Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Starbucks (SBUX) to buy from hold, citing EPS and revenue momentum heading into 2010. The firm raised its target to $25 from $22.
• Soleil upgraded Zions Bancorp (ZION) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the recent pullback provides an attractive entry point. The firm has a $17.50 price target on shares.
• RBC Capital expects Rigel Pharmaceuticals (RIGL) to sign a partnership for R788 in the next four months to run its global Phase III program. Shares were upgraded to outperform from sector perform and its target was raised to $11 from $9.
• Deere (DE) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Shire (SHPGY) was raised to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Ann Taylor (ANN) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.
• J.M. Smucker (SJM) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

It was not a good sign. Last night, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals priced its IPO at $17 a share, which was below the $19-$21 range. And, in light of this weakness, the stock is down 9 cents to $16.91 so far in today's trading.

Yet, Cumberland is a fairly solid company. Focused on specialty pharmaceuticals, it has several branded prescription products. The main target areas include: hospital acute care and gastroenterology.

A key differentiator is Cumberland's efficient direct sales model. In all, there are only 66 sales reps. Then again, because of Cumberland's laser focus, it is easier to target the market.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) to Outperform from Perform on expectations the company is gaining momentum following recent contract wins. The firm set a $27 price target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Market Perform from Underperform after raising the Lodging sector to Overweight from Neutral. The firm cites improving demand data, potential foreign exchange benefits, and continued asset sales for the upgrade and raised its target price on Starwood to $19 from $14.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Buy from Neutral. The firm expects Goldman to beat Q2 estimates due favorable trading and underwriting conditions. The firm raised estimates and increased its price target to $175 from $144.
• Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Pali Capital.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities.

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

• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) reported strong Q1 results easily beat expectations.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, helped by home refinancing.
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) reported its first quarterly loss since 1992 and cut its revenue outlook.
• Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) posted Q1 earnings that were in line with expectations, but shares fell.
• eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings despite a decline in sales.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) to Hold from Underperform on valuation as they believe the company's pricing pressure and sluggish sales trends are now priced in. The firm raised its target to $23.50 from $21.
  
• Merrill upgraded Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to Buy from Underperform citing attractive dividend yield and stabilizing businesses.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) to Neutral from Sell and raised APOL's target to $60 from $48 on valuation as they see a balanced risk/reward at current levels.
• Nucor (NYSE: NUE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) and Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) was upgraded to Add from Hold at WestLB.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to overweight from Neutral to reflect Vyvanse share gains and valuation.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) to Market Perform from Underperform because they believe that the recent collapse of the large cap bank sector, Jefferies' cash equity business, and the company's partial privatization as a result of its Leucadia investment will shield shares.
  
• Canaccord upgraded Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Hold from Sell.
• ADC Telecomm (NASDAQ: ADCT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Kaufman Bros. on valuation following the recent weakness.
• STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) and Popular (NASDAQ: BPOP) were raised to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley.
  

• Merrill downgraded Disney (NYSE: DIS) to Underperform from Neutral and cut its target to $27 from $34 citing the impact from the current economic climate on earnings.
  
• Barclays downgraded IBM (NYSE: IBM) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing the impact from the weakening economy and the company's large exposure to the financial services industry. IBM's target was cut to $108 from $130.
  
• Jefferies downgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) to Underperform from Buy on increased risks of deteriorating payment terms and price pressure on renewals. The company's target was lowered to $36 from $75.
• Goldman downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and added shares to the Conviction Sell List.

Jefferies Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF), a middle market investment bank, showed that it can deal with the treacherous credit crunch. While its latest quarterly report showed a 16% drop in revenues to $392 million, it wasn't as bad as the Street expected (the consensus estimate was $275 million). Taking out some charges, earnings came to $0.04 per share (the Street estimate was a loss of $0.16).

The major weakness came from the investment banking. However, there was strength on the trading side, such as with junk bonds.

Basically, Jefferies has taken a number of steps to maintain liquidity and protect its capital base. In fact, in April the company got a $434 million capital infusion from Leucadia National.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Friedman Billings initiated Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) with a Market Perform citing the difficult underwriting environment and challenging credit market.
  
• JMP Securities initiated Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) with an Outperform rating and $35 target. The firm expects the company's practice management and electronic medical record solutions to benefit from growth opportunities within the ambulatory market.
  
• Techwell (NASDAQ: TWLL) was assumed with an Overweight rating and $14 target at Thomas Weisel, as they expect TWLL to have continued stable revenue growth given its market leadership and increased global security demand.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bernstein initiated NetSuite (NYSE: N) with a Market Perform rating and $23 target.
  
