MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. clean energy sector, MGI Pharma, Apple and Kosan Biosciences were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Morgan Stanley initiated the U.S. clean energy sector with an Attractive view. The analyst assumed coverage of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), Fuel Tech (NASDAQ: FTEK) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) with Overweight ratings and EnerNOC, Inc (NASDAQ: ENOC) with an Underweight rating.
  
• Banc of America started shares of MGI Pharma (NASDAQ: MOGN) with a Buy rating and $45 target, as they expect sales growth in 2008 to be driven by Aquavan, which they view as an underappreciated asset, and potential survival data for Dacogen.
  
• Soleil believes Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) could nearly double its PC market share to between 5.5% and 6% over the next five years. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $200 target.
  
• Roth Capital initiated Kosan Biosciences (NASDAQ: KOSN) with a Buy rating and $10 target, as they are positive on the company's Hsp90 program and expect an NDA filing as early as 2009 in the relapsed-refractory settings.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• KeyBanc Capital initiated CastlePoint Holdings (NASDAQ: CPHL) with a Buy rating and $16 target.
  
• Time Warner Telecom (NASDAQ: TWTC) was started at Cowen with an Outperform rating.
  
• Jefferies resumed coverage of Windstream (WIN) with a Hold rating and $16 target and Embarq Corporation (NYSE: EQ) with a Buy rating and $68 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Palm (PALM), Fuel Tech (FTEK), Weyerhaeuser (WY), and John Wiley & Sons (JW.A) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Morgan Keegan, who expects PALM's recapitalization to bring more financial discipline, better growth from new products, and views the valuation as compelling.
• FuelTech Inc (NASDAQ: FTEK) was upgraded to Buy from Accumulate at ThinkEquity, which believes the company technologies are well-positioned as the U.S. Clean Air Act takes effect.
• Bank of America upgraded Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) to Buy from Neutral, citing valuation and their prediction that the company's restructuring will create value for shareholders.
• John Wiley & Sons Inc (NYSE: JW.A) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Stifel Nicolaus & Co, which views the company as a consistent performer with emerging catalysts and reasonable valuation.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Circuit City Stores Inc (NYSE: CC) was added to the SMid Money List at JP Morgan.
• Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
• United Technologies Corporation (NYSE: UTX) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform by Bernstein.
• BreitBurn Energy Partners LP (NASDAQ: BBEP) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by AG Edwards.

From his ChangeWave Investing newsletter and regular appearances on Fox TV's Bulls & Bears, Toby Smith is one of the most widely followed newsletter advisors. AS growth investors, he seeks stocks poised to benefit from enduring trends, which he calls "Changewaves".

To help isolate these trends, he turns to his ChangeWave Alliance, a group of thousands of business leaders in a wide range of fields who respond to ongoing surveys regarding developing industry trends.

Three such trends, which he considers among his favorite macroeconomic ChangeWaves are Clean Energy, Carbon Credits, and Chindia (China-India) Infrastructure. And one of his latest stock recommendations -- Fuel Tech (NASDAQ: FTEK) -- plays into all three of these waves.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Select theater stocks, Equity Inns (ENN), Talbots (TLB) and Starbucks (SBUX) filled today's noteworthy downgrade segment:

• Banc of America said summer blockbusters have fallen off faster than they expected and there are fewer mid-tier films to support growth:

• The firm downgraded Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ: CKEC), Cinemark Holdings (NYSE: CNK) and Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) to Neutral from Buy.

• Equity Inns (NYSE: ENN) was cut to Sell from Hold at AG Edwards after the Whitehall acquisition. JMP Securities and Friedman Billings cut shares to Market Perform from Outperform and KeyBanc downgraded Equity Inns to Hold from Buy.

• Matrix USA downgraded Talbots (NYSE: TLB) to Sell from Hold based on the eroding return of capital because of the company using capital to acquire and open new stores. Friedman Billings downgraded shares of

• Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) to Market Perform from Outperform and removed the company from their FBR Top Picks list on expectations that 2H07 same-store sales will no longer improve, removing a catalyst...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Fairchild Semiconductor (NYSE: FCS) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Piper.

• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.

• UBS downgraded Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (NASDAQ: BGFV) to Neutral from Buy.

• Banc of America downgraded Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN) to Neutral from Buy.

• Roth downgraded Fuel Tech Inc (NASDAQ: FTEK) to Hold from Buy.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Marriott International (MAR), VeriFone Holdings, Inc (PAY), Generex Biotechnology Corp (GNBT), Quality Systems, Inc (QSII) and Owens Corning (OC) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Friedman Billings views Marriott International's (NYSE: MAR) relatively low-risk, capital efficient fee income model as an attractive investment opportunity and started shares with an Outperform rating.

• Wedbush believes VeriFone Holdings (NYSE: PAY) is on the highest quality names in the space given the company's superior growth, high margins and consistent execution and started shares with a Strong Buy rating.

• Rodman believes Generex Biotech's (NASDAQ: GNBT) oral insulin, Oral-lyn could be a significant player in the non-injectable insulin market and initiated shares with an Outperform rating.

• Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) was initiated with a Market Weight rating at Thomas Weisel.

• Morgan Keegan started Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) with a Market Perform rating citing the slowdown in the North American housing market.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• William Blair started Cepheid (NASDAQ: CPHD) with an Outperform rating.

• Kaufman started Glu Mobile Inc (NASDAQ: GLUU) with a Buy rating.

• Fuel Tech Inc (NASDAQ: FTEK) was started with a Buy rating.

• Wedbush initiated shares of Hypercom Corp (NYSE: HYC) with a Hold rating.

• Archer Daniels Midland Co (NYSE: ADM) was initiated with an Accumulate rating at Buckingham.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Notable initiations today include Ericsson (ERIC) and Research in Motion (RIMM).

• JP Morgan started Ericsson Telephone Company (NASDAQ:ERIC) with an Overweight rating and $49.50 target; they believe Ericsson's EPS acceleration should be driven by share gains and margin expansion.
• CIBC World Markets initiated Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ:RIMM) with a Sector Performer based on valuation, recommending investors wait for a better entry-point.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) was initiated with a Buy rating and $15 target at Bank of America and feel the new company should benefit from favorable trends due to the IP/MPLS network builds, IPTV strength and strong emerging wireless subs group.
• ThinkEquity initiated Fuel Tech Inc. (NASDAQ:FTEK) with a Buy rating and $29 target , expecting them to benefit from numerous legislations that mandate the adoption of clean coal technologies by power and industrial plants.

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