Cowen upgraded Aaron Rents (NYSE: RNT) to Outperform from Neutral and believes the company's business model is gaining momentum despite the difficult environment. The firm views valuation as attractive.
Citigroup upgraded shares of MedCath (NASDAQ: MDTH) to Hold from Sell on valuation following the recent sell-off. The company's target was lowered to $9 from $19.
Stanford upgraded AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and because they believe its visibility over the next year has improved.
Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
FCStone (NASDAQ: FCSX) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.
Analyst downgrades:
RBC Capital downgraded Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) to Sector Perform from Outperform based on reduced valuation parameters and lack of catalysts. The company's target was lowered to $9 from $15.
Kellogg (NYSE: K) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) were cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
William Blair raised Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes that the long-term fundamentals of the clinical laboratories sectors are still strong.
UBS upgraded Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE) to Buy from Neutral on valuation.
ArthroCare (NASDAQ: ARTC) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Lazard, since the firm expects a small restatement while they believe a large restatement is priced into the shares.
Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by UBS.
Aetna (NYSE: AET) was initiated with a Buy by Banc of America, which believes the company will experience industry-leading member growth.
Banc of America initiated Wellpoint (NYSE: WLP) with a Buy rating, as the firm expects the shares to rebound from near trough valuations.
Wachovia (NYSE: WB) was reinitiated by Friedman Billings with an Underperform rating, as the firm expects the company to incur higher credit losses than the Street expects due to its outsized exposure to residential real estate.
Six Flags (NYSE: SIX) was started with an Above Average rating by Caris.
Anglogold (NYSE: AU) closed at $27.47 Thursday. Gold is recently down 3.11% to $789.20 according to Bloomberg. AU September option implied volatility of 51 is above its 26-week average of 43 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.
Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) closed at $33.93 Thursday. Crude oil futures are recently down 1.64% to $113.37. VLO September option implied volatility of 53 is above its 26-week average of 47 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.
Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) closed at $24 Thursday. Copper is recently down 3.80% to 326 according to Bloomberg. PCU September option implied volatility of 53 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.
Archer Daniels (NYSE: ADM) closed at $26.62 Thursday. Corn futures are recently down 3.38% to 557.75, Soybean futures are down 2.59% to 1241 according to Track Data. ADM September option implied volatility of 44 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price movement.
Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Sunoco, Ryanair and HSBC Holdings were today's noteworthy downgrades:
JP Morgan downgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Underweight from Neutral citing expected margin pressure due to high leverage to sweet crude. Goldman also downgraded shares of Sunoco to Neutral from Buy.
Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) to Sell from Hold as they believe the European airlines sector will trade well below book value until the companies deal with higher oil prices.
UBS cut HSBC (NYSE: HBC) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the potential for higher losses at the company's household unit and weak performance at its U.S. bank.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Broadpoint lowered MTS Medication (NYSE: MPP) to Neutral from Strong Buy.
HSBC cut Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) to Neutral from Overweight.
Goldman downgraded CNH Global (NYSE: CNH) to Neutral from Buy and PetroChina (PTR) to Sell from Buy.
Bernstein downgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) to "market perform" from "outperform" according toBriefing.com. The news service also reports that Citigroup initiated Southern Cooper (NYSE: PCU) with a "sell".
Banc of America Securities said that Allstate (NYSE: ALL) may miss first quarter earnings due to payments for storm damages according to the AP.
During a period of persistent demand for minerals/commodities, considering a mining company or two makes a great deal of sense, and among these Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) is worth an evaluation.
Southern Peru is one of the largest copper mining companies in the world, and also is a large producer of molybdenum, silver and zinc. With operations in Mexico, Peru and Chile, PCU has seen steady demand for its mined products from burgeoning Asia, as well as from buyers in Europe and the Americas.
Further, although period labor strikes have lowered production in the past, PCU has been able to keep production at acceptable levels, and that fact, combined strong demand for copper, along with the company's 44.9 million proven copper reserves, make PCU an inviting play.
The risks? As one might realize, PCU sells a great deal of copper to China, and if China substantially lowers its copper purchases as it started to do so this summer, copper prices would begin to soften, hurting PCU's results. The Reuters F2007/F2008 EPS consensus estimates for PCU are $9.15/$10.24.
The First Call mean rating for PCU is: Hold. (8 firms.) Mean 2007 target: $109.50. (high: $135, low: $59.80.)
Stock Analysis: Southern Peru Copper is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than 2 years should be rewarded from PCU's shares. Sell / Stop Loss: $95.
Bernstein also upgraded shares of BP PLC (NYSE: BP) and BG Group (NYSE: BRG) to Outperform from Market Perform.
Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ: CHKP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, citing checks that indicate a strong product cycle for the company's beefed up VPN/firewall product portfolio.
ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the recent correction provides a compelling entry point.
Amid mounting criticism for its role in the subprime crisis, McGraw Hill Companies Inc (NYSE: MHP) replaced Kathleen Corbet, the president of Standard & Poors, with Deven Sharma, a McGraw Hill senior VP who has been with S&P since the end of last year, reported the Wall Street Journal.
Barron's Online's "Inside Scoop" column reported that Aeropostale Inc (NYSE: ARO) CFO Michael Cunningham sold $2.1M in stock Monday at an average price of $22.43 per share, according to SEC data.
