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Analyst downgrades: PetSmart, Plantronics, First Cash Financial

MOST NOTEWORTHY: PetSmart, Plantronics and First Cash Financial were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Wachovia downgraded PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing margin concerns following the company's lowered Q4 SSS guidance.
Baird downgraded Plantronics (NYSE: PLT) to Neutral from Outperform citing weaker core business outlook.
Jefferies downgraded shares of First Cash Financial (NASDAQ: FCFS) to Hold from Buy following the disappointing results, as they believe the company's auto lending business will create an earnings drag in 2008, limiting potential share price appreciation. Shares were also lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at JMP Securities.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) was lowered to Sell from Hold at ABN Amro.
Northstar Neuroscience (NASDAQ: NSTR) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Citigroup.
UBS downgraded Volvo (OTC: VOLVY) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Penske Automotive, CarMax, Towerstream, Solera and Northstar were today's noteworthy initiations:

Kevin Dann initiated shares of Penske Automotive Group Inc (NYSE: PAG) with a Buy rating and $25 target. The firm believes shares deserve a higher multiple given the company's reduced exposure to slower growing domestic brands combined with the increased penetration o luxury as a percentage of industry sales.
CarMax Inc (NYSE: KMX) was also initiated at Kevin Dann with a Buy rating and $28 target, as they expect the multiple expansion to continue as confidence builds in the company's sales and expense strategy.
Think Equities started shares of Towerstream Corporation (NASDAQ: TWER) with a Buy rating and $5 target and said the company is rapidly growing given robust demand fro high bandwidth services, market expansion, sales force growth, and higher ARPU services.
Barrington believes Solera Holdings Inc (NYSE: SLH) is positioned to capture growth through technology adoption in claims processing by insurance companies, starting shares off with an Outperform rating and $27 target.
Jefferies resumed coverage of Northstar Neuroscience Inc (NASDAQ: NSTR) with a Buy rating and $21 target, as they expect the company's Phase III EVEREST trial to yield positive positives, setting the stage for an FDA approval by Q109.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Friedman Billings started shares of IPG Photonics Corporation (NASDAQ: IPGP) with an Outperform rating and $28 target and added shares to its Top Picks List.
The firm also resumed coverage of Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: RSTI) with an Outperform rating and $92 target.
ABN Amro started China Netcom Group Corporation (NYSE: CN) with a Hold rating and China Mobile Limited (NYSE: CHL) and China Unicom Limited (NYSE: CHU) with Buy ratings.
UBS started RSC Holdings Inc (NYSE: RRR) with a Neutral rating.

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5	Mark Fightmaster	42	0
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12	Brian White	22	0
13	Brent Archer	21	0
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15	Jim Cramer	21	0
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17	Eric Buscemi	17	0
18	Sheldon Liber	13	0
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