Morgan Stanley raised its overweight position on global emerging market equities to 6% from 2%, according to MarketWatch.

HSBC upgraded Morgan Stanly (NYSE:MS) to "overweight" from "equal weight", according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Caris initiated First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) as a "buy."

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

With the high fuel prices over the past year, solar stocks have been making some nice gains. But there are some signs that they may not be as safe as they appear. Investors' interest in solar companies increased due to soaring crude futures, but there are some factors to take into account before investing money into solar.

The current BusinessWeek looks at stocks such as First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), SolarWorld and Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR), which have been facing increased volatility based on contract deal news or the lack thereof.

A major impact came in May, with speculation that Germany would lower subsidies given to companies and individuals who install alternative energy equipment. But the cut was not as deep as expected and stocks rebounded nicely.

Before the bell: Wall Street set to rebound boosted by deals

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE) shares are jumping over 10% in premarket trading after Canada's Supreme Court overturned a Quebec Court decision, clearing the way for the $52 billion leveraged buyout by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and U.S. private equity firms. The buyers might still negotiate the price down though.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) withdrew a $3.6 billion offer for Britain's Expro International after the U.K. oil services firm stuck by a smaller bid from a private-equity consortium.

Some analyst calls this morning:

• J.C. Penney Co. (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold and the price target upped to $46 from $45.
• Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) was downgraded by Piper Jaffray to Sell from Neutral on continued weakness in North American market. The target price was cut to $7 from $9.75. Shares are down over 2% in premarket trading.
• First Solar (NYSE: FSLR) price target was upped at Lehman Brothers from $280 to $335. Shares are up over 2.5% in premarket trading.

Deutsche Bank upgraded department store J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) to "buy" from "hold" according to MarketWatch.

Piper Jaffray downgraded Motorola (NYSE:MOT) to "sell" from "neutral", according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Lehman raised its price target on First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to $335 from $280.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) was raised to "outperform" at BMO Capital Markets, according to 24/7 Wall St.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says these stocks rise because they're doubly blessed. Integrateds fall because they aren't.

So many people have been puzzled why the major integrateds have not moved with the last $30 rally in oil's spot price. The answer?

They can't take advantage of it.

They either didn't believe, and therefore didn't drill, or they have been so in the crosshairs of sovereign lunacy that they haven't been able to. They didn't have the rigs or they judged that the rigs were so expensive that, like 1980, they would look like dopes when oil came back to $40-$50, where many thought it would. (Go back and check even last year's research for price targets, most of which were from the oil companies' themselves.)

Or maybe it didn't matter anyway. So many of the contracts these companies have signed with governments around the world are either being abrogated or just outright confiscated that you have to ask yourself "Who can invest under those scenarios?" Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) in Venezuela. Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) (Cramer's Take) and now BP (NYSE: BP) (Cramer's Take) in Russia. You can't continually invest billions and then write it off because the contracts you wrote don't mean anything.

First Solar (NASDAQ-FSLR) is recently up $2.06 to $247.02 in pre-open trading.

Calyon has a Buy rating and $345 price target on FSLR. Calyon says: "The company is not exposed to the German utility scale market (the destiny of which has now been determined for at least the next 2 to 3 years)."

FSLR July option implied volatility of 70 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price risks.

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

First Solar (NYSE: FSLR) closed at $273.18 Wednesday.

Calyon says: "The German solar feed-in tariff (FIT) is under fire, as lawmakers are considering an accelerated digression that would reduce rates 25% by 2010 versus 15% under current law."

FSLR July option implied volatility of 58 is below its 26-week average of 73 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price risks.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: First Solar, Pride International and EnerSys were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Friedman Billings downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Underperform from Market Perform citing margin risk concerns, as the company aggressively pursues utility-scale projects in the US. The firm said risks are not reflected in share valuation near $300 and could be a source of disappointment but could also lead to downside EPS risk.
  
• Wachovia said Pride International (NYSE: PDE) has the least potential EPS upside vs. peers given the company has contracted the highest percentage of its floater days into 2012E. Additionally, the firm views a takeout by Seadrill as unlikely. Shares were cut to Underperform from Market Perform.
  
• Merriman downgraded shares of EnerSys (NYSE: ENS) to Neutral from Buy as they believe the strong Q4 results were driven by a one-time benefit from lead procurement mechanics and that data does not support the company's sustained margin expansion story.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Citigroup lowered Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) to Hold from Buy.
  
• UBS downgraded Nucor (NYSE: NUE) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Smart Modular (NASDAQ: SMOD) was downgraded at Oppenheimer to Perform from Outperform.
  
• The Airlines Sector was cut by Soleil to Neutral from Outperform.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says as crude goes higher, it makes more and more sense to go for other energy options.

Every day that oil goes up, there is a new set of technologies that had formerly been priced out of the market that comes back to life. Let's take wind. Wind, in itself, just seems so stupid. It needs, well, wind. Much of our country doesn't have enough wind to make this economic. There are only certain regions that can really benefit.

