DreamWorks Animation (DWA) was trading lower this afternoon in response to the company's latest earnings report which was released yesterday after the bell. At the time of this writing, the stock was down 2.4% to $27.43. That might sound bad, but it's actually a higher price than the intraday low of $26.71 (for further perspective, consider that the 52-week low for the shares is $26.61).

According to the Associated Press, the cartoon studio made an adjusted 47 cents per share. Oh man, know what the overall estimate was? Try 75 cents per share. Huge disparity. Honestly, I'm shocked the stock didn't drop beyond the 52-week low today based on such performance.

Analyst Upgrades

• Molycorp (MCP) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Humana (HUM), HealthSpring (HS) and UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Williams Cos. (WMB) to conviction buy from neutral and UBS (UBS) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• China Kanghui (KH) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Armstrong World (AWI) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Calpine (CPN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• 3M Company (MMM) to neutral from underperform and Kirby (KEX) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) Megamind movie didn't have such a great debut last weekend, in my opinion. This weekend, however, I have to give it at least some credit: It once again captured the top spot at domestic theaters. Box Office Mojo says that the project made $29 million from Friday through Sunday, bringing the total gross so far to nearly $89 million.

Don't expect me to jump up and down for joy, though -- and I highly doubt shareholders of the studio are happy that the film didn't at least crack the $100 million mark by this point.

There are always interesting stories in the marketplace. Today, I'm going to briefly comment on the price movements of three that I am watching.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is currently down 3% to $11.52, with significant volume backing the sell-off. Down, is that right, you ask? Yes, I'm afraid it is. I know: Call of Duty: Black Ops is doing excellent business. Millions of copies have been sold, and hundreds of millions of dollars have been grossed. Unfortunately, when it comes to trading on such news, the best bet is to sell out on any anticipatory rise that manifests itself before the event finally occurs.

Analyst Upgrades

• Time Warner Cable (TWC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Citigroup upgraded MEMC Electronic (WFR) and Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Administaff (ASF) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.
• The Buckle (BKE) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded DreamWorks (DWA) to neutral from underperform.
• Corrections Corp. (CXW) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• Marvell Technology (MRVL) was upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Dreamworks (DWA) to overweight from neutral following the company's Q2 results. The firm also raised its target for shares to $38 from $30.
• Stephens upgraded Global Payments (GPN) with a $50 price target following the company's Q4 results. Note, shares were downgraded this morning at Janney Montgomery.
• BMO Capital upgraded Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's planned exploration activity. The firm raised its price target to $27 from $23.
• eHealth (EHTH) was upgraded to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer and to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• NASDAQ OMX (NDAQ) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• C.H. Robinson (CHRW) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.

Here's a very interesting item from Theflyonthewall concerning DreamWorks Animation (DWA). It appears that the cartoon concern possibly isn't so fond of being a standalone entity any longer. Instead, it might want to be purchased by another media player. Comcast (CMCSA) was mentioned as a potential suitor.

There's some confusion, however, over this topic; it's not clear whether Jeffrey Katzenberg, the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, approached Comcast or Comcast approached Katzenberg.

It's the Fourth of July. Time to declare your independence from fear. Specifically, the fear of holding risk in your portfolio. Ergo, I list four stocks here that investors should perhaps keep on a watch list. The choice is yours, but maybe you might find something of interest in these four.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): This stock is most definitely a risk, make no mistake about it. Being a retailer based on fashion, how can it not be in the current climate? Yet, back in May, the company's first-quarter numbers didn't seem so bad (although they didn't comprise the best data set I've ever seen, either). And the one-year chart shows that Friday's closing price of $31.11 is getting close to recent support levels.

Analyst Upgrades

• Stifel views shares of DreamWorks (DWA) as oversold and believes investors are too pessimistic on recent films. The firm upgraded shares to buy from hold and has a $35 target on the stock.
• JPMorgan upgraded Consolidated Edison (ED) to neutral from underweight based on EPS visibility. The firm raised its price target to $45 from $37.
• Soleil upgraded PPL Corp. (PPL) to buy from hold following the 90M share secondary last night that was priced at $24. The firm sees improving earnings visibility and a removal of the equity overhang for the upgrade. The firm has a $29 price target on the stock.
• Unilever (UL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Holly (HOC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bebe Stores (BEBE) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Monster Worldwide (MWW) to outperform from perform.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Starwood Hotels (HOT) to buy from hold, citing accelerating RevPAR comps and valuation. The firm upped its target for shares to $57 from $55.
• TD Newcrest upgraded Ivanhoe Mines (IVN) to speculative buy from hold based on valuation.
• BMO Capital upgraded Power Integrations (POWI) and ON Semiconductor (ONNN) to outperform from market perform based on valuation. The firm has a $45 target on Power Integrations and a $9 target on ON Semiconductor.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Reliance Steel (RS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• AXA (AXA) was upgraded to add from neutral at WestLB.