Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded shares of ING Group (NYSE: ING) to Outperform from Market Perform after upgrading the European insurance sector to Overweight from Neutral due to improved risk management.
  
• Keefe Bruyette also upgraded Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect the company's national footprint if the Wachovia (NYSE: WB) deal goes through.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) to Overweight from Neutral citing top line performance, growth profile and valuation, among other reasons.
• Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) was raised to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Louisiana Pacific (NYSE: LPX) was upgraded at RBC Capital to Sector Perform from Underperform.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) to Hold from Buy and lowered its target to $50 from $55 to reflect risks to the company's earnings outlook from the weakening economy.
  
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) was cut to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank as they believe the economic slowdown will bring slower volumes. Coca-Cola's target was lowered to $56 from $64.

"I've long favored Russia for investment, building my case around its energy sector and the infrastructure boom taking place," says Yiannis Mostrous in Silk Road Investor. Here are his top energy plays.

"Russia is currently in a sweet spot: It's a net oil exporter, has solid GDP growth, isn't dependent on foreign capital flows, is politically stable, has reasonable market valuations and, above all, enjoys solid exposure to the biggest growth story of our time, Asia.

"Russia's GDP grew by 8.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2008, stronger than expectations. The expansion was broad based: construction, manufacturing, electricity generation and services all showed healthy growth.

"Russia's energy companies have underperformed because of the relatively heavy tax burden imposed by the state. But the Russian economy has turned around, and the government has announced tax cuts that will take effect 1 January 2009, saving the industry USD1.30 per barrel of crude produced.

Is investing abroad because the U.S. is going through a rough patch a good idea? If so, why? What foreign markets are attractive? Investing abroad is a good idea -- but not because the U.S. is melting down. Instead, it turns out that emerging markets are outperforming developing ones because they are supplying the commodities that fuel demand for 10% annual growth in emerging markets like China and India.

Emerging markets are up 20% in the last year while developed markets like the U.S. are flat. The reason to invest in these markets is not so much because the U.S. is going through a rough patch but more because these other markets are doing so much better and they are going to continue to do well regardless of what happens in the U.S.

But the U.S.'s rough patch may not be as bad as people had thought. An economist at Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) changed his estimate of the chances of a recession from 90% to 45%. So the U.S. may turn out to be a good place to invest if stocks are priced for a recession that doesn't happen.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, YRC Worldwide and Syniverse were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Soleil upgraded shares of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) to Buy from Hold on improving fundamentals, as they believe the economic stimulus package should drive consumer demand in 2H08.
  
• Stephens upgraded shares of YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) to Overweight from Underweight as they believe management is making meaningful changes.
  
• Syniverse (NYSE: SVR) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan. The firm upgraded shares based on accelerating organic growth from consumer wireless data usage.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) to Buy from Hold.
  
• VASCO Data Security (NASDAQ: VDSI) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  
• Goldman upgraded Lukoil (OTC: LUKOY) to Buy from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RAM Holdings, State Street and Ericsson were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Banc of America downgraded shares of RAM Holdings (NASDAQ: RAMR) to Neutral from Buy as they believe the company could have increasing loss provisions related to RMBS and CDO exposure over the next several quarters.
  
• State Street (NYSE: STT) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette on valuation and difficult comparisons in the second half of 2008.
  
• HSBC downgraded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Neutral from Overweight and prefers Nokia (NYSE: NOK) at current levels.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Bear cut Quintana Maritime (NASDAQ: QMAR) to Peer Perform from Outperform.
  
• Goldman downgraded Lukoil (OTC: LUKOY) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• UBS downgraded Aflac (NYSE: AFL) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lukoil, ENI SpA and Meritage were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Lukoil (OTC: LUKOY) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the company's oil production, refineries and gas stations outside of Russia are not priced into shares.
  
• ABN Amro raised ENI SpA (NYSE: E) to Hold from Sell after a meeting with management.
  
• Meritage (NYSE: MTH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS on strong results.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Corporate Executive (NASDAQ: EXBD) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Trico Marine Services (NASDAQ: TRMA) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.
  
• Holly Corp. (NYSE: HOC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Concur Tech, TranS1 and Third Wave were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Broadpoint initiated Concur Tech (NASDAQ: CNQR) with a Strong Buy rating and $40 target. The firm believes Concur has attractive growth drivers, room for leverage, and is a market leader for innovation and growth. Wachovia is positive on TraS1's AxiaLIF procedure in lumbar fusions as it is less invasive and patients have a faster recovery period. The firm views the potential market at over $1B and started shares off with an Outperform rating.
  
• Shares of TranS1 (NASDAQ: TSON) were also initiated with a Buy rating and $27 target at Piper Jaffray, as they believe the company's focus on minimally invasive surgical technique for treating lower back pain provides a large market opportunity, and at Cowen with an Outperform rating, as they positive on TSON's minimally invasive platform in spinal fusions that should leaded rapid growth.
  
• Collins Stewart said Third Wave (NASDAQ: TWTI) is on track to file PMA submissions for 2 new screening tests for HPV by early next year and started shares with a Buy rating and $11 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Piper initiated Ardea Biosciences (NASDAQ: RDEA) with a Buy rating.
  
