Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Capstone Turbine, Insulet and Teradata were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merriman believes Capstone Turbine (NASDAQ: CPST) is well-positioned for rapid growth as capacity constraints and dependence on subsidies drive the adoption of clean, dependable hydrocarbon-based technologies. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating.
  
• JMP Securities initiated Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD) with an Outperform rating and $29 target and expects increased adoption of the company's OmniPod disposable, tubeless insulin pump.
  
• Pacific Crest initiated Teradata (NYSE: TDC) with an Underperform rating. The firm is a seller of shares given the slowing economy and the company's exposure to larger IT deals.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) was initiated at UBS with an Outperform rating and $37 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cypress Bioscience, Banc of America, Insulet, Taleo and Vocus Inc were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Friedman Billings started shares of Cypress Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CYPB) with an Outperform rating and $22 target, and is positive on the company's lead product milnacipran, in Phase III studies for fibromyalgia. The firm expects a 1Q09 launch and believes the U.S. market could be as large as $7B.
  
• Goldman resumed coverage of Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC) with a Buy rating and $63 target as they believe the company has around $22.5B of unrealized gains in its strategic investment portfolio. Goldman also added BAC to their Americas Buy List.
  
• Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD) was initiated at William Blair with an Outperform rating. The firm believes the unique features of the OmniPod will allow PODD to capture a meaningful portion of the 300,000 current insulin pumpers in the United States.
  
• Soleil started shares of Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO) with a Buy rating and $35 target and believes the company's recent growth pace can continue.
  
• Shares of Vocus Inc (NASDAQ: VOCS) were also initiated at Soleil with a Buy rating and $39 target. The firm believes the company can gain share in the early stage market for public relations software given its on-demand model and low price entry point.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Cowen initiated shares of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp (NYSE: LGF) and Marvel Entertainment Inc (NYSE: MVL) with an Outperform rating and shares of Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc (NYSE: DWA) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Goldman resumed coverage of Nintendo Co Ltd (OTC: NTDOY) with a Buy rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CAI International (CAP), ATS Corp (ATCT), Logitech International (LOGI) and Wireless Ronin (RNIN) were today's more noteworthy initiations:

• Piper Jaffray started CAI International (NYSE: CAP) with an Outperform rating and $18 target, believing the company is well positioned to capitalize on global trade growth. Jefferies started CAI Int'l with a Buy rating and $17 target.

• CRT Capital believes ATS Corp's (NASDAQ: ATCT) risks are offset by positive long-term fundamentals of the federal IT services sector and the company's experienced management team and started shares with a Buy rating and $5 target.

• Pacific Crest started Logitech International (NASDAQ: LOGI) with a Sector Perform rating based on valuation.

• ThinkEquity believes that Wireless Ronin Technologies (NASDAQ: RNIN) is exposed to one of the biggest open-ended growth opportunities in digital media today with its RoninCast application and started shares with a Buy rating...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Leerink Swann started Insulet Corp (NASDAQ: PODD) with an Outperform rating.

• Goldman started Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS) with a Neutral.

• Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan started Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR) with an Overweight rating, while Merrill Lynch started Continental Resources with a Buy rating.

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