MOST NOTEWORTHY: U.S. semiconductors, Teekay Offshore and Oplink Communications were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded the U.S. Semiconductor Sector, including Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Attractive from Neutral. The firm believes semi fundamentals are poised to improve in 2H08 and that valuations are reasonable.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Teekay Offshore (NYSE: TOO) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and increased distribution growth outlook following the acquisition of an additional 25% ownership interest in Teekay Offshore Operating, L.P.
  
• Merriman upgraded shares of Oplink Communications (NASDAQ: OPLK) to Buy from Neutral as it believes the company is an attractive takeover target following the Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR) and Optium (NASDAQ: OPTM) merger, given its low-cost Chinese manufacturing capacity and attractive $140M cash balance.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• William Blair raised Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to Buy from Hold.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Interpublic Group, Lionbridge, PetroChina and Collagenex were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: MNTA) to Hold from Buy and lowered their target to $6 following the FDA's non-approvable letter for M-Enox.
• Banc of America downgraded shares of The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE: IPG) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the economic uncertainty and concerns regarding the company's relative revenue growth.
• Lionbridge Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: LIOX) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs following disappointing Q3 results and guidance.
• Credit Suisse downgraded PetroChina Company Limited (NYSE: PTR) to Underperform from Neutral based on lack of catalysts.
• Jefferies lowered its rating on Collagenex Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: CGPI) to Hold from Buy to reflect a lack of near-term catalysts given the company's thin pipeline.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan removed Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ: CTSH) from its Focus List and downgraded Performance Food Group Company (NASDAQ: PFGC) to Underweight from Overweight.
• Friedman Billings downgraded Charlotte Russe Holding Inc (NASDAQ: CHIC) to Market Perform from Outperform.
• Jefferies downgraded Forest Oil Corporation (NYSE: FST) to Hold from Buy.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column reported that from Sept. 19-21, former Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) CEO David Glass grossed more than $13.3M by selling 300K Wal-Mart shares on the open market, according to SEC.
• The UAW walked out on General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) yesterday because negotiations stalled when the United Auto Workers said they should get some sort of job guarantees from GM, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that BP's (NYSE: BP) Q3 revenue will be "dreadful" and the company will undergo a far-reaching shakeup, BP CEO Tony Hayward has reportedly told his staff.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Having completed a deal with aQuantive for $6B, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) wants to make one more deal this year. The question the New York Post asks is, will it be with Facebook or Yahoo Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO)?
• The Economic Times reported that Reliance Retail is in talks with the Gap Inc (NYSE: GPS) for a franchisee arrangement for Reliance Retail's apparel business.

WEBSITES:

• According to executives familiar with the review, the winner of Dell Inc's (NASDAQ: DELL) $760M ad account will either be the WPP Group (NASDAQ: WPPGY) or the Interpublic Group of Companies Inc (NYSE: IPG), with the final round of pitches to be made in three weeks, according to AdAge.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Orbitz Worldwide (OWW), Agilent (A), National Instruments (NATI) and Ametek (AME) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) was initiated by a host of firms today:
  
• Thomas Weisel and Morgan Stanley started Orbitz with an Overweight rating.
  
• Pacific Crest and Piper Jaffray started shares with Overweight ratings, and $18 and $16 targets, respectively.
  
• Stifel initiated Orbitz with a Buy rating and $16 target, while JP Morgan started shares with a Neutral rating.

• Citigroup finds the valuation of Agilent (NYSE: A) attractive at current levels and started shares with a Buy rating, They expect a recovery in the company's Electronic Measurement business to drive shares to $43.

• Citigroup initiated National Instruments (NASDAQ: NATI) with a Hold rating and $40 target, saying that shares could suffer if PMI decelerates in 3Q07 or negatively inflects in 1Q08.

• Ametek (NYSE: AME) is is CIBC's top pick in the mid-cap Industrial Diversified area, due to the company's attractive asset portfolio and growth opportunities. CIBC initiated Ametek with a Sector Outperformer rating and $45 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Jefferies initiated WNS Holdings (NYSE: WNS) with a Hold rating.

• Cuisine Solutions (AMEX: FZN) was initiated with a Buy rating at BB&T.

• Gabelli initiated Interpublic Group (AMEX: IPG) with a Buy rating and $19 target.

• Ferris Baker Watts initiated DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) with a Buy rating and $29.50 target.

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

According to Reuters and Adage.com, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has assigned its $580 million account to The Martin Agency and Mediavest. The move comes a few weeks after Wal-Mart fired senior marketing executive Julie Roehm.

The move is a victory for Martin parent Interpublic Group. One of its agencies, FCBDraft, had lost the business when the account was thrown into review after Ms. Roehm's departure. Odd as it may seem, Wal-Mart never gave a full accounting of the marketing leader's departure or the need for the review.

Interpublic has been hit by a number of defections at its operating ad agencies, and the stock has only recently come back from a sharp sell off this summer.

For Wal-Mart, the challenge will be directing the new marketing partners to get customers back into the world's largest retailer's US stores. The flagging sales in the company's home market have dropped the stock price 12% over the last two years while the Dow is up over 15%.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at 24/7 Wall St.