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Analyst upgrades, downgrades and initiations: MRK, PALM, DNA, WMT, TEVA ...

Analyst upgrades:

Bernstein upgraded Merck (NYSE: MRK) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $30 from $27 citing valuation and its decision to buy Schering-Plough, at what appears to be a reasonable price.
RBC Capital upgraded Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $12 from $5 as it believes webOS has increased its chances for Smartphone leadership and will increase its attractiveness as an acquisition target.
RW Baird upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation as it believes balance sheet risks are overly discounted in the stock, creating a buying opportunity. The firm has a $3 target on shares.
Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) was raised to Buy from Hold at Argus.
France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) was upgraded at Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight from Underweight.
Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

Baird upgraded Carlisle (NYSE:CSL) to Outperform from Neutral and lowered their target to $25 from $33 following the company's Q4 results citing attractive valuation and solid execution.
Citigroup upgraded Talbots (NYSE:TLB) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe the company's cash flow is improving and does not expect the company to face bankruptcy in next three years.
Jefferies upgraded shares of Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) to Hold from Underperform on valuation following the company's Q4 results and raised their target price to $15 from $11.75.
Costco (NASDAQ:COST) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
AU Optronics (NYSE:AUO) and LG Display (NYSE:LPL) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
Alpha Natural (NYSE:ANR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Natixis.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Oil and gas explorers and producers, GSI Commerce and Gazprom Neft were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Credit Suisse downgraded Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) and Forest Oil (NYSE:FST) to Neutral from Outperform following a reduction in the firm's 2008 natural gas outlook.
Jefferies downgraded shares of GSI Commerce (NASDAQ:GSIC) to Hold from Buy as they have become more cautious on margins given the company's increasingly heavy online discounting through this holiday season.
Gazprom Neft (OTC:GZPFY) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Deutsche Bank on valuation, as they believe the recent rally is not supported by fundamentals.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lululemon, NaviSite, Research in Motion, Palm and Motorola were today's noteworthy initiations:

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ: LULU) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $42 target at Credit Suisse on valuation.
NaviSite Inc (NASDAQ: NAVI) was initiated with a Buy rating at Merriman after reporting solid Q4 results. Merriman expects the company's recent acquisitions to significantly increase margins.
Citigroup believes Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is not a pure momentum stock as fundamentals are driving share appreciation. They think the company's subscriber growth is beginning to hit critical mass and expect 15M subscribers within 12 months. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $115 target.
Citigroup also initiated shares of Palm Inc (NASDAQ: PALM) with a Sell rating and $13.50 target, expecting the company's market share losses to continue to EPS to decline.
Citigroup started Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) with a Hold rating and $20 target, as they believe its recovery may take longer than expected, noting its new silicon platform does not come out until 2H08.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Banc of America initiated On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN), Mettler-Toledo International Inc (NYSE: MTD) and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (NYSE: TMO) with Buy ratings and a $16 target, $120 target and $65 target.
Deutsche Bank started GSI Commerce Inc (NASDAQ: GSIC) and Universal Electronics (NASDAQ: UEIC) with Buy ratings and targets of $52 and $31, respectively.
RBC Capital Markets resumed coverage of Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI) with an Outperform rating and $55 target.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Joseph Lazzaro	114	0
2	Tom Johansmeyer	103	3
3	Connie Madon	51	0
4	Steven Mallas	44	0
5	Tom Taulli	42	0
6	Mark Fightmaster	42	0
7	Trey Thoelcke	32	0
8	Steven Halpern	32	0
9	Melly Alazraki	26	0
10	Paul Foster	25	0
11	Zac Bissonnette	23	0
12	Jon Ogg	22	0
13	Brian White	22	0
14	Jim Cramer	22	0
15	Brent Archer	22	0
16	Elizabeth Harrow	19	0
17	Eric Buscemi	17	0
18	Sheldon Liber	13	0
19	Michael Fowlkes	8	0
20	Beth Gaston Moon	8	0

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