Medtronic (MDT) March option implied volatility is at 27, according to Track Data, near its six-month average into its expected release of Q3 EPS on February 22, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

Safeway (SWY) overall option implied volatility is at 31, according to Track Data, near its 26-week average of 29 into its expected release of Q4 EPS on February 24, suggesting slightly larger price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Calls

• Medtronic (MDT) to buy from neutral and 1-800-Flowers.com (FLWS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• CarMax (KMX) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Points International (PTSEF) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• Nokia (NOK) to market perform from underperform at Morgan Keegan.
• Amdocs (DOX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Western Alliance (WAL) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Carbo Ceramics (CRR) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Rackspace (RAX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Brinker (EAT) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Webster Financial Corp. (WBS) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9 as insiders snapped up 2,069,850 shares of company stock at a market value of $36,439,709. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 19.03% and now own 16.81% of WBS stock.

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"For over 50 years, Medtronic (MDT) has been the premier medical device manufacturer in the marketplace," notes Jim Stack.

The money manager and editor of InvesTech Market Analyst explains, "With the invention of the battery-powered pacemaker in the mid 1950s, Medtronic began a long string of technological innovations.

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Among the quarterly results scheduled for this holiday-shortened week, investors may be thankful for the earnings results from Tyson Foods (TSN). The Arkansas-based poultry and meat producer reported on its sustainability efforts and also was named McDonalds' (MCD) supplier of the year during its fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast earnings for that period to have doubled from a year ago to 56 cents per share.

Tyson is also expected to post revenue of $7.8 billion for the three months that ended in September, which is 7.4% more than in the same period of fiscal 2009. And the consensus estimate for the full year calls for earnings of $2.08 per share (+87.0%) and revenue of $28.7 billion (+7.3%). Tyson's earnings have been better than expected in recent quarters, beating consensus estimates by as much as 24 cents per share.

Medtronic, Inc. (MDT) is expected to report Q2 earnings per share (EPS) on November 23. Overall option implied volatility of 27 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

Campbell Soup Company (CPB) is expected to report Q1 EPS on November 23. Overall option implied volatility of 18 is near its 26-week average of 19, according to Track Data, suggesting nondirectional price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to buy from neutral.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Pulte Group (PHM) to neutral from underperform. Note that Citigroup downgraded the stock.
• Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merriman.
• Citigroup upgraded Kimco Realty (KIM) to hold from sell.
• Mistras (MG) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Garmin (GRMN) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at PacCrest.

Medical technology company Medtronic (MDT), whose colleagues include Boston Scientific (BSX) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), has not had a good year. The chart communicates a very bearish situation. But when a stock takes a significant dip, many investors wonder if it is time to buy.

Earlier in the week, the business reported disappointing fiscal first-quarter news. If that wasn't enough, UBS issued a downgrade on the shares. The firm has reduced the equity's status to neutral from buy, according to BloggingStocks' analyst calls article. The price target is $33. Medtronic finished Thursday's session at a quote of $32.28.

Analyst Upgrades

• CLSA upgraded Capital One (COF) to outperform from underperform based on valuation and an acceleration in loan growth. The firm raised its price target to $43 from $40.
• KeyBanc upgraded Brush Engineered (BW) to buy from hold based on increased confidence in profit momentum in Specialty Engineered Alloys, valuation and value-added revenue unit growth. The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
• Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Heico (HEI) to buy from hold with a $42 target, citing the better-than-expected Q3 results.
• Greenbrier (GBX) was upgraded to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Paychex (PAYX) was upgraded to hold from sell at Deutsche Bank.
• A. Schulman (SHLM) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Longbow.

Medtronic (MDT - option chain) stock is trading lower today after the company reported first-quarter earnings this morning, posting a profit of $830 million, or 76 cents per share. Excluding one-time items, MDT earned 80 cents per share on revenue of $3.77 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of 81 cents per share on revenue of $3.95 billion. The company also lowered its fiscal-2011 EPS forecast by 5 cents to a range of $3.40 to $3.48. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on MDT.

This morning, MDT opened at $31.97. So far today the stock has hit a high of $32.41 and a low of $30.85. As of 12:10, MDT is trading at $31.77, down $3.22 (-9.2%). The chart for MDT looks bullish and S&P gives MDT a positive 5 STARS (out of 5) strong buy ranking.

Medical device maker Kensey Nash Corp. (KNSY) produces biomaterial products that seal arterial punctures, dress wounds and treat burns. The Eston, Pa.-based company is scheduled to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year financial results Monday, August 23, in a conference call beginning at 9:00 AM (ET) hosted by CEO Joe Kaufmann. You can catch a live webcast at the Kensey Nash's website.

During the three months that ended in June, Kensey Nash announced a strategic partnership with a sports medicine products company, and it also announced a share buyback program. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Kensey Nash to report earnings of 52 cents per share, up from 41 cents per share in the year-ago period. Its revenue is expected to have risen 4.1% from a year ago to $21.3 million.

Most of the S&P 500 companies have already reported earnings results for the most recent quarter. But scheduled to release their results this week are Medtronic (MDT) and Novell (NOVL), which analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect to post earnings per share (EPS) about same as last year, as well as JDS Uniphase (JDSU), Patterson Companies (PDCO) and Tiffany & Co. (TIF), for which analysts foresee year-over-year earnings growth. Of these, the expectations are highest for Tiffany.

During the three months that ended in July, Tiffany launched an iPhone app and increased its quarterly dividend. Analysts expect the New York-based specialty retailer to report that earnings per share came to 53 cents, a 26.4% increase from a year earlier. Second-quarter revenue is expected to have grown 12.8% to $690.8 million. So far, analysts predict full-year earnings of $2.61 per share (+22.9%) on $3.0 billion (+11.8%) in revenue. Earnings results topped consensus estimates in four of the past five quarters, by 11 cents per share in the first quarter.

It was only a matter of time before Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) surpassed it's previous all time high of $359.59 set on December 14, 2007. I have blogged many times about ISRG in my Chasing Value column. Today, I'm delighted that the stock is rising, but I think it is getting a bit rich and the value proposition has changed -- intra-day it hit $366.50.

Intuitive has a trailing P/E ratio of 61 and a projected P/E of 46. I commonly average the two for such volatile stocks which translates to 53.5. There are certain times when that might be alright, but with a PEG ratio (price-to-earnings-to-growth) of 2.05, this is not one of them. If you own it I am not suggesting selling it, but if you do not it might be wiser to put it on your watch list and wait for the market to calm down.

Medtronic (MDT) announced Monday morning that it has agreed to acquire Invatec and two of its affiliated companies.

Medtronic will issue an initial payment of roughly $350 million. Invatec develops medical technologies that are used for the "interventional treatment" of cardiovascular disease. In addition to Invatec, Medtronic will acquire Fogazzi (which provides polymer technology to Invatec) and Krauth Cardiovascular (which distributes Invatec's products in Germany)