Analyst upgrades:

• JPMorgan upgraded Franklin Resources (NYSE: BEN) to Overweight from Underweight to reflect performance and sales improvements, as well as benefits from the weakening U.S. dollar. The firm has a $94 target on the stock.
• Oppenheimer upgraded FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) to Outperform from Perform after channel checks indicated orders are recovering. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $22.
• KeyBanc upgraded Oshkosh (NYSE: OSK) to Buy from Hold citing the company's MRAP-ATV contract win, which they view as a "game changer." The firm has a $30 target on the stock.
• Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Ternium (NYSE: TX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Cathay General (NASDAQ: CATY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley.

Analyst upgrades:

• Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
• B. Riley upgraded S&T Bancorp (NASDAQ: STBA) to Buy from Neutral and lowered its target to $35 from $38 on valuation, as they believe the sell-off post-Q3 results is overdone.
  
• Jefferies upgraded GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) to Buy from Hold on valuation after Q4 revenue guidance was reset lower. The firm lowered their target to $13 from $18.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded shares of DHT Maritime (NYSE: DHT) and General Maritime (NYSE: GMR) to Overweight from Neutral on the company's valuation and dividend stability.

Analyst downgrades:

• HSBC cut Prudential (NYSE: PUK) to Neutral from Overweight as they believe capital has eroded and debt refinancing is increasingly difficult.
  
• Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman.
  
• Logitech (NASDAQ: LOGI) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Citigroup and to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Bank of America, Entercom Comm and Opnext were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to Underweight from Equal Weight as they believe the company may need to raise an additional $12B in capital in Q4 and cut its dividend by 20%.
  
• Citigroup cut Entercom Comm (NYSE:ETM) to Sell from Hold as they see near-term downside risk for radio stocks given the weaker economic backdrop and underperforming radio ad spend. The firm lowered their target to $5 from $9.75.
  
• Merriman downgraded Opnext (NASDAQ:OPXT) to Neutral from Buy following the acquisition of Stratalight, as they believe the deal is too stock heavy given the current valuation and has concerns about competition in the 40G market.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Columbia Banking (NASDAQ:COLB) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.
  
• Deutsche Bank cut Luxottica (NYSE:LUX) to Hold from Buy. Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) was lowered at Merrill to Underperform from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alcatel-Lucent, Opnext and American Axle were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the recovery of U.S. corporate bond yields which they believe is positive for the company's long-term pension liability. Goldman also thinks analyst estimates may have bottomed.
  
• Thomas Weisel raised Opnext (NASDAQ:OPXT) to Overweight from Market Weight after their research indicated an acceleration in optical communications component industry revenue growth.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded American Axle (NYSE:AXL) to Buy from Hold to reflect the cost savings from the UAW contract.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• MFA Mortgage (NYSE:MFA) was upgraded at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Flagstone Reinsurance (NYSE:FSR) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Merrill raised Crane Co (NYSE:CR) to Buy from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Och-Ziff Capital, FactSet, Forest Labs and certain optical component maker and provider stocks were today's noteworthy initiations.

• Och Ziff Capital Management Group (NYSE: OZM) was initiated with an Overweight by JP Morgan, which believes the company should be able to better sustain and build its earnings power than traditional asset managers in the challenging market conditions.
  
• JP Morgan started FactSet Research Systems (NYSE: FDS) with a Neutral, as the firm is looking for a better entry point given the probability of an upcoming financial data and analytics spending slowdown.
  
• Forest Labs Inc. (NYSE: FRX) was initiated with a Buy by Roth Capital, which cited Lexapro and the company's near-term EPS as reasons for the rating.
  
