Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to buy from neutral.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Pulte Group (PHM) to neutral from underperform. Note that Citigroup downgraded the stock.
• Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merriman.
• Citigroup upgraded Kimco Realty (KIM) to hold from sell.
• Mistras (MG) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Garmin (GRMN) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at PacCrest.

Analyst Upgrades

• Canaccord believes growth in DigitalGlobe's (DGI) commercial business will be a catalyst for shares. The firm upgraded shares to buy from hold and has a $38 price target on the stock.
• Standpoint upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to accumulate from hold based on valuation. The firm has a $47 target on the stock.
• Morgan Keegan upgraded Open Text (OTEX) to outperform from market perform based on the company's strong FY2011 EPS outlook.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Magna (MGA) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• EnCana (ECA) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.

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.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says there's a big disconnect between the trade, orchestrated by the funds, and the real-world demand.

How can anyone actually own oil or natural gas through this relentless assault on price? I know when it was going up, the talk was that all of these new funds were indexing trillions to commodities and it was just going to stay there, and that's why there was a new level of oil demand.

Can those same accounts come in every day and take this relentless pasting no matter what the news? And do they believe the news, that they are losing money today because some storm went to Daytona and not to New Orleans?

Yesterday, I had Jim Hackett, the CEO of Anadarko Pete (NYSE: APC) (Cramer's Take) on "Mad Money at the Half," and he was flabbergasted at the activity in the futures pit and how unrealistic it has become. He's focused on natural gas, where he says the demand at $8 by industry -- the glass makers and chemical companies and steel and aluminum users -- is voracious. But the futures themselves just keep going down, regardless of the demand.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says forget calling a financial bottom -- everything you need is right in front of you.

Do you think this week will finally end the oil inventory nonsense? Do you think this week could be the breakout where oil doesn't trade on the slight build or the "heavier than expected" chatter?

I sure hope so.

Yesterday was a horrible market, but midday, when the market was really beginning to roll over, the whole complex turned. This was quite an achievement given the overwhelming collapse of the futures and the propensity of the bears to push things down.

Today with the futures breaching $140 -- remember, I think they're on the way to $150 -- we can see the error of relying on these numbers, which I have said for years now are meaningless. Witness how many times the inventories have been more full than expected and yet oil has doubled.

I want to go back to the cheaper-than-oil stocks, though. Natural gas. Oil has to go down $65 to get to where natural gas is right now. Meaning that historically oil trades at six times the price of natural gas. So natural gas -- forget the season, which is supposed to be bad for nat gas -- needs to come higher.

Much higher.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lululemon, National City and Devon Energy were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded shares of Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) to Overweight from Market Weight as they believe the company's momentum continues following the strong results; the firm maintains a $43 target on shares.
  
• Bear upgraded National City (NYSE:NCC) to Outperform from Underperform citing favorable risk/reward following reports is is considering a transaction with KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY).
  
• JP Morgan raised Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) to Overweight from Neutral citing solid organic growth with high rates of returns.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Micron (NYSE:MU) was upgraded at Goldman to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Merrill raised eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded to Outperform from Perform Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO).

MAJOR PAPERS:

• On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a number of firms have been eyeing Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) on the expectation that the company will soon begin exploring a leveraged buyout with the help of investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS).

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Post reported that Warner Music Group Corp (NYSE: WMG) may look to merge with EMI Group plc ADR (OTC: EMIPY) by appealing directly to the music labels shareholders.
• According to the Sunday Express, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) is set to receive a bid of $52-$58 per share, valuing the company at $50B, from a consortium of Middle Eastern investors and American buyout firms.
• The U.K. Telegraph reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to delay any rival offer for ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN) until after Barclays plc ADS (NYSE: BCS) reveals its bid for the company.
• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" section:
• Oppenheimer oil guru Fadel Gheit says rumors have resurfaced that Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) may go after oil and gas company Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN).
• Napco Security Systems Inc (NASDAQ: NSSC) is hoping GatewayX, a new product introduced in January, will spark a rebound.
• Seed and crop-protection company Syngenta AG ADS (NYSE: SYT) looks to have upside ahead, due to brisk demand for corn to make ethanol is boosting farmers' need for Syngenta's products to fight field pests.

Chevron Corp (CVX) announced today that they had successfully finished a test run at their Jack field in the Gulf of Mexico. During the test, Chevron reported that they, along with partners Devon Energy Corp. and Statoil ASA, were successful in producing around 6,000 barrels a day from the company's Jack well, a five-mile-deep well in the Gulf of Mexico's lower tertiary range.

While you may be thinking that 6,000 barrels a day output is not much to be hopeful about, what this does mean is that Chevron and other big oil companies now have the motivation to put more resources to work in the area. The area in question, the lower-tertiary range, is deeper than previously-exploited fields in the Gulf, with much much older rock formations. Many companies have been fearful of exploring these areas out of concerns that the rocks in question would be too tight from which to pull oil out, without the costs being too high to justify. Well, according to Larry Nichols, Devon's chairman and chief executive, that is just not the case and the area can be developed profitably.

If the area is successfully developed, the results could be phenomenal. Estimates for the recent findings in the Gulf of Mexico's lower-tertiary range anywhere from three to fifteen billion barrels of reserve oil, although much of the area has yet to be explored at all, and the actual finding could be even higher than estimated.