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.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA) to outperform from perform as it finds the stock attractive ahead of FDA's decision on M-enoxaparin. The firm has a $15 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Symmetry Medical (SMA) to market perform from underperform. The firm cited several factors for the upgrade, including valuation and its belief that Symmetry's customers have begun to deplete their inventories.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Myriad Pharmaceuticals (MYRX) to neutral from underweight after the company announced Phase 2a date for Azixa. The firm has a $5 price target on shares.
• AvalonBay (AVB) and Mid-America Apartment (MAA) were upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• GSI Commerce (GSIC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• FICO (FICO) was upgraded to equal weight from Underweight at Stephens.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Exxon (XOM) to overweight from equal weight based on a higher production growth outlook. The firm, which raised its target to $92 from $90, expects Exxon to have organic growth of more than 3% in 2010 and an average growth rate of 2.6% between 2009 and 2013.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Palm (PALM) to buy from hold citing the recent pullback in shares and indications that Verizon (VZ) will carry webOS phones as early as 1H10. The firm has a $16 target on the stock.
• Piper Jaffray raised Medicis (MRX) to neutral from underweight and raised its target to $20 from $16. Following a management meeting, Piper said they have increased confidence in Soldyn risk and LipoSonix's safety profile.
• Illinois Tool Works (ITW) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Merriman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Sprint Nextel (S) to outperform from neutral and raised its target to $6 from $4. The firm believes Sprint Nextel's core business is turning and that valuation is attractive. Credit Suisse also added Sprint Nextel to its Focus List.
• Goldman expects Nordstrom (JWN) to benefit from a recovery in the high-end consumer. The firm upgraded shares to buy from neutral and raised its target to $41 from $39.
• Deutsche Bank remains cautious on the Dry Bulk sector long-term but expects increased Q4 day rates. The firm upgraded Genco (GNK) to buy from hold and raised its target to $31 from $24; the firm also upgraded Eagle Bulk (EGLE) to hold from sell.
• Steelcase (SCS) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• United Rentals (URI) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• GLG Partners (GLG) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Ladish (LDSH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.

Yesterday, automotive parts supplier Lear (NYSE: LEA) announced that it is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company has also lined up financing to fund operations while it is under court protection.

LEA's subsidiaries outside of the United States and Canada will not be a part of the bankruptcy filing. According to the company, its "operations outside the United States and Canada are well-capitalized, well-positioned and have a strong backlog of new business."

With listed stocks getting knocked around, the New York Stock Exchange is considering extending temporary relief from listing requirements. Once a company is dropped from the exchange, it runs risks ranging from market cap loss to limited liquidity. But NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) CEO Duncan Niederauer was clear that the moves are not permanent. For now, the goal remains to protect companies that are at risk of being delisted. This comes after the S&P 500 fell 38% last year -- its worst performance since 1937.

The two rules that have been relaxed are the maintenance of a share price of at least $1 and a market cap of at least $15 million. The return of both measures was delayed back in April. Currently, 31 companies on the NYSE are at risk, including Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) and Lear Corp (NYSE: LEA).

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG) to Market Perform from Outperform to reflect the rebound in equity and fixed income markets as well as an attractive risk/reward profile. The firm raised its target on shares to $72 from $61.
• Jefferies upgraded AGCO Corp. (NYSE: AGCO) to Buy from Hold as it believes equipment sales in Brazil are holding up better than expected and farm stimulus should set a floor in sales. The firm raised its target on shares to $36 from $25.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) to Buy from Hold to reflect reduced balance sheet risk and a more positive view on the steel sector. The raised its target on shares to $42 from $23
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
• Synovus (NYSE: SNV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.
• First American (NYSE: FAF) was lifted to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman added McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) to its Conviction Buy List as they believe the company will beat their earnings expectations over the next couple quarters. Note that Burger King (NYSE:BKC) was removed from the list.
  
• Baird upgraded Woodward Govenor (NASDAQ:WGOV) to Outperform from Neutral citing increased confident in its outlook following the better-than-expected Q1 report.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) to Hold from Sell and removed shares from their Top Picks Live List as a Sell as they believe current expectations are very low following the recent weakness. Citigroup lowered their target price to $13 from $18.
• Ford (NYSE:F) and Lear (NYSE:LEA) were upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
  
• KT Corp (NYSE:KTC) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.
  
• Ryanair (NASDAQ:RYAAY) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Collins Stewart and to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

• Goldman removed Burger King (NYSE:BKC) from its Conviction Buy List citing recent share strength. Note that McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) was added to the list.
  
