TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says markets are up big worldwide, and hedge funds will be scrambling to keep up.

Let's say you're a hedge fund manager. You check your screens in the morning. You look around the world. And you know what you see? Green arrows everywhere. Markets up huge: Canada up 27%, Mexico up 16%, Brazil up 62%, Hong Kong up 26%, U.K. up 10%, China up 59% and just about every Asia market up gigantically.

Oh, and the Nasdaq up 11%.

Double digits everywhere.

And you realize, "Oh boy, am I behind."

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) to Buy from Hold following the company's lowered guidance as 2009 is fully contracted with a 26% price increase. The firm raised its target to $40 from $38.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it thinks the sell-off on the company's Q4 miss and cautious guidance is overdone.
  
• Wachovia upgraded Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) to Outperform from Market Perform because the firm thinks the outlook of the company's two main markets is improving. The firm believes the company's valuation is attractive. Thomas Weisel upgraded Boston Scientific to Overweight from Market Weight citing valuation and improving fundamentals.
• Goldman added MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Accuray (NASDAQ: ARAY) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  
• KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.

Analyst upgrades:

• KeyBanc upgraded Epicor (NASDAQ: EPIC) to Buy from Hold based on several near-term catalysts that include possible convertible debt repurchases, reasonable Q4 results, a proxy fight, and a boost from the Epicor 9 product cycle in 2H09.
  
• KeyBanc also upgraded AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) to Buy from Hold based on relative valuation and said the company could benefit from lower iron ore, scrap natural gas, and labor inputs.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Lennar (NYSE: LEN) to Overweight from Neutral based on relative valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
  
• Deere (NYSE: DE) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated Red Hat's November quarter results will be in-line due to solid Jboss sales. The firm also believes a potential new partnership with Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO) could provide share upside.
  
• Barclays upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they believe the company's competitive position will strengthen during the current downturn and that the company will gain share.
• JP Morgan upgraded YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ:YRCW) to Neutral from Underweight following the announcement that the company and the Teamsters will vote on contract modifications.
• Del Monte Foods (NYSE:DLM) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
  
• Thomson Reuters (NYSE:TRI) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Reliant Energy (NYSE:RRI) was lifted to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

• B. Riley downgraded shares of Hot Topic (NASDAQ:HOTT) to Neutral from Buy to reflect a lack of visibility into 2009 and valuation but raised their target price to $9.30 from $8.20.
• Citigroup cut KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC) to Hold from Buy to reflect their more offensive stance on the semi group as they view KLA-Tencor as a more defensive name. The firm lowered their target to $22 from $31.
• KeyBanc downgraded Arch Chemicals (NYSE:ARJ) to Underweight from Hold citing global economic headwinds, the stronger dollar, pension costs, and continued weakness in North American housing, among other reasons.
  
• Jo Ann Stores (NYSE:JAS) was cut to Hold from Buy at Soleil.
• Calyon downgraded Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB) to Outperform from Buy.
• Amdocs (NYSE:DOX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.

General Motors (NYSE: GM), Ford (NYSE: F) and Chrysler executive will return to Congress on Wednesday. After facing less than a receptive Senate Tuesday, they will appear before a House committee today to plead for a "bridge loan" to give them a massive infusion of cash they need to stay afloat in their race against the clock. GM's CEO Wagoner "warned that the failure of the U.S. auto industry could lead to a loss of 3 million jobs within the first year and ripple throughout communities around the country," saying it would be a "catastrophic collapse." GM shares traded 2.9% lower and Ford's 2.4% lower in premarket action (8:04 am). GM shares have been plunging over 15% by midday trading and Ford's by nearly 25% as Senate lowers bailout expectations, seeking to compromise.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is delaying jet deliveries by as much as 10 weeks as it attempts to recover from a strike by its machinists, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. BA shares were down 2.6%, with the market, by midday trading.

