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.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Although Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) would like to merge with either UAL Corporation's (NASDAQ: UAUA) United Airlines or Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA), the company is close to Air France-KLM (NYSE: AKH), and together the two may be able to better shape a deal, the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" reported.
• The Wall Street Journal also reported that recent acquisitions by Sun Microsystems Inc (NASDAQ: JAVA) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) have suggested factors like a slowing economy could kick the high-tech deals into a "higher gear".
• Following a risk/reward reassessment, UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) decided to wind down its Switzerland-based private banking business for rich U.S. clients; the decision was announced internally in late December, but confirmed publicly this week, the Financial Times reported.

• According to the Economic Times, after the dissolution of a proposed joint venture with Rajesh Exports, Fossil Incorporated (NASDAQ: FOSL), the U.S. fashion accessories giant, is set to enter India on its own.