• Keefe Bruyette started Comerica (NYSE: CMA) with a Market Perform rating and $37 target.
  
• BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) and Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) were assumed at ING with Buy ratings.

Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) missed estimates due to restructuring after the spin-off of Zep Inc.
• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) easily beat earnings estimates, due to the impeding sale of some businesses.
• American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) warned that it would take a charge against fourth quarter earnings.
• Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) posted a solid quarter on student enrollment and retention.
• AZZ Inc. (NYSE: AZZ) beat earnings expectations and offered revised guidance.
• Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE: COF) lowered its fourth quarter and full year earnings forecast.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) third quarter profit rose on growth in the domestic wine business.
• EI DuPont de Nemours & Co. (NYSE: DD) lifted its outlook on strength in agriculture and nutrition business.
• Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) earnings were in line with estimates, despite lower same-store sales.
• Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP) posted a strong quarter, helped by the sale of Metro Inc.

Back in mid-October, things were tracking nicely for investment bank Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF). Somehow, the firm was able to weather the turbulence, which ensnared elite firms like Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER).

However, things didn't hold up. In November and December, Jefferies suffered some big setbacks. While Jefferies expects net earnings of $140 million for 2007, the fourth quarter will have a net loss of $24 million, or $0.17 per share.

What happened? Well, Jefferies had issues with two principal trading efforts. There were also problems with the junk bond department. Oh, and there were some postponements of investment banking deals.

Simply put, the markets are experiencing extreme volatility (which was certainly evident last week). No doubt, this makes it pretty tough for firms like Jefferies.

The good news is that Jefferies has a strong capital base and has no need for outside capital infusions. Besides, the firm has taken great efforts to diversify its business (going beyond just a pure broker).

But with investors extremely jittery right now, such things are not being considered – at least in the short-run.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

• XM SATELLITE RADIO HOLDINGS INC (NASDAQ: XMSR)

Word is that there's more than one bid out for the satellite radio company. We know about the merger agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc's (NASDAQ: SIRI), so who's the other party? Or, is there another party? Some are convinced it's just talk. No names are even floating around. But for XM to walk away from Sirius would cost them a $175M break-up fee. They'd have to really be serious about another offer to do that.


• BUILDING MATERIALS HOLDING CORPORATION (NYSE: BLG)

In May, Robert L .Chapman of Chapman Capital, the "activist investor", said Building Materials Holding Corp. should consider selling all or parts of itself. Then he upped his stake to 8.1% in the residential construction services provider. Now comes word that the company may have hired, or be in the process of hiring, a strategic advisor.

Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR) -- volatility and call volume Elevated on unconfirmed Speculation. JNPR, a provider of Internet infrastructure solutions to Internet service providers and other telecommunication services providers, is recently up $0.58 to $25.75 on renewed and unconfirmed takeover chatter. JNPR is scheduled to report EPS in mid July. JNPR call option volume of 6,716 contracts compares to put volume of 2,312 contracts. JNPR July option implied volatility is at 41 & August is at 40, above its 26-week average of 36 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Jeffries Group Inc. (NYSE: JEF) -- volatility and volume Elevated on renewed and unconfirmed speculation. JEF is recently up $0.73 to $27.71. JEF has been mentioned frequently as a takeover target over the last three months. JEF July option implied volatility of 48 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Option volume leaders today are: Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO).

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Oppenheimer believes Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) is the largest beneficiary of the secular growth trends in Internet advertising and transitioned coverage with a Buy rating and $625 target.

• Oppenheimer also believes the current price of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is an attractive entry point given the company's number one position in display advertising and the recent successful launch of Panama. The firm transitioned coverage of Yahoo! with a Buy rating and $34 target.

• RBC Capital sees continued upside for Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) based on achieving its 10M goal for iPhone, upside from Mac momentum and maintaining iPod/iTunes dominance helped by new products, and started shares with an Outperform rating and $160 target.

• Merriman believes Cash Systems (NASDAQ: CKNN) is positioned to gain meaningful share in the casino cash access industry through the near-term introduction of powercash and started shares with a Buy rating.

• Friedman Billings believes Citrix's (NASDAQ: CTXS) latest Presentation Server product release has some near-term risk given raised prices and initiated shares with a Market Perform rating and $35 target...

• ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was initiated at Oppenheimer with a Buy rating.

• Lehman started Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) with an Equal Weight rating and $82 target.

• JP Morgan initiated Smith Micro Software (NASDAQ: SMSI) with an Overweight rating.

• First Albany initiated coverage of dELiA's (NASDAQ: DLIA) with a Neutral rating.

• Banc of America initiated coverage of Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) with a Buy rating and $34 target.