MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lehman, Cirrus Logic and Heinz were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they see an "extremely attractive entry point" at current levels. They believe the company's profitable quarter in a tough environment, the Fed's actions to provide liquidity and management's track record all provide downside protection.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded shares of Cirrus Logic (NASDAQ: CRUS) to Overweight from Market Weight as they believe Wolfson Microelectronics' contract bid loss with a major tier-1 customer signals potential share gain for CRUS in the portable media player segment. They raised their target to $8.00 from $5.50 on the news.
  
• Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein as they expect the company to post solid growth going forward.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• UBS raised DaVita (NYSE: DVA) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Goldman added Chicago Bridge & Iron (NYSE: CBI) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Merrill upgraded US Steel (NYSE: X) to Buy from Neutral.

Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) closed $19 Friday.

ORCL is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on March 26.

ORCL April option implied volatility of 39 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

DaVita (NYSE: DVA), a dialysis service provider, closed at $46.03 Friday.

DVA overall option implied volatility of 32 is near its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Communications, Glu Mobile, Town Sports, Blackboard and Lance were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of General Communications (NASDAQ: GNCMA) to Hold from Buy after the company's mixed quarter to reflect increased uncertainty from the recent weakness in its network access and commercial business.
  
• Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank and to Neutral from Buy at Goldman Sachs following its Q3 report. Cantor downgraded shares after the company issued reduced growth expectations.
  
• William Blair downgraded shares of Town Sports (NASDAQ: CLUB) to Market Perform from Outperform to reflect the recent slowdown in new membership additions at mature clubs which they believe creates enhanced risk of operating margin contraction and decelerating EPS growth in 2008.
  
• Baird downgraded Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB) to Neutral from Outperform on valuation and expectations for only modest margin expansion.
  
• Lance (NASDAQ: LNCE) was downgraded at Oppenheimer to Neutral from Buy, as they expect higher wheat costs to significantly impact Q4 and 2008 EPS.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Citigroup downgraded Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG) to Hold from Buy.
  
• eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform at Bear Stearns.
  
• DaVita (NYSE: DVA) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Piper Jaffray and to Outperform from Strong Buy at Raymond James.
  
• UBS lowered its rating on YUM! Brands (NYSE: YUM) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Novartis AG (NVS), Intel (INTC), Total S.A. (TOT), Syniverse Holdings, Inc (SVR) and Kindred Healthcare (KND) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Merrill cut Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Neutral from Buy based on a lack of near-term catalysts. Credit Suisse downgraded shares of the company to Underperform from Neutral on expectations of slowing sales growth in 2H07.

• JMP Securities downgraded Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) to Market Perform from Outperform based on valuation and lower estimates.

• JP Morgan cut Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) to Neutral from Overweight on valuation.

• Syniverse (NYSE: SVR) was cut to Strong Sell from Sell at Matrix USA as competition in North America is creating a cut in Network Services and Number Portability Services revenue.

• Kindred Healthcare (NYSE: KND) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Wachovia based on valuation...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• DaVita (NYSE: DVA) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

• Citigroup downgraded the coal sector, including Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI), Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and Foundation Coal (NYSE: FCL) to Hold from Buy.

• Credit Suisse downgraded ACA Capital Holdings (NYSE: ACA) to Neutral from Outperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Some of today's most notable upgrades include SanDisk Corp (SNDK), CVS Corp (CVS), Dow Jones & Co (DJ) and DaVita Inc (DVA):

• SanDisk Corp (NASDAQ: SNDK) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS with a $53 target, as they believe Apple's (AAPL) new 16GB & 32GB iPod Video products will be NAND flash based. The firm expects SanDisk shares to perform as Apple's products ramp.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of CVS Corp (NYSE: CVS) to Buy from Hold with a $42 target as they believe the bidding process for Caremark Rx, Inc (NYSE: CMX) is over, reducing concerns.

• Prudential upgraded shares of Dow Jones & Co (NYSE: DJ) to Neutral from Underweight to reflect valuation and the company's strong 2007 outlook.

• Piper Jaffray upgraded DaVita Inc (NYSE: DVA) to Outperform from Market Perform with a $59 target on valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Citigroup upgraded Adolor Corp (NASDAQ: ADLR) to Hold from Sell with a $10 target to reflect GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK) plans for an additional advanced study of Entereg.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Symmetry Medical Inc (NYSE: SMA) based on analysis that shows inventory levels have fallen at large-cap orthopedics firms while capital expenditures have stabilized, competitors are more upbeat on market outlook, and checks that indicate the supplier market has stabilized.

• Foundry Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: FDRY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Bank of America.

• JP Morgan upgraded Alaska Communications Systems Group (NASDAQ: ALSK) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded PPG Industries (NYSE: PPG) to Buy from Neutral with an $82 target.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of Expedia, Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) to Buy from Neutral with a $27 target.

• Matrix USA upgraded AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) to Hold from Sell on valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).