There are literally hundreds of new drugs hitting the market each year. Why write about this particular drug? The drug bears discussion because it is the first one in 50 years to treat a disease called Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system turns against part of the body it is designated to protect. It causes debilitating joint pain, organ damage and skin rashes. Up to now the key medication used to treat Lupus are steroids.

A team of researchers from Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) headed by William Haseltine started looking at genes and their special functions. The problem was that there was no gene known to cause Lupus. So they started thinking outside the box. Instead of finding the gene first and then its function, they looked for the function then found the gene called BLyS that is elevated in Lupus. The new drug is called Benlysta.

Analyst Upgrades

• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Macy's (M) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ), JA Solar (JASO) and HeartWare (HTWR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• RenaissanceRe (RNR) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• DCT Industrial (DCT) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) and Silver Standard (SSRI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Weatherford (WFT), Hercules (HERO), GulfMark Offshore (GLF), Tidewater (TDW) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to buy from hold, and Diamond Offshore (DO) to hold from underperform, at Jefferies.
• Ritchie Bros. (RBA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup assumed coverage of Illinois Tool Works (ITW) and upgraded shares to buy from hold with a $52 price target. Citi cites valuation and the company's successful execution for the rating change.
• UBS upgraded Rowan Companies (RDC) to buy from neutral based on better-than-expected dayrates in the high specification jack-up market. The firm raised its price target to $42 from $28.
• UBS also upgraded NetLogic (NETL) to buy from neutral and keeps a $33.50 target on the stock. The firm upgraded shares based on valuation and solid long-term outlook.
• AvalonBay (AVB) and BRE Properties (BRE) were upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Covance (CVD) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Reynolds American (RAI) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK - option chain) shares are rising today after the company said an FDA advisory panel unanimously backed its epilepsy drug, ezogabine. GSK codeveloped the drug with Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX). 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 AMGN.

GSK opened this morning at $37.17. So far today the stock has hit a low of $37.00 and a high of $37.39. As of 12:15, GSK is trading at $37.22 up 0.76 (2.1%). The chart for GSK looks neutral and S&P gives GSK a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK - option chain) shares are rising today after the FDA Advisory Committee voted in favor of keeping GSK's diabetes drug Avandia on the market, despite concerns that the drug could increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. 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 GSK.

GSK opened this morning at $37.06. So far today the stock has hit a low of $36.77 and a high of $37.16. As of 12:10, GSK is trading at $37.06 up 0.71 (2.0%). The chart for GSK looks neutral and S&P gives GSK a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

You do not get too many instances where stocks rally for six straight days. This unofficial verdict was up on the day for a seventh day, but this was a sloppy rally today that literally came down to the closing bell. Earnings season got off to a good start, but weak retail data and a lowered 2010 economic recovery target out of the FOMC Minutes took away the gains that were in place earlier today. The good news is that the fears of a double dip recession seem to have been overdone.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,366.72 +3.70 (0.04%)
S&P 500 1,095.17 -0.17 (-0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,249.84 +7.81 (0.35%)

Top Analyst Calls

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.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK - option chain) stock is trading lower Wednesday after competitor Mylan (MYL) received approval to start selling a generic form of GSK's herpes drug Valtrex. 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 GSK.

Wednesday morning, GSK opened at $32.62. So far today the stock has hit a high of $32.91 and a low of $32.52. As of 11:30, GSK is trading at $32.58, down $0.34 (-1.0%). The chart for GSK looks neutral and S&P gives GSK a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

According to The Wall Street Journal, confidential studies from the Food and Drug Administration officials show that GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) diabetes medicine Avandia needs to be pulled from the market because it is linked to heart attacks.

