"As my high school football coach always quipped, 'Offense may win fans, but defense wins games,'" says leading growth stock expert Louis Basenese.

Here, the Oxford Club associate investment director takes a look at his three favorite defense stocks, noting, "When it comes to investing in the current environment, I'm convinced that you can't go wrong with this trio of companies."

"In my view, this sector willl never fall out of favor. The recent development with Russia serves to underscore another point I've been making for years. We always have to be prepared.

"Or, put another way, there will never be a good time for defense cuts, lest we want to leave our country vulnerable.Add it all up, and we can expect defense companies to enjoy steady demand. Even in the face of a recession.

"As the CEO of Rockwell notes, there has been absolutely no fallout in the defense industry as a result of the worldwide credit meltdown or other economic woes. So here's a quick run-down on the three defense companies we prefer for investors.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AstraZeneca plc (AZN), Aeroflex Inc (ARXX), Symantec Corp (SYMC), Chevron Corp (CVX) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) were just some of today's noteworthy downgrades:

• HSBC downgraded shares of AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN) to Neutral from Overweight as the firm believes investors will have to wait until 2009 for the company to start benefiting from its strategy.

• Aeroflexx Inc (NASDAQ: ARXX) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies with a $14 target based on valuation.

• Thomas Weisel downgraded shares of Symantec Corp (NASDAQ: SYMC) to Market Weight from Overweight citing a lack of near-term catalysts and increased risk from transitions in its business model.

• Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) was removed from AG Edwards' Focus Portfolio. The firm believes Chevron offers less upside potential than other companies in the sector.

• Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was downgraded to Hold from Buy on valuation and its balanced risk/reward profile...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Piper Jaffray cut Juniper Networks, Inc (NASDAQ: JNPR) to Market Perform from Outperform with a $20 target.

• Friedman Billings downgraded L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc (NYSE: LLL) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• MedImmune, Inc (NASDAQ: MEDI) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.

• Hecla Mining Co (NYSE: HL) was cut to Sector Underperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC based on valuation.

• Merrill Lynch cut Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN) to Sell from Neutral.

• Stanford downgraded shares of Sirius Satellite Radio Inc (NASDAQ: SIRI) to Hold from Buy with a $3 target.

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

Monday April 23

• CA World 2007 to be held in Las Vegas
• L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LLL) to report Q1 earnings, conference call at 10 a.m.

Tuesday April 24

• Defense companies Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) to report Q1 earnings.
• Low-cost airline Jetblue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) to report Q1 earnings. Will Jetblue follow Southwest Airlines Co.'s (NYSE: LUV) disappointing report (which caused two analyst downgrades)? Or is the recent increased investment buy George Soros a sign that Jetblue is doing better?
• Alternative Energy Conference, hosted by Friedland Investment Events, to be held in NY.

Wednesday April 25

• The Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:30 a.m. Will Boeing discuss Airbus's decision to halve the price of its A350 planes in order to become more competitive with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner?
• Market darling Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will also report Q2 earnings, conference call at 5 p.m.

Thursday April 26

• XM Satellite Radio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: XMSR) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10 a.m. Investors will look for any comments relating to the state of the potential merger with Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI).

Friday April 27

• YRC Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: YRCW) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 9:30 a.m.

Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA): Rival Airbus booked its first firm order for the A350 XWB. Finnair converted an order for nine of the old A350s to the new version and added two more. The first planes are booked for delivery beginning in 2014.

Continental Airlines ordered five 787-9 Dreamliners from Boeing this week, bringing its total order from the 787 line to 25 planes. Delivery of their first 787-9s is scheduled for 2009.

L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE:LLL): L-3 Communications received a $43 million, five-year contract from the U.S. Army to develop software technology for networked warfare.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC): A $600 million combined project of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman Corp. to build a dozen fast-response cutters was canceled last week. The project, on hold for the last year, was beset with cost overruns and had come under sharp criticism from Sen. John Kerry. The Coast Guard plans to re-bid the project.

As unpleasant as it may be to consider the business of war, the War on Terrorism has had a significant impact on our economy. The Defense Department today released figures showing which companies are garnering the largest portions of the military spending to support both the war and ongoing operations.

The Pentagon's Top 10 Prime Contact award winners for 2006 are:

1. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), $26.6 billion, up from $19.4b in 2005.
2. Boeing (NYSE:BA) $20.3b, up from $18.3b in '05.
3. Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) $16.6b, up from $13.5b.
4. General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) $10.5b, down from $10.6b
5. Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) $10.1b, up from $9.1b
6. Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) $6.1b, up from $5.8b
7. L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE:LLL) $5.2b, up from $4.7b
8. BAE Systems (BAESY) $4.7b, down from $5.6b
9. United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) $4.5b, down from $5.0b
10. Science Applications Int'l (NYSE:SAI) $3.2b, up from $2.8b

The full report can be found here.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Harrah's (HET), Motorola (MOT) and L-3 Communication (LLL) were notable downgrades today:

• Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (NYSE:HET) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup based on valuation, as the firm doesn't expect any further competing bids to surface.
• Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT) was downgraded at Neutral from Outperform at Cowen, explaining to their clients that its checks indicated the American market has softened significantly since its November update; GSM channels will reportedly look to have additional inventory a week away from Christmas, but sees few immediate catalysts.
• L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LLL) was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform at Cowen following the Linguist contract loss, a tough upcoming ETASS recompete and a mixed new-business outlook.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Ahead of their first quarter report, Micron Technology Inc. (NYSE:MU) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at WR Hambrecht, as the firm has concerns regarding increased DRAM capacity and increased competition in the weakening Image Sector market.
• CIBC downgraded Maxim Integrated Products Inc. (NASDAQ:MXIM) to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer as gross margins have not stabilized and are likely to be pressured further as the company focuses on revenue growth.
• AG Edwards downgraded Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) to Hold from Buy based on valuation.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Yahoo! (YHOO) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) top today's extensive list of upgrades.

• Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral on valuation as the company heads into the seasonally-strong period.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) to Buy from Neutral citing valuation, margin expansion and consistent execution.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSUN) business is bottoming, according to J.P. Morgan. They believe a new CEO could help a recovery, prompting the firm to upgrade the retailer to Neutral from Underweight.
• Cephalon, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEPH) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Swann. The upgrade was based on increasing confidence in their pain franchise, positive feedback from MEDACorp consultants and increased confidence in earnings power.
• Finally, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) was added to Goldman Sachs' Americas Buy List. Goldman cited the above average organic revenue growth, new management strategy and defense contract opportunities.

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