• Keefe Bruyette downgraded shares of Och-Ziff Capital (NYSE:OZM) to Market Perform from Outperform to reflect the company's near-term headwinds. The firm lowered their target to $5 from $6.50.
  
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), Alcoa (NYSE:AA), and Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX) to Equal Weight from Overweight as they believe industrial metals will be depressed through next year.
• Air France (Other OTC:AFLYY) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) was lowered to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.
  
• Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) was cut at Argus to Hold from Buy.

Analyst initiations:

• Merriman initiated Suntech (NYSE:STP) with a Sell rating. The firm is concerned by the company's debt load and narrowing maturity and thinks further cost reduction in China could be a challenge. The firm believes a fair price target range is $3.50-$4.50 per share.
  
• JMP Securities views Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) as a long-term "must buy" given its dominant market position, strong balance sheet, and low valuation. Shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $400 target.
  
• Auriga started Micron (NYSE:MU) with a Buy rating and $5 target. The firm expects DRAM oversupply to ease in the second half of 2009 and believes Micron will not burn significant cash this year.
• Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) was initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating and $41 target.
  
• Core Laboratories (NYSE:CLB) was initiated with a Buy rating and $80 target at Wunderlich.
  
• Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL) was started with a Buy rating and $16 target at Citigroup.

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded IberiaBank (NASDAQ: IBKC) to Market Perform from Underperform following the company's capital raise, which the firm believes strengthens IberiaBank's balance sheet. Baird upgraded IberiaBank to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation following weakness related to the $100M capital raise.
  
• Pali upgraded shares of Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) to Neutral from Sell on valuation as they believe the company's comp slowdown is largely priced in at current levels.
  
• Morgan Keegan upgraded Casey's General Store (NASDAQ: CASY) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation, healthy SSS, and easing comps.
• Cabot OIl & Gas (NYSE: COG) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) were added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
  
• American Capital (NASDAQ: ACAS) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
  
• CIBC lifted Manulife (NYSE: MFC) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.

Analyst downgrades:

• Goldman downgraded Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Sell from Neutral based on expectations for reduced capex spending by mining and oil & gas companies and the impact from the credit crunch.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded auto companies and suppliers as they believe the failed government bailout increases risks. Ford (NYSE: F), American Axle (NYSE: AXL), Magna International (NYSE: MGA) and Lear (NYSE: LEA) were downgraded to Sell from Hold.
  
• SAP (NYSE: SAP) was cut to Hold from Buy at Jefferies to reflect the "deteriorating" corporate IT spend environment.
• Waters (NYSE: WAT) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Agilent (NYSE: A) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays; the firm also downgraded Varian (NASDAQ: VARI) to Underweight from Equal Weight.

Analyst initiations:

• Jefferies believes Core Laboratories (NYSE: CLB) is well positioned to benefit from the increasing need for reservoir optimization services. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $70 target.
  
• Deutsche Bank initiated Capital One (NYSE: COF) with a Sell rating and $24 target, citing the difficult economic environment and the potential for higher credit losses.
  
• Soleil started Hexcel (NYSE: HXL) with a Buy rating and $10 target and expects the company's military business to remain strong through 2010.
• On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) was assumed with a Neutral rating and $3.80 target at UBS.
  
• Cbeyond (NASDAQ: CBEY) was initiated at Oppenheimer with a Perform rating.
• Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) was started with a Neutral rating at Piper Jaffray.

The question on everybody's mind this week was when will the declines end? Was that the so much talked about capitulation? Have the stock markets bottomed?

Well, I can't answer that, and suffice it to say that many market analysts, fundamental and technical, are still quite gloomy. Pretty much all we can do in this time is hope for flat performance from a few select stocks, which perhaps would yield good returns once the economy starts rebounding and the bear market has completed its course.

Here are some picks and pans from the past week from BloggingStocks contributors:

Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) -- Steven Halpern brought a recommendation from one of The Forbes Wireless Stock Watch advisors, Nikhil Hutheesing. In Hutheesing's words: "In the long run, smart investments today will lead to profits down the road. One of those companies, that I now think looks attractive, is the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry." Not only is RIMM's corporate business strong, it is also working on getting its phones to consumers. In addition, it has lots of cash and little to no long-term debt and great prospects, what the advisor is looking for in addition to value and fundamentals in this environment.

Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA) is an auto parts supplier. Jamie Dlugosch bets on a bailout for the auto industry here. Today, Lear has a $110 million market capitalization, down from its peak within the last 52 weeks of $2.6 billion. If the bailout finally happens, owners of LEA could benefit greatly.

