Analyst Upgrades

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Leap Wireless (LEAP) and MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Sun Bancorp (SNBC) to neutral from sell at Janney Capital.
• American Tower (AMT), SBA Communications (SBAC) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Expedia (EXPE) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Weatherford (WFT) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• MDC Holdings (MDC) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• AutoNavi (AMAP) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Ciena (CIEN) and Nvidia (NVDA) to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform at Raymond James.
• First Midwest (FMBI) and Quiksilver (ZQK) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Sonic (SONC) to neutral from negative at Susquehanna.
• MIPS Technologies (MIPS) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Arrow Electronics (ARW) and Avnet (AVT) to buy from hold at Stifel Nicolaus.

"Chip stocks have always been tough to invest in, as the group has vicious ups and downs," observes Mike Cintolo.

Nevertheless, explains, the editor of Cabot Top Ten Weekly, "Nvidia (NVDA) is one of the hottest stocks out there because investors think it might have the next big thing in the chip world-dubbed Tegra 2.

"Despite the volatility in the chip sector, history shows that many chip firms can produce huge gains if they have a unique new product that's serving a mass market (or, sometimes, a new market ... like camera cell phones back in the early 2000s).

Analyst Upgrades

• Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to positive from neutral at Susquehanna.
• tw telecom (TWTC) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Agree Realty (ADC) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Millicom (MICC) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Realty Income (O) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

We're well into the quarter now and the earnings reports continue to roll out.

This week, Dell (DELL) highlights a handful of results from tech companies. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for fourth-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share from the one of the world's top PC purveyors. That's up from 28 cents per share during the same period a year ago. Dell also is expected to report its revenue grew 5.5% year over year to $15.7 billion, for the three months that ended in January.

Investors are always searching the landscape for new and upcoming companies. This year and last the tech sector has had the greatest stars. One small tech company on the move is Nvidia (NVDA). The company specializes in visual computing technologies.

Why give this company a second look? Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and iPad have changed the way we view the Internet. Now the iPhone and iTablet are using an increasingly large amount of graphic design. Nvidia is on the cutting edge of this new technology.

The chip competition for the iPhone and iTablet is incredibly fierce. A little company called Nvidia's (NVDA) design won so far with its Tegra 2. Its shares are up almost 50% since December. Texas Instruments (TXN) is also a player in tablet chip market with its OMAP5 processor.

Now, Qualcomm QCOM) is joining the fray with its new APQ 8060 dual core Snapdragon processor. It allows for high definition and 3D video. Hewlett Packard is using it in its new "Touch Pad."

Analyst Upgrades

• Aetna (AET) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Kellogg (K) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• PetSmart (PETM) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• NetApp (NTAP) and Scripps Networks (SNI) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Thoratec (THOR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• ArcelorMittal (MT) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Bristol-Myers (BMY) to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• Eaton Vance (EV) to neutral from sell at Ticonderoga.
• Adtran (ADTN) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

The DJIA came within striking distance of 12,000 today. There was no major economic data and it is another melt-up rally. The news comes despite rising rate trends in China and India and despite the trends of inflation. It also comes in light of a Moscow, Russia airport bombing that killed more than 30 people.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,980.52 +108.68 (0.92%)
S&P 500 1,290.84 +7.49 (0.58%)
Nasdaq 2,717.55 +28.01 (1.04%)

Top Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

The shares of Nvidia (NVDA) have been tearing up the charts in 2011, thanks to a lucrative settlement with Intel (INTC) and a high-profile new partnership with ARM Holdings (ARMH). The month of January isn't quite half-over yet, but the stock is already sitting on a year-to-date gain of 51.6%.

Judging by at least one headline hitting the wires, the stock's rapid rise is making some analysts nervous. However, on Wednesday, one upbeat options trader placed a bet on additional upside from NVDA during the near term.

A slight economic upgrade from the Federal Reserve met higher commodity and higher equity prices today. The reality is that most equity markets were up around the globe today as investors are getting more of an appetite for risk. Even a Freddie Mac outlook for 2011 with higher interest rates and a 'narrower' budget deficit of $80 billion in December failed to temper optimism.

Here are the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,755.44 +83.56 (0.72%)
S&P 500 1,285.96 +11.48 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 2,737.33 +20.50 (0.75%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Tuesday was an up-day on most index readings as earnings season gets further underway. The notion that there are no blow-ups so far is helping to ease some fears of the cautious bulls. A private placement from Portugal also may have helped out even if that is more cause of concern longer-term. Another snow storm is about to shut down the Eastern Seaboard all over again. These are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones: 11,671.81 +34.36 (0.30%)
S&P 500: 1,274.47 +4.72 (0.37%)
Nasdaq: 2,716.83 +9.03 (0.33%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Analyst Upgrades

• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Macy's (M) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ), JA Solar (JASO) and HeartWare (HTWR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• RenaissanceRe (RNR) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• DCT Industrial (DCT) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) and Silver Standard (SSRI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Weatherford (WFT), Hercules (HERO), GulfMark Offshore (GLF), Tidewater (TDW) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to buy from hold, and Diamond Offshore (DO) to hold from underperform, at Jefferies.
• Ritchie Bros. (RBA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.

For years Microsoft (MSFT) was the tech leader. Then, Google (GOOG) came along and Microsoft missed the entire search engine revolution. But Microsoft still dominated in software. Then came Apple (AAPL) with its iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Again, Microsoft missed the small device revolution.

The Wall Street Journal reports that now Microsoft is playing catch-up again. With its next operating system it will use low-powered chips similar to those Apple uses.

Today was a great day with better than expected data from the Institute of Supply Management and from ADP and TrimTabs employment projections. Still, there was a mix of performance today with M&A and mixed earnings reactions, as well as with guidance reactions.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 11,722.89 +31.71 (0.27%)
S&P 500 1,276.56 +6.36 (0.50%)
Nasdaq 2,702.20 +20.95 (0.78%)

Top Stock Analyst Calls