Analyst Upgrades

• Parker-Hannifin (PH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• JDSU (JDSU) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Noble Corp. (NE) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Cerner (CERN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Cintas (CTAS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• American States Water (AWR) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• National Semiconductor (NSM) and Texas Instruments (TXN) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• DuPont Fabros (DFT) to top pick from outperform at RBC Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Tyson Foods (TSN) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Ambow Education (AMBO) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Johnson Controls (JCI) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Dynex Capital (DX) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Ensco (ESV) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• York Water (YORW) to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• Mid-America Apartment (MAA) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Cheniere Energy Partners (CQP) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Forest Oil (FST) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Tractor Supply (TSCO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• Chesapeake (CHK) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Biogen (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Caribou Coffee (CBOU) to outperform from neutral and Encore Energy (ENP) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Fluor (FLR) to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Hornbeck Offshore (HOS) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Saks (SKS) and Zale (ZLC) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

A slight economic upgrade from the Federal Reserve met higher commodity and higher equity prices today. The reality is that most equity markets were up around the globe today as investors are getting more of an appetite for risk. Even a Freddie Mac outlook for 2011 with higher interest rates and a 'narrower' budget deficit of $80 billion in December failed to temper optimism.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,755.44 +83.56 (0.72%)
S&P 500 1,285.96 +11.48 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 2,737.33 +20.50 (0.75%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

U.S. stock futures are higher this morning as investors await the Federal Reserve's report on present economic conditions. Portuguese government debt sold bonds worth €1.25 billion ($1.62 billion) in an auction. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 56 points to 11,672.00 and S&P 500 futures gained 6.90 points to 1,277.30. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 11.75 points to 2,297.25.

U.S. stocks closed higher yesterday, with the blue-chip Dow index gaining 34.43 points, or 0.30%.

U.S. data on December import prices will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Fed is scheduled to release its Beige Book on present economic conditions at 2 p.m. ET.

Analyst Upgrades

• Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Capital One (COF) upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Airgas (ARG) upgraded to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Broadcom (BRCM) upgraded to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• Lululemon (LULU) upgraded to hold from underperform at Jefferies.
• DryShips (DRYS) upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) will take its turn in the earnings confessional bright and early tomorrow morning, Dec. 9. Analysts are expecting the athletic apparel firm to report a third-quarter profit of 25 cents per share, up from 20 cents per share in the year-ago period. LULU has an impressive track record in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus profit expectations in each of the past four quarters.

The stock has also established itself as a technical outperformer, with LULU rising 82.5% so far in 2010. This impressive ascent has been underlined by reliable support at the stock's 10-week, 20-week, and 50-week moving averages, which have guided LULU higher since July 2009.

A stronger than expected homebuilder confidence indicator was added to, along with positive earnings bias, and some hope that currency fluctuations may be nearing an inflection point.

Here were today's unofficial market closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,143.69 +80.91 (0.73%)
S&P 500 1,184.71 +8.52 (0.72%)
Nasdaq 2,480.66 +11.89 (0.48%)

Top Analyst Calls

Today was one of those days that felt more dependent upon overseas markets than one of those 'must watch' days full of economic data. There was a larger-then-expected build in wholesale inventories that outpaced sales, although that wholesale trade data rarely moves markets very much.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,462.84 +47.60 (0.46%)
S&P 500 1,109.56 +5.38 (0.49%)
Nasdaq 2,242.48 +6.28 (0.28%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

The shares of Lululemon Athletica (LULU) gapped higher right out of the gate this morning, as Wall Street cheered the athletic apparel company's latest earnings report. Lululemon raked in a second-quarter profit of $21.8 million, or 30 cents per share -- more than doubling its year-ago results of $9.2 million, or 13 cents per share. Revenue for the period climbed 56% to $152.2 million.

The results handily surpassed consensus expectations. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had been anticipating a slimmer second-quarter profit of 24 cents per share on $146 million in revenue.

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Noble Energy (NE) to outperform from market perform and raised its target to $85 from $78. The firm upgraded Noble based on Niobrara field potential and record-breaking reserve potential at the Leviathan prospect.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Raytheon (RTN) to outperform from market perform based on relative valuation, strong balance sheet and International sales exposure.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Cerner (CERN) to buy from hold based on valuation and EMR momentum. The firm raised its price target on shares to $86 from $80.
• Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) was upgraded to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• Cavium Networks (CAVM) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• CSG Systems (CSGS) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Analyst Upgrades

• Berstein upgraded Diamond Offshore (DO) to market perform from underperform based on valuation. The firm has a $69 price target on the stock.
• Jefferies upgraded Patterson-UTI Energy (PTEN) to buy from hold, citing leverage to higher land rig pricing. The firm raised its price target to $21 from $17.
• Wunderlich upgraded Renasant (RNST) to buy from hold following the company's acquisition of Crescent Bank. The firm raised its target for shares to $20 from $15.
• AT&T (T) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Blackstone (BX) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Scripps Networks (SNI) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

"In our view, it looks like China could present some excellent opportunities for us as we move through the summer. Indeed, we believe China's unpegging of its currency will help its manufacturing base," says Richard Schmidt.

The editor of Stellar Stock Alert explains, "And a potentially stronger retail market in the U.S. combined with a stronger manufacturing base in China is a recipe for success. One company that's positioned to take advantage of both trends is retail apparel firm Lululemon Athletica (LULU).

"The company knows how to play both sides of the ocean. Over 65% of its products are manufactured in China. Meanwhile, it has 124 company-owned and franchised athletic apparel stores in the U.S. and Canada .

Analyst Upgrades

• Stifel views shares of DreamWorks (DWA) as oversold and believes investors are too pessimistic on recent films. The firm upgraded shares to buy from hold and has a $35 target on the stock.
• JPMorgan upgraded Consolidated Edison (ED) to neutral from underweight based on EPS visibility. The firm raised its price target to $45 from $37.
• Soleil upgraded PPL Corp. (PPL) to buy from hold following the 90M share secondary last night that was priced at $24. The firm sees improving earnings visibility and a removal of the equity overhang for the upgrade. The firm has a $29 price target on the stock.
• Unilever (UL) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Holly (HOC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bebe Stores (BEBE) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Monster Worldwide (MWW) to outperform from perform.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Anadarko Petroleum (APC) to overweight from neutral on valuation as it views the recent pullback in shares as excessive. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $82 from $90.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Office Depot (ODP) to perform from underperform and upped its target for shares to $7 from $3 after raising its estimates for companies in the Office Products Retail space. The firm expects trends to accelerate for the sector due to moderating unemployment pressures. In conjunction with the upgrade, Opco raised its target for OfficeMax (OMX) to $26 from $21 and target for Staples (SPLS) to $30 from $28. Both stocks remain outperform rated.
• C.K. Cooper upgraded iRobot (IRBT) to buy from hold with a $30 price target following the company's analyst day.
• Seadrill (SDRL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vodafone (VOD) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at Nomura.