The latest Beige Book from the Fed showed that growth is definitely decelerating. The good news is that even the pygmies have figured that out by now. Stock traders and bond traders have been fighting over whether the slower growth means a double-dip recession or just anemic growth. There were only a few reports to watch, but many stocks and sectors were on the move.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,387.54 +46.85 (0.45%)
S&P 500 1,098.90 +7.06 (0.65%)
Nasdaq 2,228.87 +19.98 (0.90%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

On Thursday, solar firm JA Solar Holdings (JASO) upped its outlook for the year. The company shares rallied 9% Thursday as JASO topped the consensus estimate with its fourth-quarter earnings report by three cents. In addition, JASO raised its outlook for the fiscal year.

The company noted that it will produce solar panels with roughly 1.1GW of capacity during 2010 in an attempt to respond to growing global demand. For this reason, the company believes that an expected decline in average selling prices will be offset by increased sales. As a result of this news, Raymond James upped JASO to outperform from market perform with a target price of $6.50.

Today was a snow-recovery day where most were at work, but many businesses in the Atlantic Seaboard are still partially staffed. The weekly jobless claims managed to come down significantly, and it appears as though the appetite for risk is coming back as the Greece and other "PIIGS" issues may be closer to resolving, or are not as dire as many fear.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,144.19 +105.81 (1.05%)
S&P 500 1,078.47 +10.34 (0.97%)
Nasdaq 2,177.41 +29.54 (1.38%)

Top Day Trader Alerts
Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades

This post was written by Minyanville contributor Sean Udall.

JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) blew its quarter and lowered guidance, and now the group is under pressure.

I don't think I've ever written a positive word on JASO as they are in the middle tier, essentially a jobber for the solar space. The company make various feedstock products to the final product makers, while being dependent on the core technology and "root" feedstock polysilicon from the likes of LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) and MEMC Electronics (NYSE: WFR). So it has a timing issue and margin compression issue. The company is facing lower final pricing of their products while having locked in longer term "commodity" pricing at higher prices. So its raw costs are not falling as fast as its own pricing.

The poly guys mentioned above and companies like Sun Power (NASDAQ: SPWRA), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) don't face these pressures as intensely, though that may not matter much today. STP reports on the 20th this month and I think it will give a clearer picture of the space. Meanwhile SPWRA keeps closing significant deals and FSLR reported the best and has little if any of the funding concerns. So for the leaders, it's a question of how low do they go before the long term positives catch up. Meanwhile, a few of the smaller shops like JASO are in a race against the credit crunch because they need to be able to renegotiate some of their longer-term input costs.

LDK and WFR are still companies that I feel are uniquely positioned, as both have a partial oligopoly status as polysilicon suppliers. In the $15's and lower, it's getting to the point where I may again trade around my core position and look for that beta pop on any significant Naz bounce. Also, this stock could move 50% higher and still be exceedingly cheap on almost any value criteria.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Monsanto, AstraZeneca and Millenium Pharmaceutical were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Banc of America upgraded shares of Monsanto (NYSE: MON) to Buy from Neutral as they have grown more comfortable with two previous concerns: competition and valuation. They see an attractive entry point ahead of strong expected results for Q2.
  
• UBS upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Neutral from Sell on valuation, as they believe many of the risks are priced into shares at current levels.
  
• Piper upgraded Millenium Pharma (NASDAQ: MLNM) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to their Alpha List ahead of additional front-line Velcade presentations at ASCO and expected front-line Velcade approval by June 20.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Jefferies raised GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) to Buy from Hold.
• JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE: WBD) to Outperform from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The medical supplies and devices sector, East West Bancorp, Tempur Pedic and AbitibiBowater were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Credit Suisse initiated the medical supplies and devices sector with a Market Weight rating and started shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) and Becton, Dickinson and Co (NYSE: BDX) with Outperform ratings and Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) with Neutral ratings.
  
• East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $36 target at B. Riley; the firm's target implies a 23.1% potential total return over the next twelve months including the stock's 1.35% dividend yield.
  
• Tempur Pedic (NYSE: TPX) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair, as they find the current valuation attractive for long-term investor given the company's strong position in the specialty sleep products.
  
• Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) with a Hold rating and $29 target, citing the strength of the Canadian dollar and difficult newsprint fundamentals.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America initiated shares of JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) with Buy ratings and targets of $73 and $76, and initiated Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ) and Solarfun Power (NASDAQ: SOLF) with Neutral ratings and targets of $34 and $14.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: First Solar, JA Solar, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia and Ericsson were today's noteworthy initiations:

• First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) and JA Solar Holdings (NASDAQ: JASO) were initiated with Buy ratings and targets of $160 and $61 at Collins Stewart. Collins Stewart sees room for margin expansion and is positive on First Solar after channel checks; the firm expects JA Solar to expand capacity given its long-term supply agreements with four wafer suppliers.
  
• Merrill Lynch started shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with a Sell rating, citing a lack of revenue growth prospects.
  
• The firm also started shares of Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) with a Buy rating, as they believe the company's share gains and margin expansion will continue.
  
