Analyst Upgrades

• Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Weatherford (WFT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• MDC Holdings (MDC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• AutoNavi (AMAP) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Ciena (CIEN) and Nvidia (NVDA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• First Midwest (FMBI) and Quiksilver (ZQK) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Sonic (SONC) to neutral from negative at Susquehanna.
• MIPS Technologies (MIPS) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Chesapeake (CHK) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Biogen (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Caribou Coffee (CBOU) to outperform from neutral and Encore Energy (ENP) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Fluor (FLR) to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Hornbeck Offshore (HOS) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Saks (SKS) and Zale (ZLC) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Teva (TEVA) to outperform from perform. The firm expects the company to generate strong 2H10 earnings and thinks the competition created by Novartis's (NVS) Gilenia will be limited.
• Citigroup upgraded Celanese (CE) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's move to add assets in China, as well as possible takeover interest.
• Needham raised Stereotaxis (STXS) to buy from hold as the firm thinks that strong clinical data recently announced by the company could result in faster adoption rates of its robotic surgery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Smurfit-Stone Container (SSCC) given strength in the containerboard market.
• Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Goldman Sachs raised Temple-Inland (TIN) to buy from neutral.
• Barclays upgraded Lloyds Banking (LYG) to equal weight from underweight.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Smurfit-Stone (SSCC) to buy from hold after raising its estimates for containerboard names and upped its target for shares to $28 from $22. The firm also raised its price target for International Paper (IP) to $38 from $32, for Packaging Corp. (PKG) to $33 from $28, for Temple-Inland (TIN) to $31 from $28, for Greif (GEF) to $67 from $65, and for Rock-Tenn (RKT) to $70 from $65. All stocks are buy rated.
• ThinkEquity upgraded VMware (VMW) to buy from hold and has a $90 price target on the stock. The firm expects VMware to benefit from increased virtual infrastructure adoption and improving vSphere solutions.
• Needham upgraded Cavium Networks (CAVM) to strong buy from buy, citing the recent pullback in shares following Cisco's (CSCO) cautious commentary. The firm has a $37 target on the stock.
• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MedAssets (MDAS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Brookfield Properties (BPO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to outperform from market perform, citing strong flows and a potential recovery in the U.S. equity markets.
• UBS upgraded BorgWarner (BWA) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $50 from $48. The firm expects BorgWarner to benefit from fuel economy regulation.
• Cowen upgraded Celgene (CELG) to neutral from underperform, citing improved fundamentals and valuation for the upgrade.
• TRW Automotive (TRW) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Finish Line (FINL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Jazz Pharmaceutical (JAZZ) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Auriga upgraded Cisco (CSCO) to buy from hold, citing the company's improving strategic position in data centers.
• Blue Nile (NILE) was raised to buy from hold by Citigroup due to the recent pullback in shares.
• DuPont Fabros (DFT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS, which said that said fundamentals in the data center space have been improving.
• Baird upgraded Sterling Bancshares (SBIB) to neutral from underperform based on valuation.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Bristol-Myers (BMY) to buy from neutral.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) was raised to conviction buy from buy by Goldman.
• Jefferies upgraded Celgene (CELG) to buy from hold.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Williams-Sonoma (WSM) to outperform from perform. Opco believes the company's business model is being underappreciated by investors and upped its target price for shares to $40 from $26.
• BMO Capital upgraded Tractor Supply (TSCO) to market perform from underperform and set a $75 target. The firm upgraded the stock after the company's positive preannouncement.
• JCPenney (JCP) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• DISH Network (DISH) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• BJ's Wholesale (BJ) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Taseko Mines (TGB) was upgraded to buy from hold at TD Newcrest.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Southern Copper (SCCO) to buy from hold to reflect valuation and positive near-term catalysts. The firm raised its target for shares to $38 from $35.
• JMP Securities upgraded Ultimate Software (ULTI) to outperform from market perform. The firm cites the company's expanding employee base for the upgrade. The firm has a $40 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Aeropostale (ARO) to neutral from underweight following the company's Q4 results and raised its target for shares to $31 from $24.
• Kennametal (KMT) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Lifetime Brands (LCUT) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Barrington.
• Volvo (VOLVY) was upgraded to overweight from underweight at JPMorgan.