OTHER PAPERS:
Indian IT outsourcing companies Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY) and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT) have reportedly both shown interest in buying out the US-based high-end analytics company MarketRx, which is believed to be worth between $150M and $160M, reported the Economic Times.
MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cablevision Systems Corp (CVC), Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NDAQ), Greenbrier Cos (GBX), Southern Copper Corp (PCU) and Hawaiian Holdings (HA) were today's noteworthy downgrades:
Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE: CVC) to Neutral from Outperform and does not expect a higher bid to emerge.
Deutsche Bank downgraded Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) to Hold from Buy, expecting only modest performance in 2007.
Matrix cut Greenbrier Cos (NYSE: GBX) to Sell from Hold on the belief that slowing demand for double-stack and forest products rail cars is leading to slowing revenues.
Credit Suisse downgraded Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU) to Underperform from Outperform based on valuation.
Goldman cut Hawaiian Holdings (AMEX: HA) to Sell from Neutral based on weak fundamentals and increased liquidity concerns.
Shuffle Master Inc (NASDAQ: SHFL) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman based on valuation and near-term challenges.
RBC cut KLA-Tencor Corp (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Sector Perform from Outperform citing valuation, concerns related to June order expectations, a slowdown in operating expense reduction and long-term concerns related to process control spending.
JP Morgan downgraded shares of Hershey Foods Co (NYSE: HSY) to Underweight from Neutral on valuation and concerns about the company's restructuring plan.
OTHER DOWNGRADES:
Keefe Bruyette downgraded Ameriprise Financial, Inc (NYSE: AMP) to Market Perform from Outperform, citing valuation.
Merriman cut ValueClick, Inc's (NASDAQ: VCLK) rating to Neutral from Buy as the firm believes Google's (GOOG) acquisition of DoubleClick clouds VCLK's long-term prospects.
UBS downgraded Supervalu Inc (NYSE: SVU) to Reduce from Neutral based on deteriorated sales trends.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Southern Copper Corp (NYSE: PCU) to Underweight from Equal Weight based on valuation and a potential miss to Q1 expectations.
The thesis that the global economy is moving toward a multi-polar world, as opposed to one driven primarily by U.S. economic growth, was reinforced Wednesday when the International Monetary Fund lowered its 2007 U.S. GDP growth forecast to 2.2% from 2.9%, while underscoring that it expects the global economy to grow at a much higher 4.9% rate.
For much of the modern industrial area, slow growth in the U.S. meant slow growth for most of the developed world. The relationship helped spawn the economic adage, "When the U.S. economy catches a cold, the world catches pneumonia."
That adage is being tested today, at the dawn of the globalization era, because in 2007 the IMF predicts that every major economic zone in Europe and Asia will grow faster than the U.S. economy in 2007.
I've just returned from the World Money Show in Orlando where more than 10,000 investors gathered to learn about global investing. I had a chance to meet with many of the U.S. and foreign financial experts featured at the show, and over the next week I will share some of their top investment ideas. To view all of the stocks featured in this special global report, click here.
In his search for high growth and income, Mark Skousen searches worldwide, and indeed, his latest trio of dividend plays reach from Australia and China to Peru.
The editor of the Skousen High Income Alert and host of the annual investor think tank, Freedomfest, explains, "We hold two foreign commodity stocks in our high-yield portfolio that have achieved double-digit percentage gains, while paying double-digit percentage dividend yields. And both stocks look like winners for 2007 as commodity prices climb.
"Southern Copper Corp. (NYSE:PCU) is the world's fifth largest copper producer and it is only one of a select few commodity plays that pays a large dividend.
"Southern Copper now is up 19% since the first of the year and up 39% since we initially recommended it in early October. Despite lower copper and gold prices in the past six months, Southern Copper is minting money by maintaining low costs and increasing production.
"Plus, the stock pays an incredible 11% dividend. It should pay a $1-plus dividend in the next week or two weeks. What's not to like? Keep on buying. Southern Copper is part of our incredible high-income portfolio.
Every now and then I like to check out the list of stocks that are trading at new highs. Today as I scan the list I see a couple of big names that I think are worth mentioning.
Southern Copper (NYSE: PCU) is trading up to a new high today. It seems like this stock is setting new highs on a daily basis, and you would be hard pressed to find me a more impressive thirty day chart for a stock. Last week I wrote about how Jim Cramer had once again thrown his support behind the company and that helped push the stock up 2% that day. Since then the stock has tacked on roughly another $1.50 to it's price. Yesterday I caught another clip of Cramer talking about PCU on Wall Street Confidential. He pointed out that the increasing interest in hybrid cars is going to really help keep copper climbing since copper is such a huge component in hybrid car batteries. The stock has hit a new high of $66.06 today but has sold off a bit and is currently trading flat at $65.10.
Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) has also set a new 52-week high today of $102.79 and is currently trading up 1.2% to $102.40 up $1.23. Yesterday Chief Executive Mark Parker said on Tuesday worldwide revenue could rise 53% to $23 billion within five years. That's a pretty bold statement for the shoe giant. The company also announced that they would be adding 100 more stores worldwide over the next 3 years.
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Analyst upgrades:
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Every now and then I like to check out the list of stocks that are trading at new highs. Today as I scan the list I see a couple of big names that I think are worth mentioning. 
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