But when oil is at $130, SO WHAT! The parts of the country that have a lot of wind are nuts not to do wind. Wind, when properly integrated into the grid, costs 4 cents a kilowatt. The issue has been shortage of everything that goes into a windmill, because nobody in the chain thought it was worthwhile to mass-produce them. So even though the cost is low, no companies felt it was worth it because the market seemed so niche.

In other words, it was the wind supply chain that was the problem, because we only thought in terms of gigantic plants that created energy. But with nuclear not an option -- never will be in this country, if you ask me -- natural gas falling out of favor post-Katrina as being unreliable, and coal simply intolerable because of the climate problems, wind has become the most natural fuel of all.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says lots of companies now thrive with crude up here.

Oil's not a tax on everything -- it's a tax on the consumer. That's what I come down to when I see the charts this weekend and ponder what's happening in so much of industrial America.

Company after company that I examine -- the new techs, as I call them -- actually benefit from higher oil prices. Or they can pass them on with ease, because of the worldwide demand being so strong.

Take all of the companies involved with making a Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take): Boeing itself, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) (Cramer's Take), Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take) and Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) (Cramer's Take) being good examples. Each of these is necessary because the new Dreamliner burns lots less fuel, and with fuel the biggest airline cost, it stands to reason that higher energy prices make the plane more desirable even at a higher price point.

Or how about all of the companies involved with process and flow control and efficient motors: Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take), Emerson (NYSE: EMR) (Cramer's Take), Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take) and Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) (Cramer's Take). Those work higher with higher energy prices. CSX (NYSE: CSX) (Cramer's Take), Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) (Cramer's Take), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) (Cramer's Take), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) (Cramer's Take) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) (Cramer's Take) are smaller energy users than trucks, and they ship plenty of ethanol and fertilizer.

LDK Solar Co. (NYSE: LDK) is one strange solar stock. Yesterday, on a day when other solar companies like Solarfun Power Holdings (NASDAQ: SOLF), Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ), First Solar Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) and JA Solar Holdings (NASDAQ: JASO) were all strong and despite earnings coming in at the high end of expectations and guidance solidly ahead of estimates, their stock was down. Not only was it down, but it also tried rebounding, only to fail. Not good at all for the bull case.

Experience has taught me to respect the price action the day after earnings. So when I see LDK trying to break out of a now 5-month old range, pretty much between $30 and $40 -- yes it was up to $50 in January and $20 in March, but those are outliers -- this is a very bearish sign. It's so bearish that I suspect that unless solar plays really heat up again, this stock will need many more weeks or months to break $40, and even then, it's got a ton of resistance all over the place due to bitter buyers in at much higher prices who will be looking to cut their losses.

Everyone is talking about solar. Whether you believe that solar energy will somehow displace an oil-driven economy or not (I don't), some of these stocks like First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) have seen big gains over the past few years.

The success of solar companies has not been lost on ETF firms with their constant new products hitting the market. A smaller ETF firm called Claymore Securities looks to be first to the market with a solar ETF, the Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF, with an aptly-named ticker, (NYSE: TAN).

Here's Claymore's website for the recently launched ETF. From the firm's website, the index defines a company engaged in solar energy as falling into two main categories:

1. Solar photovoltaic power, which involves the conversion of sunlight into electricity through the photovoltaic process; and

2. Thermal solar power, which involves using energy from the sun to heat fluids for purposes of water or space heating or to produce electricity.

Peter Way selects his buys by following the trading activity of block traders -- those making large, million dollar bets. Here's the latest from his Block Trader Oil & Gold Monitor.

"The volume stock market liquidity-providers are hedging their necessary position risks in ways that foretell declining oil stock prices. Their records on such outlooks in the past are pretty good, so pay attention.

"The million-dollar market-makers are not always right, and here they tend to be a bit early, but it's obvious they can save you some grief and provide a chance to pick up some meaningful extra profit.

"From our recent review of energy ETFs, we also note that the pros' perception seems to be that energy stocks have been bid up too far. Ok, so what to do? Sell the oil holdings? Then where to put the proceeds?

Merrill Lynch downgraded Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) to "neutral" from "buy" according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Oppenheimer downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) to "perform" from "out perform."

Jefferies & Co reaffirmed its "buy" rating on Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) after the company posted earnings according to the AP.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

The Labor Department released that unemployment was running at 5.1% and that the non-farm payrolls lost 80,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate fell from 4.8% to 5.1%. Economists were expecting a loss of 50,000 and an unemployment rate of 5.0%. If you were just looking at the headlines, you would have said "Uh-oh, recession." But traders are trying to glimmer good news in the bad news right now. Bad news that isn't disastrous will lead traders to feel the nightmare scenario is only going to be a garden variety recession rather than an implosion. This will still allow for additional rate cuts from the Fed. Below are the unofficial closing prices for key US index levels:

• DJIA 12,609.42 (-16.61; -0.13%)
• S&P500 1,370.40 (+1.09; +0.08%)
• NASDAQ 2,370.98 (+7.68; +0.32%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.481% (-0.11%)
• 52-week lows here

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) shares were hit by nearly 3% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock, and WR Hambrecht also joined in on the downgrades today. Shares closed at $19.53 today.