Analyst Upgrades

• Verizon (VZ), FEMSA (FMX), Vornado (VNO), Duke Realty (DRE) and AvalonBay (AVB) to buy from neutral, as well as Carnival (CCL) to conviction buy from buy, at Goldman.
• Symantec (SYMC) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Copano Energy (CPNO), DCP Midstream (DPM) and Inergy (NRGY) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• SYNNEX (SNX) to strong buy from buy at Needham.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) to hold from sell at Hapoalim.
• World Wrestling (WWE) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.

Although short-term news may seem bright for Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), the broader picture for the company looks flat. Having dropped from an average share price in the $53 range over two years ago, to a current average share value hovering near $35, investors are signaling that the long range forecast for Lilly is unexciting at best.

It appears that Lilly shall be buoyed in the near term by the recent FDA approval of testosterone replacement therapy Axiron for sale in the U.S. Lilly purchased rights to Axiron from Australian firm, Acrux for an initial payment of $50 million plus $3 million based on the transfer of manufacturing assets.

Eli Lilly (LLY - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company announced it has halted development of an experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease, citing studies showing the drug worsened patients' conditions and was associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. 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 LLY.

This morning, LLY opened at $35.08. So far today the stock has hit a high of $35.15 and a low of $34.45. As of 12:10, LLY is trading at $34.69, down $0.88 (-2.4%). The chart for LLY looks neutral and S&P gives LLY a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Analyst Upgrades

• Auriga upgraded Leap Wireless (LEAP) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and analyst day, citing valuation, longer-term potential for consolidation and prospects for business improvements. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $16 from $19.
• Goldman upgraded Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell following the company's announcement to explore strategic alternatives. The firm raised its price target to $15 from $12.
• RBC Capital upgraded ESCO Technologies (ESE) to sector perform from underperform following the better-than-expected Q3 report. The firm raised its price target to $30 from $28.
• MetLife (MET) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• HSBC (HBC) was upgraded to outperform from underperform at CLSA.

If you're interested on taking a bet on a potential high-flyer, you might want to take a look at Allergan (AGN).

Goldman Sachs recently said they expect more M&A activity in pharmaceutical and that Allergan is a prime candidate for a takeover. Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) are two companies analysts are speculating may be interested in acquiring Allergan.

Goldman also upgraded its price target for Allergan on its Conviction Buy List from $78 to $81.

Short sellers are starting to pile on Forest Laboratories (FRX), and the drug manufacturer may not be able to sustain the bearish weight. Short interest on Forest has jumped 410.4%, or 14,253,017 shares -- rising from a previous short-interest level of 3,473,213 shares to the current level of 17,726,230 shares -- during the past few weeks.

Based on the average trading volume for Forest, it will take short sellers 4 days to cover their short positions if they wanted to completely reverse their trades. Seeing a jump in short interest like this is a clear indication there is a growing number of traders out there who believe Forest is going to be moving lower in the near future. In fact, it shows they believe it enough to put their money where their mouth is.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Noble Corporation (NE) to outperform from market perform as it finds the company's acquisition of Frontier Drilling as smart and strategic. The firm upped its target price for shares to $42 from $36.
• Citigroup upgraded Ameriprise (AMP) to buy from hold, citing potential margin expansion from the Columbia acquisition. The firm maintains a $50 price target for shares.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Jabil Circuit (JBL) to overweight from market weight, citing valuation and the company's growth prospects. The firm raised its target for shares to $20 from $18.
• Blackrock (BLK) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Disney (DIS) and News Corp (NWS) were upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Portland General Electric (POR) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Great dividend picks are easier to find than you think. Retirees looking for safe places to stash their cash are already familiar with many blue chips that have hefty yields. It's just that when investors stop at the grocery store or pay their phone bill, they aren't thinking about how the big brands they're doing business with are actually good dividend payers.

Here are three of America's best know public corporations with yields that are about twice what 10-year Treasuries pay. These low-risk blue chips are some of the most famous high-yield dividend stocks out there.

