Analyst Upgrades

• Xilinx (XLNX) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Orion Energy (OESX) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from fair value at CRT Capital.
• RadioShack (RSH) to neutral from underperform at Wedbush.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) to buy from neutral at Goldman.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• Cisco (CSCO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Cognizant (CTSH) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Polypore (PPO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Elan (ELN) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Millicom (MICC) and NuStar GP Holdings (NSH) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Teekay LNG (TGP) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• American Railcar (ARII) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded BP (BP) to buy from neutral.
• STEC (STEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Needham.
• MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Corporate Office (OFC) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Citigroup upgraded K-Sea Transportation (KSP) and Post Properties (PPS) to hold from sell.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to buy from underperform.
• Wilmington Trust (WL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Parkway Properties (PKY) was upgraded to hold from sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Baker Hughes (BHI) to hold from sell following the company's Q1 results.
• Auriga upgraded Canadian Solar (CSIQ) to buy from hold as it believes the company's negative preannouncement on April 20 removes a downside catalyst. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $21 from $25.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Post Properties (PPS) to hold from sell following the company's Q1 results. The firm upped its target for shares to $27 from $16.
• Wright Express (WXS) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) coverage was assumed with a buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Elan (ELN) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Blackrock (BLK) to hold from sell and removed the stock from its Top Picks Live list as a sell. The firm upped its target for shares to $198 from $190.
• Jesup & Lamont upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results. The firm raised its target for shares to $32 from $25.
• CLSA upgraded Nabors Industries (NBR) to outperform from underperform. The firm said the Q1 report was in-line with their estimate and they expect U.S. land drilling to continue to improve. The firm has a $24 price target on the stock.
• Alcoa (AA) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at HSBC.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

Analyst Upgrades

• Jefferies upgraded St. Jude (STJ) to buy from hold and raised its target to $49 from $39. The firm cites valuation and the positive impact from the Boston Scientific (BSX) ICD recall for the upgrade. Shares were also upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman, as the firm sees upside for shares into Q1 results.
• RBC Capital upgraded EMC Corp. (EMC) to outperform from sector perform and raised its target to $22 from $21. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and believes the company can meet or modestly beat March quarter expectations.
• Auriga upgraded MetroPCS (PCS) to buy from hold as it believes customer migration away from postpaid to prepaid may be accelerating. The firm raised its target for shares to $9 from $7.
• Caterpillar (CAT) was raised to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Expedia (EXPE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.

During 2009, drug treatments for ten diseases in the U.S. will bring pharma companies nearly $170 billion in sales. Those include drugs for major killers like cardiovascular diseases and a number of cancers. Also among the most successful emerging treatments are ones for mental disorders.

Patents on a number of the older blockbuster drugs are running out and a new generation of biotech drugs is offering competition to traditional treatments. Some of the companies that are in the next wave of solving medicine's largest problems are worth watching.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Allergan (NYSE: AGN) to Buy from Hold to reflect increased estimates for Botox and its belief Latisse guidance looks conservative. The firm raised its target on shares to $57 from $45.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Texas Instruments (TXN) to Hold from Underperform after channel checks indicated business is strengthening. Jefferies believes Texas Instruments' September quarter guidance will come in better than expected and raised its target on shares to 23 from $16.
  
• FBR Capital upgraded Peabody Energy (BTU) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect "strong" long-term steel and steam demand trends from China and India. The firm raised its target on shares to $44 from $36.
  
• Elan Corp (ELN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Affymetrix (AFFX) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• ASML Holding (ASML) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Elan Corp (NYSE: ELN - option chain) stock is falling today after Biogen (NASDAQ: BIIB) reported another serious brain infection in a patient being treated with Tysabri. Tysabri is a MS drug whose revenues are shared by BIIB and ELN. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on ELN.

This morning, ELN opened at $7.37. So far today the stock has hit a low of $6.87 and a high of $7.49. As of 11:15, ELN is trading at $6.88, down 48 cents (-6.5%). The chart for ELN looks neutral and S&P gives ELN a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

If you've been following Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN) lately, you've probably come to take any story of a deal, takeover, sale with a grain of salt.

This morning, Elan shares soared over 16% after stories on Reuters and the Wall Street Journal over the weekend said it is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake to Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Moreover, Elan was said to be in talks with a second suitor, but the status of those discussions was unclear. This, Reuters reported, could be the first move in a multi-step transaction to sell Elan outright.

