MOST NOTEWORTHY: Venoco, Newfield Exploration and Regions Financial were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Venoco (NYSE:VQ) to Buy from Hold on increased confidence in the company's 5%-10% 2008 production growth target.
  
• Newfield Exploration (NYSE:NFX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings. The firm said there has been significant progress in the economics of NFX's Woodford play.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) to Hold from Sell on valuation, as they their concerns are now priced into shares.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ASML Holdings (NASDAQ:ASML) was raised at Merrill to Buy from Neutral.
  
• UBS upgraded Forest Oil (NYSE:FST) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Bear upgraded Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE:GET) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vodafone, AstraZeneca and Forest Oil were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to Outperform from Peer Perform on valuation, as they believe the stock trades at a discount to peers.
  
• AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) was raised to Buy from Hold at Citigroup to reflect the potential for higher sales of the company's Crestor cholesterol pill.
  
• Jefferies upgraded shares of Forest Oil (NYSE: FST) to Buy from Hold and raised their target to $63 from $50 following the company's "bullish" analyst conference.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pharmasset (NASDAQ: VRUS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Morgan Keegan upgraded RadNet (NASDAQ: RDNT) to Outperform from Market Perform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Interpublic Group, Lionbridge, PetroChina and Collagenex were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MNTA) to Hold from Buy and lowered their target to $6 following the FDA's non-approvable letter for M-Enox.
• Banc of America downgraded shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE: IPG) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the economic uncertainty and concerns regarding the company's relative revenue growth.
• Lionbridge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: LIOX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs following disappointing Q3 results and guidance.
• Credit Suisse downgraded PetroChina Company Limited (NYSE: PTR) to Underperform from Neutral based on lack of catalysts.
• Jefferies lowered its rating on Collagenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: CGPI) to Hold from Buy to reflect a lack of near-term catalysts given the company's thin pipeline.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan removed Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) from its Focus List and downgraded Performance Food Group Company (NASDAQ: PFGC) to Underweight from Overweight.
• Friedman Billings downgraded Charlotte Russe Holding Inc (NASDAQ: CHIC) to Market Perform from Outperform.
• Jefferies downgraded Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE: FST) to Hold from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alcoa Inc (AA), Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL) Under Armour, Inc (UA), Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) and QLogic Corp (QLGC) topped today's list of noteworthy upgrades:

• RBC Capital upgraded Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) to Sector Perform from Underperform following the bid by Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL).

• Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ MRVL) was upgraded to buy from Neutral with a $23 target at Oppenheimer based on valuation and the improvements made to HDD PC/Desktop.

• Morgan Stanley raised shares of Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $47 target, based on valuation and long-term growth.

• Stifel upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) to Buy from Hold with a $100 target citing valuation.

• Morgan Keegan upgraded shares of QLogic Corp (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and expectations for strong sequential growth to resume in 2H07.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• JP Morgan added Sara Lee Corp (NYSE: SLE) to its Focus List.

• CRT upgraded Forest Oil Corp (NYSE: FST) to Buy from Fair Value with a $45 target.

• Wachovia raised Eagle Rock Energy Partners, LP (NASDAQ: EROC) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Gabeili upgraded New York-based Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FFIC) to Buy from Hold.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: YRC Worldwide Inc (YRCW), Baidu.com, Inc (BIDU), an several e-commerce names were today's more notable initiations:

• Prudential started YRC Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ: YRCW) with an Underweight rating and $41 target. The firm said recent organizational changes could be a distraction in what it expects to be a challenging first-half of 2007.

• Susquehanna views Baidu.com Inc (NASDAQ: BIDU) as a strategic holding in its China portfolio and expects the company's massive brand value to drive continuous growth; shares were initiated at Susquehanna with a Positive rating.

• Oppenheimer initiated three e-commerce names today:
  
• eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) was initiated with a Buy rating and $38 target
• Overstock.com, Inc (NASDAQ: OSTK) and Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) were initiated with Neutral ratings.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• In addition to YRC Worldwide, Prudential initiated several companies in the transportation sector:
  
• Con-Way Inc (NYSE: CNW) was started with an Underweight rating and $47 target
  
• Canadian Pacific Railway (NYSE: CP) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) were initiated with Overweight ratings
  
• Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $47 target.

• Jefferies initiated Forest Oil Corp (NYSE: FST) with a Buy rating and $42 target.

• Citigroup believes aQuantive, Inc (NASDAQ: AQNT) will be one of the key beneficiaries of the strong secular growth in online advertising and they note that shares are trading in the lower half of its 52-week range; shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $33 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).