• Merrill also resumed coverage of Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) with a Neutral rating, expecting high single digit earnings and share growth, but not enough for a Buy rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman initiated the trucking and railroad sectors with Neutral ratings.
  
• Wachovia initiated Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS), BioMarin and Molecular Insight (NASDAQ: MIPI) with Outperform ratings and Bioenvision (NASDAQ: BIVN), Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN), Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA) and Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ: NBIX) with Market Perform ratings.

Wall Street's equity market kicks into fifth gear this week with 8 IPOs and 6 Secondaries on the docket.

Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Possible

• SP Acquisition (DSP), a 36M-share IPO for this business financing company. UBS Investment and Ladenburg Thalmann are the lead managers. Filing pricing: $10.00.

Midweek

• Mediatech Investment (MDTC), a 10M-share IPO for this business financing company. UBS Investment and JMP Securities are the lead managers. Filing range: $14.00-$16.00.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ballard Power Systems Inc (BLDP), GSI Technology, Inc (GSIT), eTelecare Global Solutions (ETEL) and JA Solar Holdings Co, Ltd (JASO) were the most noteworthy initiations in today's modest-sized list:

• Lazard started Ballard Power (NASDAQ: BLDP) with a Hold rating based on valuation.

• GSI Technology (NASDAQ: GIST) is gaining shares at key customers while ramp-up of its next-generation product should act as a strong catalyst to revenue starting in 2H07; Baird started shares with an Outperform rating.

• Baird also initiated eTelecare Global (NASDAQ: ETEL) with an Outperform rating citing consistent above-industry growth rates.

• American Technology initiated JA Solar Holdings Co (NASDAQ: JASO) with a Buy rating, pointing to the company's long-term customer agreements and solid silicon position...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• MetroPCS Communications, Inc (NYSE: PCS) was started with an Overweight rating at Lehman.

• Cowen initiated shares of NetGear, Inc (NASDAQ: NTGR) with a Neutral rating.

• Lazard initiated Itron, Inc (NASDAQ: ITRI) with a Buy rating.

• Pacific Crest started shares of AsiaInfo Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: ASIA) with a Sector Perform rating.

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

As the hubris of non-democratic nations like Venezuela and Iran builds, feeling more manly as they receive windfall profits from higher oil prices, U.S. brain power once again looks like it will triumph.

While it will take decades to replace our dependence on foreign oil, the powerful results reported by First Solar Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) and Sunpower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR) plus others point to the first stages of finding serious solutions for alternative fossil fuel sources.

First Solar reported first quarter revenue of $66.9 million and net income of $5 million, smashing Street estimates. The stock was up over $5 in yesterday's trading.

Sunpower, which we have been blogging about for a while, was up slightly in yesterday's trading along with Trina Solar Ltd ADS (NYSE: TSL) and JA Solar Holdings Co Ltd ADS (NASDAQ: JASO). After decades of the alternative power stocks floundering, these stocks have products, revenue and earnings.

Brain power will always win out over digging stuff out of the ground.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc (SHO), Under Armour, Inc (UA), Crocs, Inc (CROX) and Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc (SUSQ) were today's more noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital initiated Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE: SHO) with an Outperform rating.

• ThinkEquity started Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA)and Crocs Inc (NASDAQ: CROX) with Accumulate ratings. The firm believes both companies can continue to grow market share, expand its product line and distribution and earn high ROIC.

• Stifel started Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: SUSQ) with a Sell rating...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Barrington started Continuecare Corp (NYSE: CNU) with an Outperform rating.

• Raymond James initiated JA Solar Holdings Co, Ltd (NASDAQ: JASO) with an Outperform rating.

• Thomas Wiesel started Inovio Biomedical Corp (NYSE: INO) with an Overweight rating and $8.

• Both BMO Capital and William Blair started FCStone Group, Inc (NASDAQ: FCSX) with a Market Perform rating; Banc of America started FCStone with a Neutral rating.

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

Wall Street's equity market maintains full-power boosters next week, with no less than 14 IPOs on the docket.

LM = The firm(s) lead managing the deal.
PD = The day of the week the deal is expected to price.

Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Accuray (ARAY), a 13.3M-share IPO for this robotic radio-surgery device manufacturer. ARAY has $14.00-$16.00 filing range. LM: JP Morgan Chase & UBS Bank. PD: Thursday.

Cellcom Israel (CEL), an 18.975M-share IPO for this Israel-based cell phone service provider. CEL has a $16.00-$18.00 filing range. LM: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, & Deutsche Bank. PD: Tuesday.

Fortress Investment Group (FIG), 34.3M-share IPO for this hedge fund. FIG has a $16.50-$18.50 filing range. LM: Goldman Sachs. PD: Friday.

JA Solar (JASO), a 15M-share IPO for this China-based solar cells manufacturer. JASO has a $12.50-$14.50 filing range. LM: CIBC World Markets & Piper Jaffrey. PD: Wednesday.

Mellanox Technologies (MLNX), a 6M-share IPO for this semiconductor manufacturer. MLNX has a $12.00-$14.00 filing range. LM: Credit Suisse & JP Morgan Chase. PD: Thursday.