While the shares are still up a healthy 12% by midday, now Bloomberg reports that according to UBS analysts, Bristol isn't in talks to buy a stake in Elan.

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.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) to Market Weight from Underweight. Thomas Weisel said they are less negative on the outlook for memory industry dynamics but they do expect SanDisk shares to be range bound.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Buy from Hold as they believe Hershey is benefiting from increased advertising spending and the consumer trade-down to less expensive chocolate. The firm maintains a $39 target on the stock.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to Buy from Holdas they believe the company will be a beneficiary from the Circuit City liquidation.
• Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE:AAP) and Virgin Media (NASDAQ:VMED) were raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) was upgraded at KeyBanc to Buy from Hold.

Analyst downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded Kellogg (NYSE:K) to Hold from Buy as they believe the company's U.S. trends are decelerating and that FX trends will have a negative impact. The firm lowered their target price to $47 from $58.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN) to Hold from Buy following Eclipsys' (NASDAQ:ECLP) negative pre-announcement as they believe both companies are suffering from a downturn in hospital spending. Jefferies lowered their target on Cerner to $38 from $51.
  
• Oppenheimer cut Amdocs (DOX) to Perform from Outperform following the weak Q1 results citing lack of near-term catalysts and the macroeconomic slowdown.
• Eclipsys (NASDAQ:ECLP)was downgraded to Underperform from Buy at Jefferies and to Neutral from Buy at Piper Jaffray.
  
• PetSmart (NASDAQ:PETM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ:FULT) was lowered to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst initiations:

• Wunderlich initiated Republic Services (NYSE:RSG) with a Buy rating and $30 target and believes the company should enjoy sustainable pricing leverage following the merger with Waste Management.
  
• RBC Capital initiated Elan Corp (NYSE:ELN) with an Underperform rating and $4 target based on Tysabri uncertainty, bapineuzumab clinical risk, MS competition, and debt overhang.
  
• Oppenheimer expects Ligand Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:LGND) to become an aggressive acquirer of financially distressed biotech companies with the completion of the acquisition of Pharmacopeia. Shares were assumed with an Outperform rating and $5 target.
• Zebra Tech (NASDAQ:ZBRA) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $25 target at JP Morgan.
  
• Activision (NASDAQ:ATVI) was reinitiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $14 target.
  
• Ameren (NYSE:AEE) was assumed with a Hold rating at Jesup & Lamont.

Elan (NYSE: ELN) said it is initiating a strategic review which could result in a minority investment, a strategic alliance, a merger, or a sale. ELN closed at $8.03 Monday. ELN February call option implied volatility is at 103, puts are at 112, above its 26-week average of 100 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement..

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) closed at $48.45 Monday. BIIB and ELN have a 50-50 stake in the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. ELN said it is initiating a strategic review which could result in a minority investment, a strategic alliance, a merger or a sale. BIIB February option implied volatility of 56 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Crucell NV (NASDAQ: CRXL), a biopharmaceutical company, and Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) confirmed on January 7 the two firms are in discussion to combine. CRXL closed at $22.63 Monday. CRXL February option implied volatility of 58 is near its 26-week average of 61, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

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

It's been a tough year for many industries -- there's no denying it. Retailers of all stripes, oil companies, construction firms, financials, basic materials companies -- you name it, it's down.

So, are there any safe havens?

Historically, in times of economic uncertainty the pharmaceutical industry, along with consumer staples, is often the "go to" place where, at a minimum, you can count on a nice dividend yield to shield your portfolio from gigantic losses. Not anymore.

In this downturn even stalwarts such as Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) trade near their multi-year lows, despite offering generous yields.

What about biotechs? That sector has performed much better.

However, one of my favorite biotech names, Elan (NYSE: ELN), is struggling.

At the start of the year, ELN was looking strong. Its stock was up by 50% by mid-summer. Since then shares have collapsed and now trade in the mid-single digits.

I profiled the company on July 2, with one caveat: If late-stage testing of a new Alzheimer's drug called bapineuzumab doesn't go as planned, then ELN will trade lower.

About a month later, the company announced that the results of a Phase II clinical study showed the drug does safely treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, but the results were not statistically significant, and the 234-person Phase II study would have to be broadened to a much larger Phase III study to be considered for FDA approval.

The shares fell 17% on the announcement, but that was just the start. As is often the case, when it rains, it pours.