Oppenheimer upgraded Inter Parfums (NASDAQ: IPAR) to Outperform from Perform on valuation and increased comfort with the company's outlook after meeting with management.
Deutsche Bank raised Covidien (NYSE: COV) to Buy from Hold on the company's solid execution and ongoing restructuring, which they believe will drive EPS higher. The firm raised its target to $63 from $51.
Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America.
Goldman raised Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) to Neutral from Sell.
Manpower (NYSE: MAN) is a world leader in the employment industry, offering businesses a full range of staffing-related services. These include permanent, temporary and contract recruitment; employee assessment and selection; training; outplacement; outsourcing and consulting. Manpower maintains a network of about 4,500 offices in 80 countries, enabling the firm to serve the needs of some 400,000 clients per year. It operates under the brands Manpower, Manpower Professional, Elan, Jefferson Wells and Right Management.
Investors were pleased last week, when the company reported Q1 EPS of 94 cents and revenues of $5.39 billion. Analysts had been looking for 82 cents and $5.26 billion. In discussing the results, the CEO particularly noted strength in European markets. Management also guided Q2 EPS to $1.47-$1.51, versus consensus of $1.39. Lehman Brothers subsequently reiterated its "overweight" recommendation on the stock and boosted its price target to $76.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: DealerTrack, Healthcare Realty Trust and the employment services sector were today's noteworthy initiations:
Suntrust believes DealerTrack (NASDAQ:TRAK) is in the stages of significantly increasing penetration of dealers, finance companies, and aftermarket providers with its leading suite of transaction and subscription based solutions. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $61 target.
Jefferies resumed coverage of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) with a Buy rating and $28 target, as they believe the company is well-positioned to benefit from the superior long-term growth trends for outpatient services.
Credit Suisse initiated the employment services sector with a Market Weight rating, citing economic uncertainty and downside EPS risk. The firm initiated Manpower (NYSE:MAN) with an Outperform rating and $73 target and HireRight (NASDAQ:HIRE) with a Neutral rating and $13 target.
OTHER INITIATIONS:
CVS Caremark (NYSE:CVS) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $45 target at BMO Capital.
JP Morgan initiated Plug Power (NASDAQ:PLUG) with an Underweight rating and California Pizza (CPKI) with a Neutral rating.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: General Motors, Acuity Brands, Post Properties, Manpower and IMAX Corp were today's noteworthy upgrades:
UBS upgraded General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Buy from Sell citing a potential $3B in cost savings from the "transformational contract" with the UAW.
Acuity Brands (NYSE: AYI) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird based on valuation and management's ability to execute.
Post Properties (NYSE: PPS) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch following its Q3 report and guidance.
Citigroup upgraded shares of Manpower (NYSE: MAN) to Buy from Hold as they like the company's business model and balance sheet.
Soleil upgraded shares of IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX) to Buy from hold with digital IMAX set to launch in Q208, to reflect the attractive economics of the company's new joint venture model.
OTHER UPGRADES:
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Raymond James.
JMP Securities upgraded Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Outperform from Market Perform.
Citigroup upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to Buy from Hold and added shares to their Global Tech Conviction List.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: McDonald's (MCD), Micron Tech (MU), ManPower (MAN), ASML Holding (ASML) and Wm. Wrigley Jr Co (WWY) were today's notable upgrades:
McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) is creating shareholder value by selling 1600 under-performing restaurants and using the money for share buyback programs and dividends and was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Matrix.
AG Edwards upgraded Micron (NYSE: MU) to Buy from Hold on the belief notebook unit growth could stay in the 25-30% YoY range over the next two quarters, while desktop growth could pick up from the 4% attained in the June quarter. Up from a low of close to $5 in February, NAND spot prices are in the $8-$9 range for an 8Gb chip over the last few weeks.
ManPower (NYSE: MAN) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Hold at Matrix based on the growing demand for search services in Europe, Africa and North America.
Friedman Billings upgraded shares of ASML Holding (NASDAQ: ASML) to Outperform from Market Perform and added them to their Top Picks list based on recent checks that indicate a sustainable recovery in lithography tool bookings beyond Q3.
Bear upgraded shares of Wrigley (NYSE: WWY) to Peer Perform from Underperform citing the better-then-expected response to competitor Cadbury (CSG), UK momentum in developing markets, and likely strong performance by new gum, "5."
Manpower (NYSE: MAN) volatility up; on employment growth concerns. MAN, an employment services company with 4,400 offices in 73 countries, is recently down $4.51 to $65.34. MAN has a market cap of $5.5 billion with long term debt of $800 million. MAN, Kelly Services (NASDAQ: KELYA), Labor ready (NYSE: LRW) & Spherion (NYSE: SFN) have aggressively sold off over the last week on U.S. human resource and employment services growth concerns. MAN September option implied volatility of 43 is above its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.
Labor Ready (NYSE: LRW) volatility Up; on employment growth concerns. LRW, a global temporary staffing provider, has a market cap of $878 million. LRW September option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.
Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX up 3.55 to 25; 10-day average is 22.95.
Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Seagate Technology (STX), SAP AG (SAP), Western Digital (WDC), BAE Systems (BAESY) and Manpower (MAN) are today's noteworthy upgrades:
Hambrecht upgraded shares of Seagate Tech (NYSE: STX) on improving demand and second half of 2007 prospects. Bear Stearns upgraded shares to Outperform from Peer Perform based on stabilizing industry conditions.
ING upgraded shares of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) to Buy from Hold shares to reflect the migration within the company's large installed base and growing opportunities in the small business market.
Hambrecht upgraded Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) to Buy from Hold on improving demand for 2H07 growth prospects.
HSBC raised BAE Systems (OTC: BAESY) off the ground, upgrading shares to Neutral from Underweight.
Banc of America upgraded Manpower (NYSE: MAN) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the change in French payroll tax subsidies, which they view as a positive change to the company's ongoing margin structure.
OTHER UPGRADES:
First Albany upgraded ATMI Inc (NASDAQ: ATMI) to Buy from Hold.
The Medicines Co (NASDAQ: MDCO) was raised to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Today's list of downgrades were filled with notable companies, including Yahoo! Inc (YHOO), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), Intel Corp (INTC) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT).
Goldman Sachs downgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Neutral from Buy, with a $31.50 target, citing valuation.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings following their disappointing quarter. They told clients AMD no longer enjoys a technical advantage and is losing share in the higher margin segments. Credit Suisse downgraded Advanced Micro to Underperform from Neutral, American Technology downgraded shares to Sell from Buy and Caris downgraded shares to Above Average from Buy.
Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at American Technology. The firm believes management may not have been conservative enough with their margin guidance and doesn't see an end to the price war.
Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at DA Davidson.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
JP Morgan downgraded shares of Continental Airlines Inc (NYSE: CAL) to Underweight from Overweight on valuation.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Manpower Inc (NYSE: MAN) to Sell from Neutral.
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Analyst upgrades: 
Here are some highlights from this past week's 
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Manpower
Cramer on BloggingStocks: A troika of opportunity and trouble 
Before the bell: Wall Street headed higher; automakers, retailers in focus
Waiting for the other shoe to drop: The looming credit crisis