Celgene Corp.'s (CELG) stock has encountered resistance at $58, but I'm nevertheless reiterating my buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on June 19, 2009, at a price of $46.94. Here's why:

Look for Celgene's FY2010 revenue to increase 20-23%, on top of a likely a 15-20% rise in FY2009, boosted by cancer treatments Revlimid's and Vidaza's sales. Further, pipeline candidates to treat psoriasis and small cell lung cancer are approaching late-stage study.

Celgene (CELG - option chain) shares are rising today after a late-stage study of its blood cancer drug Revlimid was found to be so effective that the study was stopped early. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on CELG.

CELG opened this morning at $54.36. So far today the stock has hit a low of $54.02 and a high of $56.16. As of 12:15, CELG is trading at $55.81 up @5.19 (10.3%). The chart for CELG looks bullish and S&P gives CELG a positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the Senate is filled with more-savvy politicians, and the upside for beaten-down names is huge.

Nancy Pelosi has now said her piece. The most unpopular Speaker of the House in the history of Wall Street has gotten her precious health care legislation through the House after ramming through a stimulus package that had far too little infrastructure and far too much pay raise for municipal and state workers, the most powerful interest group in the country.

But this time the Senate sees through it, and the politicians -- despite Pelosi's insistence that Tuesday's election went her way -- know better. There are pages after pages after pages in this bill that look threatening. But here's the rub: This bill's public option, the one that is supposed to be a killer to everything health care, should affect no more than 6 million people over a 10-year period, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In order to get 60 votes in the Senate, even that may prove to be too powerful an option.

"I am recommending Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) as part of an 'offense-defense' thesis," says Ian Wyatt. In Top Stock Insights, he reviews the leading biotechnology company.

Wyatt explains, "Celgene engages in the discovery of therapies designed to treat cancer and immune inflammatory related diseases. They have a number of products at the commercial stage including REVLIMID, THALOMID and VIDAZA.

"Celgene is also researching stem cells derived from the human placenta as well as from the umbilical cord, thus tapping into a promising new technology while avoiding the political and ethical questions dogging others involved in stem cell research.

Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG), is performing as expected, hence I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for company, first recommended on June 19, 2009 at a price of $46.94. If you bought CELG in June, you're up about 20%.

Look for a 15-20% FY2009 revenue increase in CELG, boosted by cancer treatments Revlimid's and Vidaza's sales. Further, pipeline candidates to treat psoriasis and small cell lung cancer are approaching late-stage study.

"Some sectors tend to do better than others in tough times; biotechnology often surprises investors in good times and bad," suggests Brandon Clay.

In his Invest with an Edge advisory service, the growth stock advisor looks to Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG), a player in developing cancer treatments. Here's his review.

"This sometimes-perilous market niche can make or break a portfolio depending on several factors: drug pipeline, continued investment, market factors, and government approvals.

"However, despite the risks, there are times when we believe that individual biotech stocks make sense -- such as our latest recommendation for Celgene.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Buy from Hold after the firm's channel checks indicated the company's business is stabilizing. Jefferies raised its target on shares to $27 from $20.
• Citigroup upgraded Veeco (NASDAQ: VECO) to Buy from Hold on expectations LED order momentum will continue and cost discipline will help margin leverage. Citi raised its target on shares to $24 from $8.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Domtar (NYSE: UFS) to Buy from Hold on expectations earnings will improve meaningfully over the next year. The firm keeps a $24 price target on the stock.
• Varian (NASDAQ: VARI) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Air Products (NYSE: APD) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.