These studies were part of a bipartisan report on the diabetes drug conducted by Senate Finance Committee members Chuck Grassley (R - Iowa) and Max Baucus (D - Montana). In a statement from GSK, the company noted that it has extensively studied Avandia in more than 52,000 patients, noting that none of its reports show a "statistically significant association" between Avandia and heart attacks.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Aflac Inc. (AFL) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings, though revenue fell short, and offered rosy guidance.
• Avon Products Inc. (AVP) posted Q4 earnings growth that met analysts' expectations but shares sold off.
• Cisco Systems inc. (CSCO) higher Q2 earnings topped the consensus estimate but cash flow fell.
• CME Group Inc. (CME) fell short of analysts' Q4 profit expectations, resulting in price-target cuts.
• ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) posted better-than-expected Q4 earnings and revenue that boosted shares.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings rocketed 66% thanks to sales of its swine flu vaccine. GSK earned 1.63 billion pounds in the quarter ($2.6 billion) compared to 982 million pounds a year earlier. Excluding restructuring charges, GSK saw profit increase to 1.8 billion pounds, which was slightly above analyst estimates. The company's vaccine sales increased 78% to 1.5 billion pounds, in part due to swine flu vaccine sales. Full-year profits checked in at 5.5 billion pounds, or $8.7 billion.

All wasn't well with the quarter for GSK. The pharmaceutical firm saw generic competition take a 4% chunk out of its U.S. sales. In addition, GSK announced plans to trim its research and development program, but did not specify how many jobs it would cut.

Seattle Genetics (SGEN) was on the upswing Monday morning after the company inked a collaboration agreement with heavyweight pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Under the terms of the deal, Seattle Genetics will receive an upfront fee of $12 million and potential milestone payments of up to $390 million for allowing Glaxo to use its antibody-drug conjugate technology.

The treatment is intended to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. Currently, Seattle Genetics has nine licensees for the technology, and has raked in more than $35 million this year from collaborations like the one with Glaxo.

James Altucher is a financial journalist for The Wall Street Journal and founder of Stockpickr.com. His articles cover every angle of the market; he also stars in feature videos with other financial luminaries. He is the author of Trade Like a Hedge Fund, Trade Like Warren Buffett, SuperCa$h, and The Forever Portfolio.

He has taken a controversial path lately with numerous articles in the New York Post and Huffington Post. Some articles include: "Global Warming Is a Myth," "Should Insider Trading Be Made Legal?" "School of Hard Cash," "The Internet Is Dead (as an Investment)," and "5 Myths the Recession Taught Us."

Rumors of a new addition to the James Altucher library have entered the blogosphere, so I met with James to discuss a possible new book and the response from his recent aggressive views on finance and the stock market.

Early this morning, Societe Generale cut GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to "sell" from "hold." The brokerage blamed the downgrade on the "looming threat" of generics to GSK's respiratory drug Advair. SocGen believes the market is "underestimating" the chances for a generic competitor to Advair in the U.S. by 2011.

Technically, the stock is facing resistance at the $40 level -- a level that has provided a hurdle in the past. Along with this potential resistance is the possibility that the equity may slip back below its 20-month moving average. This trendline has acted as resistance in the past, and now that the shares are positioned north of this trendline, it could act as support. The problem is that this trendline is in a sharp descending pattern.

It isn't all bad news for GSK, the good news is that the equity should find some support from its 10-week moving average. With this trendline providing support, any potential drop from this morning's news could be limited.

After the closing bell rang yesterday, Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) announced a second-quarter profit that increased 40% compared to a year ago. The company earned $1.29 per share compared to 84 cents per share a year ago. Not only did the pharmaceutical firm top its previous-year results, but it also outpaced the Street's estimated earnings of $1.16 per share.

Quarterly revenue dropped to $3.71 billion from $3.76 billion a year ago, but AMGN still topped the consensus revenue estimate of $3.58 billion. Total product sales for AMGN increased 1% when taking the impact of foreign exchange out of the equation. Looking ahead, AMGN forecast full-year adjusted earnings between $4.80 and $4.95 per share, far better than its earlier forecast of $4.55 to $4.75 per share and the Street's expected $4.57 per share.