Toyota (NYSE: TM) -- The troubles in the auto industry don't affect just American carmakers.Toyota said Wednesday it will reduce production in the U.S. to cope with slowing sales there. It will stop production at all its plants in the U.S. and Canada for two extra days next month, and cut about half of 500 temporary workers at a plant in Georgetown, Kentucky by March. It will also reduce production of two models. TM shares were down 4% by midday trading.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merrill upgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford (NYSE: F) to Neutral from Underperform on expectations for fundamentals to improve in 2009.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Chubb (NYSE: CB) and Travelers Group (NYSE: TRV) to Buy from Hold as they expect the company to benefit from the AIG (NYSE: AIG) fallout. The firm raised Chubb's target to $57 from $56 and Travelers Group's target to $51.50 from $49.50.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded shares of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) to Outperform from Neutral as they believe margin expansion can drive higher profitability.
• JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus.
• Goldman raised Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• NetLogic (NASDAQ: NETL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper.

Analyst downgrades:

• JP Morgan downgraded Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) to Underweight from Neutral citing the company's early stage pipeline and generic competition.
  
• Merrill downgraded Unilever (NYSE: UL) to Neutral from Buy as they believe the incoming CEO is unlikely to bring a major restructuring or split up the company.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Shanda Interactive (NASDAQ: SNDA) to Outperform from Perform following the company's better-than-expected quarter to reflect its growth acceleration in the casual games platform and margin improvements.
  
• SAIC (NYSE: SAI) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform following the solid Q2 report and guidance.
  
• Susquehanna upgraded Zumiez (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) to Positive from Neutral citing positive August comps, revised merchandising, easier comps, and solid financial position.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Pharm Product Development (NASDAQ: PPDI) and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ: STLD) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded the Semiconductor Capital Equipment sector to In-Line from Attractive citing optimistic expectations for Q4 orders following the recent bounce in stocks. The firm downgraded Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) to Underweight from Overweight and KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) KLAC to Equal Weight from Overweight.

Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded O'Reilly (NASDAQ: ORLY) to Overweight from Neutral, citing increased demand and CSK acquisition synergies.
  
• Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform by RBC Capital, based on valuation and the firm's expectation that gold will rally.
  
• HSBC upgraded KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Overweight from Neutral with a $44 target.

Analyst downgrades:

• Bernstein dropped DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) to Underperform from Market Perform, citing continued weak operations, declining cash flow, and satellite sector headwinds, among other reasons.
  
• Macy's (NYSE: M) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy by Goldman Sachs based on valuation.
  
• Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) was also dropped to Neutral from Buy by Goldman based on valuation.
  
• UBS downgraded Dr Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) to Neutral from Buy based on valuation.

Analyst initiations:

• Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) was started with a Buy rating by Kaufman Bros., which believes the core on-demand CRM application market is nowhere close to full penetration.
  
• Caris initiated Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) with a Below Average rating, citing the company's Zyprexa and Cymbalta patent expirations.
  
• Leerink Swann assumed coverage of Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) with an Outperform, as the firm predicts that the company's denosumab will allow the company to substantially increase its earnings starting in 2010.

HSBC upgrades KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Overweight from Neutral, according to Briefing.com. The news services also reports that Caris initiates Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) with a Below Average rating.

Comverge (NASDAQ: COMV) was cut to Neutral at Broadpoint Capital, according to 247wallst.com. DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) was cut to Market Perform at Bernstein.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT), a technology company that provides solutions to industries involved with such things as semiconductors, flat panel displays and solar photovoltaic cells, and whose colleagues include KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and LAM Research (NASDAQ: LRCX), reported earnings for the third quarter on Tuesday.

They weren't great. The top line decreased by 28%, coming in at $1.8 billion. Adjusted earnings per diluted share dropped well over 50% to 17 cents. Although these numbers are horrible, it should be noted that the company at least beat estimates of 14 cents per share.

