Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Exxon (XOM) to overweight from equal weight based on a higher production growth outlook. The firm, which raised its target to $92 from $90, expects Exxon to have organic growth of more than 3% in 2010 and an average growth rate of 2.6% between 2009 and 2013.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Palm (PALM) to buy from hold citing the recent pullback in shares and indications that Verizon (VZ) will carry webOS phones as early as 1H10. The firm has a $16 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray raised Medicis (MRX) to neutral from underweight and raised its target to $20 from $16. Following a management meeting, Piper said they have increased confidence in Soldyn risk and LipoSonix's safety profile.
• Illinois Tool Works (ITW) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merriman.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if the market made sense, you could buy retail and restaurants off the lower oil price.

Here's the pattern: We get shelled by oil. It drops to $76 or $77, all energy goes down, and it takes everything else with it. Some of tech has been spared lately because of 3Com (COMS) (Cramer's Take).

Then, in the following couple of days, oil stabilizes (but not after it hurts the oils again), rallies, and everything goes with it.

That's what's been occurring. I don't know why it's any different. In this moment in time, it's often best to buy the most hammered natural gas stocks because they come back fast. The best value is Devon (DVN) (Cramer's Take), but it simply isn't down enough. Apache (APA) (Cramer's Take) would make sense below $60, which is still a ways from here.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Corning (NYSE: GLW) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $19 from $18.50, citing the improved LCD supply-demand outlook and improved sell-through ahead of the holiday season in China.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Newfield Exploration (NYSE: NFX) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $48 from $44 citing valuation and improved asset quality.
• Stifel upgraded Newfield Exploration and Ultra Petroleum (NYSE: UPL) shares to Buy from Hold based on strong fundamentals and a long-term positive view for the E&P sector. The firm has a $50 target on Newfield and a $58 target on Ultra Petroleum.
• TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• General Mills (NYSE: GIS) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Coca-Cola Femsa (NYSE: KOF) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says natural gas is the preferred fuel, but Congress isn't paying attention.

Congress can't rein in coal, but the Environmental Protection Agency can.

One of the most amazing shams I have seen in my life is the alleged "clean coal" campaign by so-called King Coal. Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) (Cramer's Take), Peabody (NYSE: BTU) (Cramer's Take) and the rest of the gang have incredible congressional mindshare, and the notion of carbon sequestration -- which has no potential for feasibility within the next 10 years, if ever -- has become gospel in Washington.

Patience is a virtue. My Buy rating issued on May 27, 2009 for independent oil/natural gas company Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) at $60.89 was, from one perspective, a tad late.

But the reason for the late entry was technical: although DVN's fundamentals were and are solid, the Buy rating was delayed because DVN was struggling with both the $50 level and the 50-day moving average earlier in the spring. Concerning the $50 level, it's a psychological level that can create resistance.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says it's great to see stocks go up, but discipline remains paramount.

Can you weary of a market going higher? Can you be as exhausted of the rally as you are of a selloff? Sometimes that's how I feel when I look at my bases for stocks I own and where they are now and realize the impossibility of reaching for even the best names. It feels like what happens when you bought low, and then it turned out that things could go much lower. You feel like you should sell, but then the stocks go much higher and you get left behind.

This is a time when discipline has failed people. It is when the market is most electric and exciting and people just figure, "What the heck? I will hold on to that Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) or Deere (NYSE: DE) (Cramer's Take) or Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK) (Cramer's Take) or Devon (DVN) (Cramer's Take) ... and why not? It hasn't hurt me."

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if you wait for market conditions to reach perfection, you'll be waiting a long time.

You know what? I am going to wait until I am sure housing has turned before I buy the homebuilders like Lennar (NYSE: LEN) (Cramer's Take) and Pulte (NYSE: PHM) (Cramer's Take). I am going to wait until the foreclosures peak before I buy Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take).

I am going to wait until unemployment goes down before I buy 3M (NYSE: MMM) (Cramer's Take) and Disney (NYSE: DIS) (Cramer's Take) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) (Cramer's Take) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take).

Given oil's recent run-up, at times it appears that all oil/natural gas plays have been bid-up, but Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) hasn't and it's worth a review.

Devon's shares were rudely treated by the Street from mid-2008 to early-2009, following the collapse in oil prices. Some of it was justified, due to the large, likely decline in FY 2009 revenue stemming from crude's price collapse. But valuing DVN with a p/e of 6 or 7 is a tad low, given the company's assets, hence the Buy rating that has been generated here.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) to Conviction Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $90 from $60. Goldman cites ICE's positioning and potential for upward EPS revisions for the upgrade.
  
• Jefferies upgraded FMC Technologies (NYSE: FTI) to Buy from Hold as they believe solid deepwater activity levels will lead to solid EPS results in 2009 and 2010. The firm raised their price target to $45 from $27.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and expects significant improvement in basis differentials for the company's Barnett production starting the second half of Q2. The firm raised their price target to $60 from $50.
• Elan Corp (NYSE: ELN) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) was upgraded at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.

If you've been watching earnings this past week, or if you read last week's Week in Preview, then this coming week may leave you feeling a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. That is, again analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect earnings declines to be more frequent and deeper than earnings gains.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), IAC Interactivecorp (NASDAQ: IACI), Moody's Corp. (NYSE: MCO), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (NASDAQ: RDEN), Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN), Diebold Inc. (NYSE: DBD), Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC), United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. (NYSE: RL), ITT Corp. (NYSE: ITT), and Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) are scheduled to report quarterly results this week, and they're all expected to report double-digit declines in earnings.

But again this week, let's take a look who Wall Street feels may have done well in the past quarter.