Eli Lilly (LLY) announced Wednesday that burglars broke into a Connecticut-based warehouse over the weekend and stole roughly $75 million in prescription drugs. According to police, the break-in happened either late Saturday or early Sunday. According to LLY, "dozens of pallets" of antidepressants were stolen, including Prozac, Cymbalta, Zyprexa (an anti-psychotic), and other medicines. The police called the theft a "well-planned event."

The company stated that it is working with the U.S. FDA Office of Criminal Investigations and other law enforcement officials. LLY's senior vice president of global equity noted that the company has "taken quick and appropriate actions to ensure the safety of our medicines." The company added that the "U.S. pharmaceutical distribution system is tightly controlled and monitored, making it extremely difficult for stolen product to make it to patients through legitimate channels."

Global pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), whose brands include Claritin, Coppertone, Lotrimin, Propecia, Singulair and Vytorin, is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter and full-year financial results in a conference call Monday, Feb. 16, at 8:00 AM (ET), hosted by CEO Richard T. Clark and CFO Peter N. Kellogg. A live webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, Merck merged with Schering-Plough, appointed a chief medical officer and announced a quarterly dividend. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period of $0.78 per share, down from $0.90 per share in the previous quarter and $0.87 per share a year ago. But revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to have jumped 60.8% from a year ago to $9.7 billion.

Incyte (INCY - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced it entered into a worldwide license and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) for the development and commercialization of Incyte's INCB28050. The drug is currently being studied in a mid-stage trial for rheumatoid arthritis. Incyte stock has been showing support around $7.95 and resistance in the $8.89 range. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on INCY.

INCY opened this morning at $8.88. So far today the stock has hit a low of $8.70 and a new 52-week high of $9.00. As of 12:40, INCY is trading at $8.98 up 49 cents (5.8%). The chart for INCY looks bullish.

Biogen Idec (BIIB) has made a bit of news the past two days, starting with Thursday's news that William Young is the company's new chairman of the board. BIIB's Bruce Ross will complete his term as director and will step down from the board at BIIB's 2010 shareholder meeting. William Young will take over effective January 1, 2010. Young is a veteran of the biotech industry, as he served with Monogram Biosciences, Genentech (where he was CEO), and Eli Lilly.

Ross noted, "I am pleased the Board has selected Bill Young as Biogen Idec's new Chairman. He is an experienced biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry executive with an extensive understanding of Biogen Ides, given his 12 years of service as a director of the company."

This is the third screening to find value among Fortune's 25 corporate world leaders that have demonstrated an ability to regenerate themselves from within. The list has been cut to 18 and will be cut further here.

The methodology of using basic stock data points to identify potential value investments only sets the stage for success -- it assures nothing. While it is true that paying less is better than paying more and getting a higher yield is better than less, this gives you a scant picture of what is in people's hearts and minds, and that is harder to judge. Like the weather, no matter the predictions, you may not find out it is raining until you are standing in it. Regardless, it should be advantageous to start with good stock (pun intended) before you take to whittlin', and that we have.

Yesterday I started a review of 25 companies that Fortune deemed most successful according to their peers in developing quality leadership. Today I review the remaining 20, searching to find the ones that might be worth investing in.

Price-to-book (from 11/27/09) was used as the first value screen. The theory being from a value investor's perspective that buying for a price at or near the break-up value of the company provides downside protection. Of course that is easier said than done.

The recent issue of Fortune magazine discusses how the best of the best train, guide and nurture top managers to become the leaders that will propel their corporations successfully forward. They list the top 25 companies, which I have used as the basis of a new review to see how they would fair against common metric screens.

In the past few months, many articles have posited that large-cap stocks should excel in the coming year based on their lagging the market behind smaller, more volatile stocks flying out of the March lows. I do not believe this is universally true. Plenty of large-cap stocks did well, such as Anadarko Petroleum (APC), Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG), while many small caps went nowhere. Even among the large caps included in Fortune's "Leadership 25," some have doubled.