MOST NOTEWORTHY: The U.S. banking sector, HSBC Holdings, Trans World and Mips Technologies were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• CIBC downgraded the U.S. Banks sector to Underweight from Market Weight as they see another leg down as investors shift focus away from write-downs to the impact the write-downs will have on risk-weighted assets and capital ratios.
• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of HSBC Holdings Plc (NYSE: HBC) to Equal Weight from Underweight, as they believe the company may have to set aside more money for bad loans in the U.S.
• B. Riley downgraded shares of Trans World Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: TWMC) to Neutral from Buy, as they believe the downside risk should the Bob Higgins acquisition proposal fall through outweighs the potential upside should the bid be raised or should another bidder emerge.
  
• B. Riley also downgraded Mips Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: MIPS) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q1 results to reflect the company's deteriorating balance sheet and licensing business softness.

• Lehman downgraded Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (NYSE: FRE) to Equal Weight from Overweight.
• Bear Stearns downgraded Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to Peer Perform from Outperform.
• Concur Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: CNQR) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Piper.
• Citigroup downgraded shares of E-Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Hold from Buy.

Analyst downgrades: U.S. banking sector, HBC, TWMC and MIPS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 09:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.