• JP Morgan initiated Lukoil (NASDAQ: LUKOY) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Cowen started shares of Limelight Networks (NASDAQ: LLNW) with a Neutral rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Select integrated oil stocks and Hawaiian Electrc (NYSE:HE) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to Hold from Sell and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) to Buy from Hold after increasing their 2008 oil price forecast to $80/bbl and 2010 forecast to $65/bbl.
  
• The firm also upgraded Lukoil (OTC:LUKOY)and StatoilHyro (NYSE:STO) to Buy from Hold to reflect near-term term forecasts for high oil prices and tight global supply.
  
• Baird expects Hawaiian Electric's (NYSE:HE) earnings to materially improve due to recently granted rate relief, and upgraded shares to Outperform from Neutral.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman upgraded Health Net (NYSE:HNT) to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Expedia (NYSE:EXPE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  
• Bernstein upgraded Sunoco (NYSE:SUN) to Outperform from Market Perform.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Weekday Trader" is inclined to take profits in the disk-drive market while others are popping the champagne; specifically in Western Digital Corporation (NYSE: WDC), which Barron's wrote about positively four months ago and has appreciated 29.6%.
• Emerging markets are outperforming their U.S. and European counterparts this year, but investing in some countries -- including Turkey and Hungary -- is still risky, according to the "Heard on the Street" column in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Russian oil company Lukoil Holding (OTC: LUKOY), which is 20% owned by ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), is planning a $9B European spending spree.

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Los Angeles Times reported that Washington Mutual Inc (NYSE: WM), the largest U.S. savings and loan bank, will close two mortgage divisions, resulting in about 1,000 job cuts.
• Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica SA (NYSE: TEF) said it is in talks with Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) concerning the right to sell the company's new phone, the iPhone, in Spain, next summer, Telecom Paper (subscription required) reported.

WEBSITES:

• A rumored partnership between Apple and Volkswagen AG (OTC: VLKAY) to develop an "iCar" with iPod connectivity could benefit both companies but is unlikely to yield an actual automobile for three or four years, according to market intelligence firm iSuppli Corp., reported AppleInsider.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Chico's FAS (CHS), MetroPCS (PCS), Federated Investors (FII) and Tibco (TIBX) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Roth Capital believes Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) growth will be back on track given the changes within the merchandise organization and recent infrastructure investments, and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $24 target.

• Pacific Crest believes MetroPCS's (NYSE: PCS) low-cost business model creates opportunities and that its large market focus should drive outperformance, and initiated shares with an Outperform rating.

• JMP Securities believes near-term upside in Federated Investors (NYSE: FII) could be seen with hurricane season and resumed coverage of Federated Investors with an Overweight rating and $178 target.
  

• Pacific Crest believes 2007 is a transition year for Tibco (NASDAQ: TIBX) and started shares with a Sector Perform rating...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BWS Financial initiated Rentrak (NASDAQ: RENT) with a Buy rating and $20 target.

• HSBC started Lukoil (OTC: LUKOY) with an Overweight rating.

• Pacific Crest started shares of On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) with an Outperform rating and $16 target.

• BMO Capital initiated Ares Capital (NASDAQ: ARCC) with an Outperform rating and $18 target.

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

I've just returned from the World Money Show, where more than 10,000 investors gathered to learn about global investing. I had a chance to meet with many of the advisors featured at the show, and I have been highlighting some of their favorite investment ideas. To view all of the stocks featured in this special global report, click here.

"Investors in Russia had more than New Year's Eve as a reason to party as 2006 came to an end, notes Ian Wyatt. "The Russian stock market closed at an all-time high, capping a year in which the dollar-based benchmark Russian Trading System index gained 70%."

The editor-in-chief of Big Idea Investing explains, "In most developing countries, such a gain would usually be a sign of speculators gone crazy, and a stern warning to take your money and run before the inevitable collapse.

"But that doesn't necessarily apply here. The MSCI Russell index has soared almost 500% in dollar terms over the last five years. Some of these returns stem from the rise in oil and gas prices, two commodities of which Russia has enormous reserves.

"It's a long way from 1992, when almost overnight the Soviet Union imploded. Fuel was added to the fire by oil prices, which had started a long climb to record levels. From just $8.8 billion in 1998, revenues from oil exports soared to more than $58 billion by 2004.

"Ford (NYSE:F) and Toyota (NYSE:TM) already have car plants in operation, and will soon be joined by General Motors (NYSE:GM). Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) has made significant investments, and oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) said it plans to almost double its investment over the next decade to as much as $15 billion.

Each year Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, surveys the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is part of his 24th annual Top Picks Report.

Lukoil Company (Other OTC: LUKOY) is the top speculative idea for 2007 from Eric Roseman, editor of Commodity Trend Alert.

The hedge fund and resource expert notes, "This stock marks the first time in 16 years that I'm making a recommendation in Russia. I usually don't feel good about investing in a country where shareholders are subjected to the spontaneous whims of a despot, but in this case, the story is just too compelling to ignore.

"Lukoil is world's second-largest oil company, and trades at a massive discount to ExxonMobil Corporation, despite producing almost the same annual oil production every year. For a value investor like me, quite frankly, it's all I need to know to make an investment in a secular bull market for energy.

"The big risk for long-term investors in Lukoil is not the price of oil or natural gas; I have no doubt in my mind that in five years, possibly less, this will be a $150 stock, if not more. The big risk is Putin and his intentions with Lukoil. Will the Russian president nationalize Lukoil? The risk with Russia is that Putin might sabotage shareholders.