Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN) -- the makers of the popular infant formula Enfamil -- stand to benefit from parents' desire to take care of their children, even in the hardest of economic situations.

The company -- which spun off from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) in February 2009 -- had a somewhat disappointing earnings announcement last week due to rising administrative and advertising costs. But if emerging market sales can continue to improve, Mead Johnson looks like a good buy.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Coca-Cola (KO) to overweight from neutral due to valuation and expectations that developed market volume should improve. The firm raised its target price for shares to $66.
• BB&T upgraded Nordson (NDSN) to buy from hold and has an $82 price target on the stock. The firm believes certain drivers of Nordson's Advanced Tech unit are becoming more secular vs. cyclical and that the company's EBIT margins can go higher.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Embraer (ERJ) to outperform from underperform, citing the positive announcements from the Famborough Air Show. The firm raised its price target to $37 from $21.
• Universal Health (UHS) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Mead Johnson (MJN) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Coventry Health (CVH) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Home Properties (HME) to outperform from market perform. The firm thinks that rental rate in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic are poised to increase, while Home Properties provides relatively cheap access to these markets.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded VeriSign (VRSN) to buy from hold after the company sold its authentication business to Symantec (SYMC). The firm upped its target for VRSN shares to $35 from $25.
• Macquarie upgraded Nexen (NXY) to outperform from neutral following the company's divestiture of its noncore heavy-oil properties in Western Canada.
• UPS (UPS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.
• Dell (DELL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Standpoint Research.
• Emerson Electric (EMR) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Varian Semi (VARI) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and raised its target for shares to $42 from $27.
• Baird upgraded CommScope (CTV) to outperform from neutral following the Q1 report, citing improved visibility and growth. The firm raised its price target to $39 from $28.
• Needham upgraded Build-A-Bear Workshop (BBW) to strong buy from buy. The firm is more positive on the stock following the company's Q1 results and keeps a $13 price target.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• UBS (UBS) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to buy from hold on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm raised its target price on shares to $113 from $108.
• UBS upgraded General Dynamics (GD) to buy from neutral based on improved defense risk profile and stabilization in the business jet market. The firm raised its target to $80 from $70.
• FBR Capital upgraded SunTrust (STI) to outperform from market perform on expectations that regional banks will outperform the large money center banks in this environment. The firm raised its price target on shares to $28 from $22.
• SAP AG (SAP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Thomson Reuters (TRI) was raised to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Rosetta Resources (ROSE) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to outperform from market perform.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Intel (INTC) to outperform from neutral and has a $26 target on the stock. The firm's checks indicate tier-one PC OEMs have raised their 1H10 procurement forecasts, which could lead to Intel outperformance.
• Citigroup upgraded UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from a sector rotation into Managed Care in 2010. The firm raised its price target on shares to $39 from $30.
• UBS upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to buy from neutral based on strong capital and liquidity positions, building investment banking pipelines, and expectations for a turn in EPS/ROE, among other reasons.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded the U.S. Refining group as it believes demand is improving and margins could expand in 2010. The firm raised its rating on Sunoco (SUN) to hold from sell and its target on shares to $25 from $18, and upgraded Tesoro (TSO) and Frontier Oil (FTO) to buy from hold.
• Boeing (BA) was raised to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) was upgraded at UBS to buy from neutral.
• Investors Bancorp (ISBC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.

Standard & Poor's is performing some end-of-year cleanup on its benchmark index, the S&P 500 Index (SPX). My colleague Mark Fightmaster reported earlier that Visa (V) is set to replace Ciena Corp. (CIEN) on the widely watched market barometer, but that's not the only SPX development hitting Wall Street today. In fact, struggling insurance issue MBIA Inc. (MBI) is preparing to take its leave from the venerable index.

In a press release late Friday, Standard & Poor's explained that MBIA "currently ranks 500th in the index and is no longer representative of the S&P 500 index market cap space." The beaten-down insurance company will be replaced by Mead Johnson Nutrition (MJN), which is in the process of being spun off by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY).

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Corning (NYSE: GLW) to Buy from Hold as it believes LCD glass production and sales have bottomed and will pick-up in Q2. The firm raised its target price to $16 from $11.25.
  
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Celera (NASDAQ: CRA) to Overweight from Market Weight based on valuation and its strong business model.
  
• ThinkEquity upgraded Varian Semi (NASDAQ: VARI) to Buy from Accumulate and raised its target to $32 from $20 based on valuation and weakness at its sole competitor.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
  
• Agilent (NYSE: A) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.

This week, there was some hope that we might see signs of relief in the IPO market. But, with the massive sell-off yesterday, those hopes are dimmed.

Yet, there was one deal that was able to get off the ground: Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN). The company, which has been a part of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) since 1967, is a leader in the baby formula business.

Mead was able to price its IPO at $24, which was at the top-end of its $21-$24 round. In all, the company issued 30 million shares.

No doubt, Mead is a solid company, with about $2.6 billion in sales (last year). The company has a portfolio of over 70 products that are distributed across 50 countries.

Before the bell: Stocks to rebound, but investors remain cautious

ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) swung to a surprising $2.6 billion loss in the fourth quarter -- its first ever -- as it experienced a collapse in demand and a sharp drop in prices. It wrote down $4.4 billion in pre-tax charges. The steel giant is also shedding some 9,000 workers. MT shares jumped over 6% in premarket trade.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) warned late Tuesday that chipmakers will spend 50% less this year for its products. The maker of semiconductor production equipment also posted a fiscal first-quarter loss of $3 million, excluding charges, and said it will cut 14% of its workforce, or about 2,000 jobs, as well as production. AMAT shares declined some 2% in premarket trade.