Detroit is lobbying very hard for government assistance. Claiming severe hardship, the Big Three automakers -- Ford (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler -- are requesting loans that will prevent a complete collapse of the industry.

The past few days have been full of debate on the matter. With so many issues and questions regarding the merits of a bailout, answers will be difficult if not impossible to come by.

"Throw something up against the wall and hope it sticks" seems to be the modus operandi of the current administration with respect to the financial sector bailout. Now, Detroit is essentially asking for the same thing.

Critics are rightfully upset. There is no guarantee that loans to Detroit will ever be paid back. What results will accrue for taxpayer effort? Is this simply a black hole? Which industry will be asking for help next?

These are all legitimate questions.

The case for the bailout is simple: No money from Washington results in bankruptcy with a chance of complete failure. With that failure comes the loss of three million jobs up and down the auto food chain.

And there is the rub. This is more than just the Big Three automakers -- they and their suppliers are all at risk of complete and total collapse.

One such supplier is Lear Corp. (NYSE: LEA).

With its stock price in the toilet, Lear (NYSE: LEA) Chairman and CEO Robert Rossiter bought about $400,000 worth of stock.

That, and the fact that The Wall Street Journal picked up (subscription required) the story was enough to drive the stock up nearly 25% today on no other news. But here's a newsflash: the PR value of the purchase far exceeds the actual value of the investment -- $400,000 worth of insider buying drove the company's market cap up more than $20 million. Other insiders have since followed suit and purchased token amounts of stock: the CFO and the president of global seating systems,

Making me even more skeptical of the situation, Rossiter told the Journal that "The stock is so undervalued, it's unbelievable."

Rossiter is milking this transaction for all the positive publicity he can get -- something that Lear has been sorely lacking for a long time.

Orchestrated insider buying accompanied by media interviews makes me skeptical, and investors are better off focusing on the real story: even after these high profile buys, Mr. Rossiter still owns well under 1% of the company's stock. That's hardly a vote of confidence.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has dumped 8.5 million shares -- two thirds of his total stake -- in struggling auto supplier Lear (NYSE: LEA). Icahn Partners' senior managing director Vincent Intrieri resigned from the board, and explained that the sale was done to allow the firm to realize a tax loss. He also claims to be confident in the company's ability to remain viable in spite of the troubles facing the industry.

Yeah, okay. Icahn and Intrieri are probably just saying that to avoid leaving the company with a slap to the face (or a kick in the groin, as the case may be), given that the company's precarious capital position makes it extremely dependent on market confidence.

Here's why I don't buy it: Icahn still has a significant stake in the company -- a little less than 5% compared to 16% prior to the sale -- so, if he really believed in the company's prospects, why would he give up the board seat?

Icahn's taking a huge hit on Lear, but he should thank the company's other shareholders for preventing something that could have been a lot worse. Last year they rejected his offer to take the company private for $2.9 billion. The market cap now sits below $160 million.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of UBS (NYSE: UBS) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 update as they believe the quarter marks a turning point.
• Merill raised BP Plc (NYSE: BP) and Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Neutral from Underperform.
• DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) was lifted to Hold from Sell at Soleil.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's deposits are showing stability despite the massive sell-off.
  
• Kaufman Bros. raised Longtop Financial (NYSE: LFT) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe Chinese software service stocks now reflect the investment risks.
• Lear (NYSE: LEA) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Equal Weight from Overweight citing checks that indicate deteriorating trends are worst than expected.
  
• Juniper (NASDAQ: JNPR) and Pediatrix Medical (NYSE: PDX) were downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan.
  
• Merrill cut StatoilHydro (NYSE: STO) to Underperform from Neutral.
  
• HSBC (NYSE: HBC) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says recent downgrades are killing whole industries, and they're coming at a terrible time.

You can't lose autos and aerospace. Yet that's what's happening. The devastating aerospace downgrade by Goldman yesterday had pin action galore, wrecking everything from United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) and Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) to BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) (Cramer's Take). It took the whole frame down with it and made everything toxic. And it happens at a terrible time. It isn't like Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take), which with a few days left in the quarter can come out defending itself. Goldman rolled a perfect strike.

And now the bowlers are back for more with an equally devastating "sell everything" call based on GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take). Once again it is seamless: Lear (NYSE: LEA) (Cramer's Take) and Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) (Cramer's Take) get jettisoned too, but you know that Visteon (NYSE: VC) (Cramer's Take) and American Axle (NYSE: AXL) (Cramer's Take) and Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) (Cramer's Take) and BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) (Cramer's Take) -- the good ones! -- go down with the car.