Analyst upgrades:

• Merrill believes Assurant (NYSE: AIZ) is well-positioned to weather the turmoil in the capital markets environment and cites the company's defensive characteristics for the upgrade. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded R.H. Donnelly (NYSE: RHD) to Hold from Sell to reflect the company's cost cuts and its ability to buy back bonds at discounted prices.
  
• Citigroup raised Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they are seeing no fundamental deterioration in coal.
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  Raymond James raised shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Penske Automotive (NYSE: PAG) was upgraded to Add from Neutral at Calyon.
  
• ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) was lifted to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Analyst downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Sell from Hold after the company reported Q2 results to reflect a deceleration in growth and margin pressures. RIMM's target was lowered to $70 from $120. RBC Capital downgraded Research in Motion to Sector Perform from Outperform citing reduced margin visibility and the slowing macroeconomic environment.
  
• Stephens downgraded Vitran (NASDAQ: VTNC) and Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the companies' deteriorating demand and pricing environment. Vitran's target was cut to $15 from $22 and Saia's was lowered to $16 from $24.
  
• Mentor (NYSE: MNT) was downgraded to hold from Buy at Jefferies to reflect continued weakness in the breast implant market and the potential for lowered guidance. Mentor's target was lowered to $31 from $36.
  
• Merrill cut ING Group (NYSE: ING) to Underperform from Neutral.
  
• CF Industries (NYSE: CF) was downgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was lowered to Sell from Hold at Natixis.

Analyst initiations:

• Suntrust initiated Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) with a Neutral rating, citing slowing organic revenue growth, valuation and a slowing lab business.
  
• Jefferies initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) with a Hold rating and $33 target. The firm prefers to stay on sidelines due to valuation and macro risks.
  
• Hersha Hospitality (NYSE: HT) was assumed with a Market Perform rating and $7.50 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes near-term demand trends in New York City could slow.
  
• Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $54 target.
  
• KeyBanc assumed ENGlobal (NASDAQ: ENG) with a Hold rating.
  
• Piper initiated Pentair (NYSE: PNR) with a Neutral rating and $39 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: ICF International, General Mills, Kellogg and Caterpillar were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) to Buy from Hold on valuation to reflect the company's accelerating core business momentum and upped Road Home funding.
  
• Citigroup raised its rating on General Mills (NYSE: GIS) and Kellogg (NYSE: K) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe food consumption stocks are recession proof.
  
• Bear Stearns upgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Outperform from Peer Perform as they believe the company will benefit from the interest rate cuts.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Merck (NYSE: MRK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• El Paso (NYSE: EP) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Lehman raised Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

From its administration of the New Orleans Road Home Housing Program to its central involvement in the military's Focused Logistics Wargame effort, there is a firm in Fairfax, Virginia that government agencies and corporations turn to for help with the big problems.

ICF International Inc. (NASDAQ: ICFI) provides consulting and technology services to government and commercial clients in matters pertaining to energy, the environment, transportation, social programs, defense and homeland security. Offerings include economic and policy analyses, regulatory studies, market assessments, Web application development, geospatial information systems, data warehousing and e-government services. The firm serves clients worldwide, but it gets more than 70% of its revenue from U.S. government agencies.

The company surprised Wall Street last week, when it reported Q4 EPS of 65 cents and revenues of $113.9 million. Analysts had been expecting 30 cents and $99.97 million. Management also guided Q1 revenues to $125-$135 million ($96.94M consensus) and FY07 revenues to $480-$520 million ($398.99M consensus). The firm cited a high backlog level in support of the favorable outlook. Jefferies subsequently reiterated its "buy" rating on the stock and boosted its price target to $23.