Analyst Upgrades

• Home Depot (HD) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Delta Air Lines (DAL) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Heico (HEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MB Financial (MBFI) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Oshkosh (OSK) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Volterra (VLTR) and Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Ascena Retail Group (ASNA) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Cytec Industries (CYT) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Today was light on economic releases, but heavy on volatility. The earnings bias was a positive one yet the markets sold off heavily in the afternoon. Shortly after Ben Bernanke's growth-promise comments were released ahead of his testimony to Congress showing more risks to the economic recovery, stocks slid and we went from being marginally up on the day into another day with triple-digit DJIA losses. Financial Reform law was signed this morning and it was a known event going into today. Portfolio manager Bill Miller called large cap stocks cheap but cheap can still get cheaper.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,120.53 -109.43 (-1.07%)
S&P 500 1,069.59 -13.89 (-1.28%)
Nasdaq 2,187.33 -35.16 (-1.58%)

Top Analyst Calls

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Hubbell (HUB.B) to outperform from perform to reflect the company's improving operations, margin expansion and valuation. The firm raised its target price on shares to $53 from $51.
• UBS upgraded Weingarten Realty (WRI) and Taubman Centers (TCO), Boston Properties (BXP), ProLogis (PLD) and AMB Property (AMB) to neutral from sell and SL Green Realty (SLG) to buy from neutral, citing the recent correction in the group.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold on expectations the company is positioned for steady, sustainable growth as advertising demand rebounds. The firm has a $35 price target on shares.
• Eastman Chemical (EMN) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Constellation Energy (CEG) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Noble Corporation (NE) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

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:

• Jefferies upgraded Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes liquidity concerns are overdone. The firm raised its target on the stock to $27 from $20.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its price target to $19 from $15. Morgan Stanley's survey indicates positive trends in the business supply chain and the analysts expects estimates to move higher from increased server MPU sales and growth in Windows 7.
  
• Pali upgraded Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company's tough Q2 compares are already priced into the stock. The firm has a $25 target on shares.
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
  
• MasterCard (NYSE: MA) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Burger King (NYSE: BKC) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird expects Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) to benefit from industry consolidation and the eventual recovery. Shares were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Jefferies upgraded SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes the company's cost cuts will be positive for EPS. The company's target was lowered to $28 from $29.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company is unlikely to spin-off Enexus by year-end. They believe a spin-off in 2009 or no spin at all suggests a higher share price from current levels. The company's target was raised to $104 from $101.50.
• AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) was upgraded to hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Argus upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Hold from Sell.
  
• Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sanofi-Aventis, Lifecell, Mylan Labs, Panera Bread and Norsk Hydro were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Societe Generale upgraded shares of Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) to Buy from Hold as they believe pipeline maturation over the next 12 months can drive the stock higher.
  
• Piper upgraded shares of Lifecell (NASDAQ: LIFC) to Outperform from Market Perform after their recent survey indicated that AlloDerm remains the leading biologic hernia mesh on the market and competition is making little headway.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Mylan Labs (NYSE: MYL), Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) and Norsk Hydro (NYSE: NHY) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm upgraded Mylan based on its position in the global generics market and above-average growth; Panera was upgraded on valuation, as they believe the recent operating risk is now behind the company; Norsk Hydro was upgraded, as they believe the value of the company's aluminum assets are higher than the current share price suggests.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• HSBC upgraded Ride Aid (NYSE: RAD) to Neutral from Underweight.
  
• UBS upgraded Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) and Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) to Neutral from Sell and Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Goldman added Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) to its Conviction Buy List.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Toronto Dominion, Cytec Industries, Ceragon Networks, Micron and Navteq were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• CIBC downgraded shares of Toronto Dominion (NYSE: TD) to Sector Performer from Outperformer following the Commerce Bancorp (NYSE: CBH) acquisition, as they see integration risks and believes the deal will limit the company's ability to buyback stock.
  
• Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies, as they believe near-term risks to demand and margins could bring a better entry point by 1H08. Target lowered to $75 from $79.
  
• Collins Stewart downgraded shares of Ceragon Networks (NASDAQ: CRNT) to Underperform from Buy on valuation and uncertainties surrounding the stock, which include the NEC infringement issue and increased competition.
  
• Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkEquity. The firm is cautious on the sustainability of PC related demand and questions component order levels relative to PC sell through.
  
• Banc of America downgraded shares of Navteq Corporation (NYSE: NVT) to Neutral from Buy following Nokia's (NOK) proposed buyout.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan downgraded Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Goldman removed Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Citigroup downgraded GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM) to Neutral from Outperform.