Analyst Upgrades

• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (MOS) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $78 from $64 citing improving ag fundamentals and the potential for BHP (BHP) to issue a higher bid for Potash (POT), which Citi feels would bode well for Mosaic.
• Cowen upgraded VMware (VMW) to outperform from neutral, citing recent share weakness and the company's significant growth opportunity.
• Citigroup upgraded CareFusion (CFN) with a $29 price target, citing valuation and the potential for margin expansion.
• Pfizer (PFE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Juniper (JNPR) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Stryker (SYK) was upgraded to buy from gradually accumulate at Soleil.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Moviegoers represent a captive audience that can't change the channel or block a pop-up ad," observes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he suggests, "We expect more companies than ever before to spend ad dollars on theater ads, leading to a banner year for National CineMedia (NCMI)."

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Intel (INTC), European investment banks, American Express (AXP), and ImClone (IMCL) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, which cited valuation.
• European investment banks were downgraded by Societe Generale on concerns that investment banking revenue will decline. Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) was downgraded to Sell from Hold. Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS) was downgraded to Sell from Buy, and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) was downgraded to Hold from Buy.
• American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy by Merrill Lynch, which cited slower consumer spending.
• ImClone Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ: IMCL) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings, which lowered their estimates following feedback regarding the FLEX study announcement.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Business Objects ADS (NASDAQ: BOBJ) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy by First Albany.
• Roper Industries Inc (NYSE: ROP) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform by Friedman Billings.
• Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy by Citigroup.
• National CineMedia Inc (NASDAQ: NCMI) was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight by Morgan Stanley.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Shutterfly, Inc (SFLY), Marvel Entertainment, Inc (MVL), National CineMedia, Inc (NCMI) and Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) were some of today's noteworthy initiations:

• Cantor sees significant opportunities for growth at Shutterfly Inc (NASDAQ: SFLY), driven by new business lines, international expansion and new products, among other things, and started SFLY Shares with a Buy rating.

• Stifel initiated Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) with a Buy rating and believes the impending film slate provides a long-term growth opportunity and serves as a catalyst.

• Thomas Weisel started National CineMedia Inc (NASDAQ: NCMI) with an Overweight rating, as the firm still believes the company is among the fastest-growing, ad-supported media companies in the U.S. given its ownership in NCM LLC, which has established a leadership position in the cinema advertising market.

• FTN Midwest started Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) with a Neutral rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Jefferies started Conexant Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CNXT) with a Hold rating.

• Wachovia initiated NYMEX Holdings, Inc (NYSE: NMX) with an Outperform rating.

• Goldman Sachs started LSI Corp (NYSE: LSI) with a Neutral rating.

• Citigroup started Kroger Co (NYSE: KR) with a Buy rating.

• Stein Mart, Inc (NASDAQ: SMRT) was initiated Morgan Joseph with a Buy rating.

• Citigroup started Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) with a Hold rating based on valuation.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).