Well, not to be a downer or anything, but Applied Materials is not the tech stock I want to be in right now. It is suffering through a dismal economic environment, and the growth rates just don't look good. Not only do you have these year-over-year declines, but you've also got sequential-quarter statistics showing a negative trend. Plus, new orders are down significantly, and the gross margin took a dive.

Is there any saving grace to the report? Yes. Cash flow from operations was essentially flat over the nine-month timeframe at almost $1.6 billion. Hey, flat is better than a decline, correct?

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Schiff Nutrition, Siemens and Priceline.com were today's noteworthy initiations:

• B. Riley assumed Schiff Nutrition (NYSE:WNI) with a Buy rating and $7.75 target. The firm believes downside is limited given the company's balance sheet and cash flows and sees opportunity for market share gains.
  
• Morgan Stanley initiated Siemens (NYSE:SI) with an Overweight rating and is positive on the company's revenue diversification and planned headcount reductions.
  
• Stanford believes Priceline.com (NASDAQ:PCLN) is positioned to benefit as consumers shift to the Internet and the company's bargain prices to make travel plans. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $140 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bank of America initiated Novellus (NASDAQ:NVLS) with a Sell rating, Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) and KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC) with Buy ratings and Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) with a Neutral rating.
  
• ThinkPanmure assumed Smart Balance (NASDAQ:SMBL) with a Buy rating and $10 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Apple, AstraZeneca and KLA-Tencor were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Overweight from Market Weight, citing a re-set in FY08 expectations and expected growth from Mac market share gains, accelerating iPhone revenue growth and increased iPhone ASPs.
  
• WestLB upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Add from Hold as they believe the company's growth in core franchises are being overlooked.
  
• Citigroup upgraded KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Buy from Hold , as they believe several near-term catalysts are likely to develop against an increasingly favorable cyclical backdrop. They think KLAC's near-term business is better than most think and maintain a $56 target on the stock.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman upgraded Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• UBS (NYSE: UBS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill and added to the Europe 1 List.
  
• Jefferies raised comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR) to Buy from Hold.

Merrill Lynch upgraded UBS (NYSE: UBS) to "buy" from "neutral" according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Thomas Weisel upgraded Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) from "market weight" to "overweight."

KLA Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) raised to "buy" from "hold" at Citigroup according to 24/7 Wall St. The financial site also reports that TJX (NYSE: TJX) cut to "hold" from "buy" at Citigroup

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: UBS AG, KLA-Tencor and Level 3 Comm were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette downgraded shares of UBS (NYSE: UBS) to Underperform from Market Perform as they expect as they expect further write-downs to erase profits in 2008.
• Oppenheimer downgraded shares of KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Underperform from Perform after checks indicated Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has chosen Applied Materials' (NASDAQ: AMAT) reticle inspection tool for its entire 32nm node after a long period of evaluation against KLA-Tencor. Oppenheimer believes this represents a $300M shift from KLA-Tencor's dominant market share in reticle inspection.
  
• Jefferies cut Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) to Hold from Buy as they see limited opportunity for near-term share appreciation given the company's integration challenges and the added uncertainty from recent management changes.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Kroger (NYSE: KR) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Baird cut Network Appliance (NASDAQ: NTAP) to Neutral from Outperform.

Up until the stock market bubble burst, many viewed the semiconductor sector as a leading indicator for other technology shares. Lately, however, the relationship has gone signficantly awry.

Since the year began, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index -- which has an equivalent exchange-traded fund, the Semiconductor HOLDRs Trust ETF (AMEX: SMH) -- has lost 3.4%, trailing far behind the 25.5% rise in the Nasdaq 100 index -- which has an equivalent exchange-traded fund, the Powershares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQQ) -- as well as the 8.6% gain in the S&P 500 index.

Although many technology stocks have been boosted by the prospect of strong overseas growth and momentum-driven buying, semiconductor shares have been under a great deal of pressure, hurt by disappointing earnings and outlooks from companies like KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) and SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), along with persistent talk of a chip glut.