Analyst Upgrades

• RBC Capital upgraded Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP) to outperform from sector perform with a $20 target. The firm thinks the units' valuation is compelling, while the company's proposed acquisition of assets is positive.
• Stifel upgraded First Horizon (FHN) to buy from hold based on valuation and its path towards normalized profitability. The firm has a $15 price target on the stock.
• KeyBanc upgraded Isle of Capri (ISLE) to buy from hold based on improved earnings growth and valuation. The firm has a $13 target on the stock.
• ATA Inc. (ATAI) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at Piper Jaffray.
• Buckeye Partners (BPL) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Sinopec (SNP) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman Sachs upgraded BJ's Wholesale (BJ) to neutral from sell and has a $43 target on the stock. Note that private equity firm Green Equity took a 9.5% stake in the company. Shares were also upgraded at Jefferies to buy from hold.
• Stephens upgraded Covenant Transportation (CVTI) to overweight from equal weight after the company positively preannounced Q2 results. The firm raised its target for shares to $12 from $5.
• Leerink upgraded Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA) to outperform from market perform after the company signed a partnership deal with Eisai for U.S. commercialization rights to lorcaserin. The firm believes the deal removes a major concern and upped its target for shares to $6 from $5.
• Fortune Brands (FO) was upgraded to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• KeyBanc upgraded NiSource (NI) to buy from hold.
• Akzo Nobel (AKZOY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.

"Energy prices are beginning to firm up again. And one opportunity we see in this sector is NuStar Energy (NS); there has been heavy insider buying here," says Mark Skousen.

In his High Income Alert, the advisor explains, "Insiders have purchased 622,000 shares of NuStar during the last six months. They have sold exactly none.

"Last month, for example, Director William Greehey of NuStar purchased 350,000 shares at $65.55, an investment of nearly $19.8 million. Directors Rodman Patton, Dan Hill and Jesse Bates have bought lately, too.

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Here, the advisor reviews some of his latest buys among master limited partnerships, preferreds and yield-oriented closed-end funds.

"Among energy partnerships, we're adding two new picks to the portfolio with a buy rating. First, NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS), currently yielding 8.4%, operates crude oil and refined product pipelines and associated facilities.

"NuStar recently acquired asphalt refining and terminal facilities, a business that's expected to boom once the government supported highway construction projects kick in.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says they're too important to just let them go.

You never want to buck the financials. I have said over and over again that the group is too important to make let go. Can we really envision a world without Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) common stock? Can we envision a world where PNC (NYSE: PNC) (Cramer's Take) and Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) (Cramer's Take) and State Street (NYSE: STT) (Cramer's Take) are no more? A world where Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) don't make it?

It's funny when you put it that way, because we know that if those stocks weren't in the S&P 500, if we just took them out, we would be feeling like we should be buying, buying, and buying judging from the very nice pullbacks we have had to above the lows of October and November now that we are oversold.

Tons of charts, from Forest Labs (NYSE: FRX) (Cramer's Take) to AT&T (NYSE: T) (Cramer's Take), from Disney (NYSE: DIS) (Cramer's Take) to Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take), all sorts of charts from all sorts of industries, charts like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) and BP (NYSE: BP) (Cramer's Take) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take), if they hold here, will embolden people to come in. As will IBM (NYSE: IBM) (Cramer's Take) on Wednesday.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) to Buy from Hold on their belief Sovereign will merge with Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) according to the terms on their October 13 agreement.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Hold from Underperform on valuation as they believe the capital infusion from Leonard Green limits downside risk. The company's target was raised to $11 from $9.50.
  
• Banc of America upgraded Max Capital (NASDAQ: MXGL) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, the company's strategic changes to lower earnings volatility and their belief it is well positioned to benefit from an improved P&C marketplace.
• Qimonda (NYSE: QI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen.
  
• Health Net (NYSE: HNT) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) was lifted to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

NuStar Energy L.P. (NYSE: NS) is a publicly traded limited partnership, based in San Antonio, operating 9,063 miles of pipeline, 85 terminal facilities, four crude oil storage tank facilities and two asphalt refineries. The terminals offer pilotage, tug assistance and other ship services. The firm is one of the largest asphalt refiners and independent liquids terminal operators in the United States. It also operates facilities in the Netherlands Antilles, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. BP plc (NYSE: BP) is a major competitor

NuStar pleased investors late last month, when it announced that strong asphalt revenues were expected to generate Q3 earnings of at least $2.25 per share. The Street was looking for $1.55. The CEO noted that tight supply conditions were resulting in a significant increase in the margins for asphalt and intermediate products.