This post is part of Japan: A Special Report for Investors.

"Japan continues to reel from the aftershock of the magnitude 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis; among the hardest hit is the nuclear industry, which supplies 30 percent of the country's electricity" notes utility sector expert Roger Conrad.

The editor of The Utility Forecaster explains, "There's still a lot we don't know about the crisis. We've seen a massive selloff of in all things nuclear.In my view, this drop will be reversed as the situation calms down.

"Few people know exactly how long it will take Japan to recover and rebuild, nor the full impact of the destruction in the world's third-largest economy," says Louis Basenese.

The contributing editor to Investment U advises, "In the short term, expect volatility to be the norm; but if you're a long-term investor there are reasons for bullishness:

"First, Japan is cheap. Even before the earthquake hit, Japan was one of the world's cheapest markets with the average stock on the TOPIX trading at a price-to-book ratio of 1.0 -- a 56% discount to the average U.S. stock.

Analyst Upgrades

• Exxon Mobil (XOM), Netflix (NFLX), Noble Corp. (NE), Pioneer Natural (PXD) and Noble Energy (NBL) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Cenovus Energy (CVE) to conviction buy from neutral and Atwood Oceanics (ATW) to neutral from sell at Goldman as well.
• Southern Company (SO) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Chevron (CVX) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Ryder (R), Entergy (ETR) and Seaspan (SSW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Gerdau (GGB), Crown Castle (CCI) and American Tower (AMT) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Ryland Group (RYL) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.

Utility and nuclear power generator Entergy Corporation (ETR), first discussed here on May 12, 2009, at a price of $74.31, is displaying a stock pattern that undoubtedly is frustrating to some investors.

The stock slid in bear hug-fashion from $80 to about $68, then rose to $75 before retreating back to about $70. The minor recovery could be interpreted as short covering in a long-term bearish pattern, or, if ETR holds support near the aforementioned $68, which is a short-term double-bottom, a bullish pattern. The view from here argues it's the latter, hence the trade remains in play.

U.S. stock futures are flat Tuesday morning after China's central bank raised interest rates. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5 points to 12,113.00, and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.20 point to 1,315.60. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.50 point to 2,345.50.

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, with the Dow gaining 0.57% to end the day at 12,162.

The NFIB index of small business optimism for January is due at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Analyst Upgrades

• TCF Financial (TCB) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Exelon (EXC) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Nvidia (NVDA) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Estee Lauder (EL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Webster Financial (WBS) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from underperform and Pioneer Natural (PXD) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Autodesk (ADSK) to buy from neutral at Goldman.

The shares of utility and nuclear power generator Entergy Corp (ETR), which I first wrote about on May 12, 2009 at a price of $74.31, have pulled-back this fall in bear-hug fashion to about $70 from $80. Even so, investors should look on that decline as an opportunity to scoop-up shares. Here's why:

Entergy's canceled spin-off of its wholesale nuclear assets likely accounts for some of the recent stock price dip.

From an earnings standpoint, earnings should increase about 10% in 2010, followed by a 4-6% increase in 2011. After a hotter-than-normal 2010 summer in most of ETR's electric power supply markets, some earnings softness in 2011 is expected, assuming a more-normal 2011 summer. However, this should be partially offset by business electric demand increases, as the U.S. economy continues to improve.

Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Hologic (HOLX) to buy from hold on expectations the company's next-generation breast tomosynthesis instrument is likely to receive FDA approval. The firm raised its target price for shares to $20 from $16.
• ING Group upgraded Total (TOT) to buy from hold.
• BofA/Merrill raised Medicis (MRX) to neutral from underperform.
• CPFL Energia (CPL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Utility and nuclear power generator Entergy Corp (ETR), which I first wrote about on May 12, 2009 at a price of $74.31, is still worth a look, if you missed the earlier entry point. Here's why:

Although, Entergy canceled the spin-off of its non-nuclear assets, earnings should increase 2-3% in 2010, excluding one-time charges.

Also, because the United States did not build nearly enough nuclear power plants in the last two decades of the 20th century to accommodate its power needs, it will spend the next two decades playing catch-up.

"Considering that the 73 utility stocks in the S&P 1500 Index combine to represent just 4% of the index's market value, they certainly occupy a big place in the hearts of investors," notes Richard Moroney.

The editor of Dow Theory Forecasts -- a newsletter that has been published for nearly 60 years -- explains, "Here, we offer a diversified 12-stock utility portfolio, as well as our top utility choice for investors who only wish to buy one stock in the sector.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded FMC Technologies (FTI) to buy from hold, citing pent-up deepwater drilling demand and valuation. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $69 from $77.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Valeant (VRX) to overweight from neutral following the company's merger with Biovail (BVF) and raised its target for shares to $53 from $43.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Lincare Holdings (LNCR) to buy from hold, citing valuation and the company's dividend initiation. The firm upped its target for shares to $37 from $35.
• Ariba (ARBA) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Crucell (CRXL) was upgraded to buy from hold at RBS.
• ENI SpA (E) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS upgraded Potash (POT) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $112 from $106. UBS raised its 2011 potash production estimates based on expectations for a tighter market and notes the potential for China to import substantial amounts of corn.
• BMO Capital upgraded Peabody Energy (BTU) to outperform from market perform. The firm, which has a $49 target on the stock, cites valuation for the upgrade.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded City Holding (CHCO) to buy from neutral with a $37 price target, citing the recent pullback in shares.
• Boston Scientific (BSX) was upgraded to sell from conviction sell at Goldman.
• Pegasystems (PEGA) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.
• Wendy's/Arby's (WEN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

The stock of utility and nuclear power generator Entergy Corp (ETR), which I first wrote about on May 12, 2009, at a price of $74.31, has meandered over the past six months, but I still like the shares at this juncture. Here's why:

Although, Entergy's planned spin-off of its nonnuclear assets into a new company called Enexus Energy has been delayed, due to delays in regulatory approvals by New York State, earnings should increase 3% to 5% in 2010, excluding one-time charges.