and expects GameStop to benefit from the secular growth in gaming, potential hardware cuts, international expansion, and 2009 title visibility.
Jefferies assumed Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) with a Hold rating and $13 target and expects shares to be range-bound until the company shows progress on project execution and margin performance.
Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) was initiated at Wunderlich with a Buy rating.
Coverage of CME Group (AMEX: CME) was resumed with an Underweight rating at JP Morgan.
Shanda (NASDAQ: SNDA) was initiated with a Hold rating and $30 target at Roth Capital.