Analyst Upgrades

• Union Pacific (UNP) and Polycom (PLCM) were upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Time Warner Cable (TWC) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• LaSalle Hotel (LHO) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Graco (GGG) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Valley National (VLY) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Credit Suisse (CS) was upgraded to hold from sell at RBS.
• U.S. Bancorp (USB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Penn National (PENN) and Riverbed (RVBD) were upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Goodrich (GR) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Amazon.com (AMZN) upgraded to buy from average at Caris.

Graco (GGG), which manufactures children's products, recalled 2 million strollers Wednesday because they can cause strangulation to children under 12 months of age. The action includes Quattro Tour models made before November 2006 and MetroLite strollers and travel systems made before July 2007.

Graco said that children can slip through the space between the tray and seat when they are not harnessed. The company reported that the problem has caused nine injuries, but four deaths have apparently been tied to the strollers as well. The deaths occurred between 2003 and 2005, according to Consumer Reports. Graco is urging consumers to stop using the products immediately and contact the company for a free repair set. Graco has listed the products involved at its website.

Given my possession of an extremely sweet two-month-old baby, my third little boy, I am one of the most profoundly sleep-deprived people on the planet. I should not be driving heavy machinery (and I don't); I should not be operating dangerous equipment. And, given the news about the recall of 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs today, it's clear I should also cross "putting together baby gear" from my list. (Graco is a unit of Newell Rubbermaid Inc (NYSE: NWL), whose stock is up 9 cents to $28.79 after an initial morning dip on the news.)

I can't say I was surprised, a few days ago, when I saw Monroe's little bouncy seat had come detached from its frame, causing him to slide harmlessly a few inches onto the floor. But Simplicity Inc., the manufacturer of all the cribs under recall, shouldn't have been surprised, either, that parents put the drop-rail side of the crib on upside down. Let's review: parents are sleep-deprived. Parents are not necessarily mechanically-inclined to begin with! It is horribly unfair to expect parents, in their largely mentally-imbalanced state, to have to do everything right in order to keep their babies alive.

Now two sets of parents have to live with the guilt that they put their baby's cribs together incorrectly, which allowed their infants to become trapped in a gap and suffocate. Recalls? I only wish we could do take-backs, do-overs, when it came to the life of a baby.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: FormFactor, Inc (FORM), Graco Inc (GGG), China Telecom (CHA), Sempra Energy (SRE) and Unica Corp (UNCA) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• JP Morgan cut FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) to Underweight from Neutral citing expected competition from Micronics Japan, which has successfully ramped up production at its new advanced probe card factory.

• CIBC's checks suggest that challenges still remain in Graco's (NYSE: GGG) contractor segment and is likely to impact results, downgrading shares to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) to Hold from Buy to reflect slower user growth as the company added 77% fewer fixed-line customers in the first five months of 2007.

• Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) was cut to Outperform from its Top Pick rating at RBC Capital following the company's JV announcement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBSPY).

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Unica (NASDAQ: UNCA) to Hold from Buy after the company reported lower than expected Q3 licenses to reflect too much variance in execution...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkEquity.

• Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) was downgraded to Sector Outperform at RBC Capital.

• Stanford cut Dobson (NASDAQ: DCEL) to Hold from Buy.

• Lehman assumed coverage of Extreme Networks (NASDAQ: EXTR) with an Equal Weight rating, downgrading shares from Overweight.

• Lazard downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Hold from Buy.

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

Graco Children's Products, a division of Newell Rubbermaid (NYSE:NWL) has announced a voluntary recall involving Graco Contempo Highchairs. On January 18, 2007 after receiving just 18 reports domestically and another two reports from outside the United States, Graco announced that it is recalling approximately 100,000 baby highchairs which pose a potential for collapse if not properly locked into the open position when taken from the storage position. Of the 20 reported chair mishaps that led to this recall only one incident resulted in what was reported to be a bruise on the foot of an 18-month-old baby boy.

Graco assures its customers that the highchairs are safe and fully functional if the user is certain that the "hub" is locked into place when the chair is opened fully. Graco states that when the highchairs are fully opened, the user should hear a "click" signaling that the hub is locked into place. Graco is voluntarily recalling the highchairs to make consumers aware that a free repair kit is available to further protect against any problems with the highchairs.

For full information involving this recall, including all affected model numbers, please use this Consumer Products Safety Commission link. You will find everything you need there to make sure that your Graco Contempo highchair is in top notch working order. If you wish to contact Graco directly, here's the link to the Graco website.

Thanks to Graco, Newell Rubbermaid and the Consumer Products Safety Commission for addressing this matter so quickly and responsibly.

If you've had a baby in the U.S., you've probably done the obligatory walk to the car with a nurse, who inspects your vehicle to make sure you have, indeed, installed an infant car seat.

Consumer Reports came out with a (for parents) terrifying and (for the Evenflo Company, Inc.) damaging study today that detailed crash results from 12 widely-available infant car seats. To put it mildly? I never want to put a baby in a car again. Next time the nurse walks me out, it will be to the bus stop. Something I didn't know: infant car seats are only meant to withstand a crash at 30 mph. When Consumer Reports tested car seats at 35 or 38 mph, most seats failed, disengaging from their bases or (in four cases) flying out of them. Many seats would have "inflicted grave injuries" according to the Consumer Reports.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL)'s Graco Products unit has reason to crow, however; its SnugRide with EPS car seat was one of the two that passed the tests; both it and the other acceptable seat, the Baby Trend, Inc. Flex-Loc, retail for around $90.

I'm certainly glad to know that my children, having always been buckled into Graco SnugRides while in the car, were reasonably safe. But I have to ask myself: is the lack of safety of the inexpensive versions an even deadlier stake driven between the poor and the middle-class?

Mention Graco and most people start thinking about baby strollers. If you've ever confused Graco Inc. (NYSE: GGG) with the company that manufactures those baby strollers, join the club! I actually developed an interest in the baby stroller company by following Peter Lynch's principle of "investing in what you know." Graco baby strollers are everywhere and they're made of high quality materials, thus prompting my interest.

I thought to myself -- if the troops in the middle east ever come back from their tour of duty, historical statistics show that there should be a boom in new baby births right after a war ends. The population explosion of the last century may not have been possible without the two world wars. Foolishly, I looked up the stroller company but instead, found one of the world's premier manufacturers of fluid-handling equipment and systems.