Analyst Upgrades

• JMP Securities upgraded Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to outperform from market perform based on valuation and checks that indicate strength in enterprise PCs, high growth geographies and light laptops. The firm has a $50 target on the stock.
• RBC Capital upgraded Rio Tinto (RTP) to outperform from sector perform, citing the company's improving growth plans and attractive risk profile.
• Goldman upgraded FormFactor (FORM) to neutral from sell, but lowered its price target to $6 from $10. The firm cites valuation for the upgrade.
• MCG Capital (MCGC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• CRH (CRH) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Melco Crown (MPEL) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Susquehanna upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to positive from neutral. The firm, which has a $19 price target on the stock, cites the steep decline in shares for the upgrade.
• UBS upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to buy from neutral. The firm believes fears regarding FCC reclassification of broadband are "overblown" and that industry fundamentals are bullish. The firm has a $57 target on the stock.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Stifel Financial (SF) to outperform from market perform on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm has a $64 price target for the stock.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• RBC Capital upgraded Southern Union (SUG) to sector perform from underperform.
• Rubicon Technology (RBCN) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

With reference to the Greek debt crisis, Moody's said: "banking systems faced very real common threats if doubts were raised about their governments' abilities to pay debts."

Moody's was referring specifically to the UK, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish banking systems. Banks shares have fallen sharply across Europe. In France, Societe Generale (SCGLY) was the biggest loser, with its share price falling 7%. It holds $3.8 billion of Greek government debt.

The ratings game that was played during the financial crisis was a major factor in bringing down our economy.

Here's how the game was played. Banks like Goldman Sachs (GS) would pay a rating agency to rate their securities. Moody's chief executive, Raymond McDaniel, told a Senate panel on Friday that he was not told by Goldman about the fact that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against Goldman's Abacus securities. He said: "It just changes the whole dynamic -- if the person choosing it wants to blow it up."

With borrowing costs at their lowest levels since 2004, reinsurers are loading up on corporate debt in part to fund stock buybacks. The latest tally, according to Bloomberg News, is $1.34 billion in additional borrowing, with Endurance Specialty Holdings (ENH), a Bermuda-based company, recently selling $85 million in bonds. Other recent transactions include Axis Capital Holdings (AXS) and PartnerRe (PRE) each issuing $500 million in bonds and RenaissanceRe (RNR) adding $250 million to the count.

After weeks of speculation, the financial damage from the Chile earthquake and Windstorm Xynthia in Europe is starting to emerge. According to a recent report by Moody's, 16 global reinsurance companies have reported their net insured losses (before taxes) from the catastrophe event, and the damage has already reached $3.5 billion, increasing an already high tally. The firm expects these events to have a noticeable impact on first quarter results for the industry.

According to the report, the first quarter of 2010's results "will have many moving pieces, including the possibility of favorable loss reserve development." It continues, though, that "we would expect a number of reinsurers to post both operating and net losses for the quarter."

Late Friday, Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) expanded the size of its planned senior notes offering from $550 million to $800 million. The sale of senior notes due 2015 was conducted via private placement, with the notes bearing an annual interest rate of 8.75%. Stakeholder Liberty Media (LCAPA) was slated to buy $150 million of the notes.

The offering is intended to provide Sirius the ability to prepay, in full, all of its borrowings under a senior secured term loan that matures in 2012. The satellite radio company will also redeem notes due 2013, and finance the fees and expenses related to the notes offering.