• Thomas Weisel initiated optical component maker and provider companies Avanex Corp. (NASDAQ: AVNX), Bookham Inc. (NASDAQ: BKHM), Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR), Optium Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTM), Opnext Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXT), and Oplink Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: OPLK) with Market Weight ratings, as the firm expects the unfavorable industry structure to create margin volatility.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JP Morgan assumed coverage of American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) with an Overweight rating.
• Morgan Stanley initiated Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ: EGLE) with an Equal Weight.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Delta Air Lines, Inc (DAL), Goodrich Corp (GR), Opnext, Inc (OPXT), Terex Corp (TEX) and Aruba Networks (ARUN) topped today's most noteworthy initiations list:

• UBS started shares of Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) with a Reduce rating and $17 target on valuation and management's overly optimistic outlook.

• Deutsche Bank prefers to wait of a better entry point for Goodrich Corp (NYSE: GR) and initiated shares with a Hold rating.

• Opnext Inc (NASDAQ: OPXT) was initiated at JP Morgan with a Neutral rating citing concerns regarding new transceiver margins.

• Prudential believes Terex Corp (NYSE: TEX) is well positioned to take advantage of strong sustainable growth in the global infrastructure and mining markets over at least the rest of the decade, starting shares with an Overweight rating.

• RBC Capital started Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) with a Sector Perform rating while Lehman Bros initiated Aruba with an Overweight rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Deutsche Bank started Delta Petroleum Corp (NASDAQ: DPTR) with a Buy rating and $27 target.

• JMP Securities started Hersha Hospitality Trust (AMEX: HT) with an Outperform rating and $14 target.

• Credit Suisse assumed coverage of Interline Brands, Inc (NYSE: IBI) with an Outperform rating and $34 target.

• Credit Suisse reinstated Brooks Automation, Inc (NASDAQ: BRKS) with a Neutral rating.

• Goldman Sachs started CenturyTel, Inc (NYSE: CTL) with a Sell rating and $42 target on valuation.

• B. Riley initiated Insteel Industries, Inc (NASDAQ: IIIN) with a Buy rating and $24 target.

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

It's Thursday, so on CNBC's MAD MONEY Jim Cramer featured his SELL BLOCK, where he reviews some past picks and says to Sell or to Stick With It.

He says that of his recent picks in IPO's he wants to review Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ:CLWR). He would Sell Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) to switch into Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS). He would also Sell Melco PBL Entertainment (NASDAQ:MPEL) in Macau, as he was wrong and it is down 16%, and IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) which is down 21% from the first day's close. Cramer likes trying to get in on the IPO pricing because you have a lower chance of getting hurt.

Cramer does have ones that he likes from the recent IPO pool: Switch & Data Facilities Co. (NASDAQ:SDXC) is one he likes right now. AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Opnext Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXT) are ones that you can buy on weakness.

Wall Street's equity market offers a light schedule this week, with 5 IPOs and 1 Secondary on the docket.

Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Tuesday

• Vaughan Foods (FOOD), a 5M-share IPO for this salads and foodstuffs company. Paulson is the lead manager. Filing range: $8.00-$10.00.
• Triangle Capital (TCAP), 3.5M-share IPO for this special financing company. Morgan Keegan and BBN Capital Markets are the lead managers. Filing price: $15.00. [Note - This deal is expected to price at mid-week: hence, it could take place Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.]

Opnext, a maker of laser diodes, optical modules and pluggable modules, is expected to go public this week, and will trade under the symbol OPXT. Opnext is the second optical component company to come public in the last four months. Optium Corporation (NASDAQ: OPTM), a Chalfont, Pa-based company, came public in October 2006 at $17.50 and is now trading at $24.95.

Opnext has been funded by Hitachi and venture capital firm Clarity Group. Hitachi will be transferring some 670 patents to this start up.

The stock is supposedly going to be priced around $14 per share. With only two optical companies recently coming public, as one would expect, the financials for the company are pretty solid.

Supposedly, Opnext is strong in the 10-Gigabyte optical space and also has product for 40 gigabyte technology.

These optical components are very cyclical, as are most new higher growth industries. The upcycle in this space appears to be still in its early stage. It may be worth a spec on this IPO.