Analyst Upgrades

• Goodrich (GR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Ford (F) to neutral from underperform and CenterPoint Energy (CNP) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Dollar Financial (DLLR) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Alterra Capital (ALTE) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and P.F. Chang's (PFCB) to buy from neutral, as well as SunTrust (STI) to neutral from sell, at Janney Capital.
• Arch Capital (ACGL), Axis Capital (AXS), PartnerRe (PRE), Everest Re (RE) and Transatlantic (TRH) to buy from hold, as well as W. R. Berkley (WRB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

U.S. stock futures are higher Friday morning, as investors await nonfarm payroll figures at 8:30 a.m. ET. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 49 points to 12,301.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index gained 5 points to 1,326.00. Nasdaq 100 futures added 11.75 points to 2,348.00.

Positive sentiment ruled the European markets today. While STOXX Europe 600 Index has gained 0.75%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved up 0.82%.

Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.48%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.53% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 1.35%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.17%.

Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ) is a leading global exchange group that runs the NASDAQ stock exchange. It is the largest cash equities securities market in the U.S. in terms of the number of listed companies and in the world in terms of share value traded. The company derives around 22% of its value from cash equity trading in the U.S. from Nasdaq stock market, Philadelphia stock exchange (PHLX) and Boston stock exchange (BX). Its main competitors are NYSE Euronext (NYX) and CME Group (CME).

We have a price estimate of $26.80 on Nasdaq OMX Group's stock which is about 6% below the current market price.

Analyst Upgrades

• NYSE Euronex (NYX) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• General Dynamics (GD) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Deere (DE), Parker-Hannifin (PH) and ExlService (EXLS) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Aflac (AFL) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Amdocs (DOX) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Juniper (JNPR) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Rudolph Tech (RTEC) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC) to perform from underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Hershey (HSY) and Pinnacle Entertainment (PNK) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Micron (MU) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.

Analyst upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded Boeing (BA) to outperform from market perform. The firm is more confident about the company's earnings growth going forward.
• Oppenheimer upgraded H&R Block (HRB) to outperform from perform on expectations the company will improve performance in 2011. The firm has a $22 price target for shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded SunTrust (STI) to buy from hold to reflect valuation and expectations the company's credit will improve. The firm raised its target for shares to $34 from $29.
• Children's Place (PLCE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Taubman Centers (TCO) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS.
• Cavium Networks (CAVM) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) reported better-than-expected Q2 results, sending shares higher.
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) said it swung to a Q2 profit despite a dearth of leveraged buyouts.
• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) Q2 earnings declined but still topped estimates, sending shares higher.
• Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) reported stellar Q2 results driven by its the popularity of RedBox.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) posted solid Q4 earnings but said revenues were flat due to currency effects.
• Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) lower Q2 earnings beat expectations by a penny but revenue fell short.

Options players, start placing your bailout bets: Nasdaq OMX Group (NASDAQ: NDAQ) announced today that it will launch options trading on its Government Relief Index (NASDAQ: QGRI) effective Monday. The 3-week old Government Relief Index was constructed to track the performance of companies that have received at least $1 billion in government funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or similar bailout endeavors.

Since its launch on January 5, the QGRI has blazed a steady path lower, tumbling 36.8%. "When you have volatility and a direction, you start to see there's an opportunity to put a product on it that allows investors to benefit from the movement," said John Jacobs, Nasdaq's executive vice president, in comments to Reuters. (Is it just me, or is Mr. Jacobs subtly recommending put options on the Bailout Bunch?)

If you do decide to take a speculative gamble on the slipping Government Relief Index, you'll be wagering on such high-profile bailout names as Citigroup (NYSE: C), General Motors (NYSE: GM), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), and Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS). Overall, it looks like the QGRI might be traders' best opportunity to turn a profit on their steadily depreciating taxpayer investments. How's that for cold comfort?

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.