Analyst Upgrades

• Oracle (ORCL) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Accenture (ACN) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Advanced Energy (AEIS) and Applied Materials (AMAT) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Spreadtrum (SPRD) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Healthcare Realty Trust (HR) and Tortoise Energy Capital (TYY) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Global Payments (GPN) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• CBS (CBS) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Sonic (SONC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Investors pushed up call option prices in the electric utilities industry, and also pushed up put option prices in the management services industry today.

Any time the volatility skews above 1.00, it is an indication that calls are more expensive than puts. Typically, when calls are more expensive than puts, it means the demand for calls is greater than the demand for puts because investors believe the stock is going to rise in the future, and they want to take advantage of that movement by buying calls.

The opposite is also true. Any time a volatility skews below 1.00, it is an indication that puts are more expensive than calls.

Bullish Volatility Skews

Unisource Energy Corp. (UNS)---part of the Electric Utilities industry---came in at the top with a volatility skew of 1.15. This shouldn't be a surprise as UNS is up 7.37 percent for the past month.

"With sluggish economic growth expectations, companies need to make acquisitions to boost profitability; the recent sell-off has made takeover targets more affordable and represents an ideal time to pounce," says Louis Basenese.

In a report from White Cap Research Group, he explains, "All told, over $9 billion in deals have been announced in the US in the aftermath of the recent sell off. And for every deal that's been announced, there's at least three more offers being contemplated.

"In short, the recent sell off sent many due diligence teams into hyperdrive. Any subsequent selling should prompt the big wigs to pull the trigger on more deals before the opportunities disappear.

"And that's decidedly good news for these four of our White Cap recommendations: Acme Packet (APKT), Medidata Solutions (MDSO), CAMAC Energy (CAK), and Chemed Corp. (CHE).

Bit by bit, the IPO market is picking up steam. And, the latest deal hit the markets today: Medidata (NASDAQ: MDSO).

So far, the shares are up 19% $16.70 (the IPO priced at $14, which was above its $11-$13 price range).

Founded about ten years ago, Medidata develops web-based software for clinical trials management. Obviously, it's a big market opportunity.

Keep in mind that a drug costs more than $1 billion to develop. Oh, and the process can easily go beyond a decade. In other words, it's important to streamline the process.