This week, the short-term rally of the last few days of the holiday season was over. While many hope the economy would start rebounding toward the end of the year, more voices are now heard saying the recession will be longer and deeper than estimates. The only thing that could help is a proper stimulus plan.

Indeed, President-elect Obama's transition team and his chosen staff have already been working on a plan, trying to push legislators to act swiftly. As investors received news of one dismal economic report after another -- from retail sales, auto sales, housing, manufacturing and employment -- the corporate side also continued to show considerable weakness with earnings warnings coming nearly daily.

The real question is whether the stimulus plan and the Federal Reserve actions, alongside similar moves taken around the world, could give the boost the economy so desperately needs. It seems several BloggingStocks contributors believe this might be the case as they looked at long-term investment ideas. Here are some of their picks from the past week:

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) actually saw an increase in value of 62.3% during the quarter. It has a strong capital position and is nearly debt free. It has actually seen a third-quarter same-store sales growth of 8.3%. There has been some pressure on the stock following an earnings miss due to growth, creating an opportunity for astute investors, says Jamie Dlugosch.

Back in July, as oil approached its zenith, I cautioned that the bubble in energy stocks was beginning to resemble previous bubbles, such as the ones that sent semiconductor stocks to the moon in 1999 and 2000, and homebuilding stocks in 2005.

At a time when others were buying anything associated with oil, I suggested that investors take profits instead.

In August I wrote about oil and gas exploration firm Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN). The company had just announced quarterly results, which were ahead of estimates, and its shares soared that day to $91 per share.

I made the incredibly astute prediction that there were only two directions for the stock to go: up or down. Basically I stated that if your opinion was that oil demand will continue to outstrip supply, buying Devon made sense.

My own personal belief was that oil was trading at speculative levels, demand destruction would occur in short order with $4-per-gallon gasoline, we'd begin conserving and our massive investments in alternative energy would eventually result in supply outstripping demand.

Even without demand destruction fundamentals suggesting that the price per barrel of oil should have been well below $100, Devon was a stock to sell in my opinion. In fact, the article was titled "Avoid Devon Energy Like the Plague."

Fast forward to today. Oil collapsed beyond what I had even expected and Devon shares fell in parallel. At its lows, DVN hit $54 and change.

Is the Fed's program of slashing interest rates to near zero having any beneficial effects? If we look back at the past three months investors have been running away from any investment with the least bit of risk. This is why we've seen such a massive shift into US Treasuries.

One market hardest hit by the financial crisis was the Corporate Bond Market which tumbled 35% in 2008. Now, however, with interest rates so low, investors are venturing out a bit to find investments with higher yields. In December new Corporate deals included $10 billion dollars of FDIC backed bonds by General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) is selling five and 10 year notes, Brown and Foreman (NYSE: BF.B) is offering $250 million dollars in five year notes, and Tyco International (NYSE: TYC) offered $500 million dollars of 10 year notes. The major "active book-running" players are Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Citigroup (NYSE: C)

What is an interesting dynamic to watch is that investors are always looking for better deals and higher returns. It seems they are tip toeing into the Corporate markets which indicates that there is some movement at unlocking this market for further activity.

Corporate bonds and notes offer higher yields than US Treasuries. Would you invest in this market?

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Neutral from Sell as they believe consensus estimates for Q4 and FY09 are no longer too high. In addition, the firm believes Google's slowing capex spend will improve margins and their recent channel checks indicate the company's ad coverage has increased significantly during Q4.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Outperform from Perform following yesterday's disclosures regarding Steve Jobs' health. The firm has a $135 price target on Apple shares.
  
• UBS upgraded BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $31 from $28 citing easier booking comps in the March quarter.
• YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
  
• Goldman removed Hewitt (NYSE: HEW) from its Conviction Sell List.

Analyst downgrades:

• Stephens downgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Equal Weight from Overweight on valuation, as they believe the stock is fairly valued at current levels. The firm maintains a $39 price target.
  
• Merriman downgraded Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) to Neutral from Buy after Super Micro pre-announced a Q2 miss to reflect the company's "challenging" outlook.
  
• Baird downgraded Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) to Neutral from Outperform citing Revlimid growth concerns following their most recent survey and potential pressures on the European business and on Thalomid.
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink.
  
• Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) was cut at Goldman to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Analyst initiations:

• Merriman believes Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) is well-positioned to benefit from the upgrade to Advanced Metering Infrastructure by tier one utilities and finds the stock attractively valued. Shares were initiated with a Neutral rating.
  
• Oppenheimer assumed Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) with a Perform rating and expects the company's growth to slow in 2009 given global credit concerns and the economic slowdown.
  
• Citigroup started Telmex (NYSE: TMX) with a Sell rating and $15 target. The firm believes the company's inability to offer 3-play services could lead to accelerated market share loss in 2009.
• Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was initiated at Janney Montgomery with a Neutral rating and $31 fair value estimate.
  
• Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Jesup & Lamont assumed UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) with a Buy rating and $18 target.

Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded Altria (NYSE: MO), citing the company's 25% cash return to shareholders by 2010 and its market leadership.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB) based on its solid balance sheet and liquidity, strong market positions, and technology-driven products.
  
• RBC Capital believes Schlumberger's (NYSE: SLB) earnings will decrease the least vs. its peers through 2010 and notes its breadth of products/services.
• Tellabs (NASDAQ: TLAB) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
  
• Bally Tech (NYSE: BYI) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.

Analyst downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) citing consumer spending concerns and valuation.
  
• Merrill downgraded JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) citing expectations for credit costs to get worse in the US.
  
• Wachovia downgraded a handful of names, including Chesapeake (NYSE: CHK), in the Exploration & Production space as they believe natural gas prices have more downside in order to balance supply/demand fundamentals.