If you were hoping that last week's stealth rally was going to continue, that didn't happen. Manufacturing data was atrocious here in the U.S., and even China gave horrible data on that front. Then, the NBER came out and officially declared the recession has been afoot -- in case you hadn't noticed. To show how much demand destruction there is, oil was down another $4.00 by 2:00 PM. All this data led to record lows on Treasury maturity yields.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
Top Upgrades & Downgrades

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) was hit on a research report predicting that tomorrow's GE Capital presentation will be a platform that will allow the company to reduce guidance further than it already has.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) traded up early on reports that a new deal between Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! may occur on a search pact rather than a merger. This was refuted elsewhere and it took the wind out of the rumor.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Premiere Global (NYSE: PGI) to Outperform from Perform on valuation and believes the company's strategic initiatives will drive "healthy" top-line results in a difficult economy.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Prudential (NYSE: PRU) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe the stock is oversold at current levels. Though upgraded, the firm lowered their target price to $30 from $80.
  
• Citigroup also upgraded Bankrate (NASDAQ: RATE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company will benefit from the financial market volatility and that the risk/reward is attractive at current levels. The firm maintains a $40 target on the stock.
• Hospitality Properties (NYSE: HPT) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
  
• Diamond Offshore (NYSE: DO) was upgraded at Merrill Lynch to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Alcon (NYSE: ACL) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

The wide range of business communications possibilities available through the Internet is exciting, but it can also be confusing. Fortunately, there is an experienced firm in Atlanta, Georgia that is ready to get you going.

Premiere Global Services (NYSE: PGI) develops communication technology solutions applicable to such business needs as conferencing, document sharing, marketing and notifications. The firm's Conferencing and Collaboration unit provides teleconferencing and Web-conferencing services, including Internet-based document sharing tools. The unit works with popular presentation software packages from Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), among others. The Data Communications segment automates functions like invoice distribution, appointment scheduling, eMarketing and collections. The company has a customer base of about 60,000 corporate accounts, including nearly eighty percent of the Fortune 500.

Premiere Global pleased the Street last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of 19 cents and revenues of $135.6 million. Analysts had been expecting 17 cents and $129.8 million. Management also predicted FY07 revenues at the high end of its previous guidance range ($517.6-527.4M), versus consensus of $525.6 million. The company further said it would commence a $150 million self-tender offer, which it projected would be accretive to its diluted earnings per share.

One of the nicest things about the Internet is that it allows such a wide array of business communications possibilities. Often, though, it can be difficult to know just how to take advantage of those possibilities. Fortunately, there is an experienced firm in Atlanta, Georgia that is ready to get you going.

Premiere Global Services (NYSE: PGI) develops communication technology solutions applicable to such business needs as conferencing, document sharing, marketing and notifications. The firm's Conferencing and Collaboration unit provides teleconferencing and Web-conferencing services, including Internet-based document sharing tools. The Data Communications segment automates functions like invoice distribution, appointment scheduling, eMarketing and collections. The company has a customer base of about 60,000 corporate accounts, including nearly 80% of the Fortune 500.

Premiere Global pleased the Street last week when it reported Q4 EPS of 17 cents and revenues of $127.1 million. Analysts had been expecting 16 cents and $123.5 million. Management also guided FY07 revenues to $520.17-$531.10 million, versus consensus of $517.10 million. Roth Capital subsequently upgraded the shares to "buy." The issue popped on the news and then passed into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Altogether, the brokerage community recommends the shares with one "strong buy," two "buys" and three "holds." Analysts see a 28 percent growth rate through the next year. The PGI Price to Sales ratio (1.53), Price to Book ratio (2.40) and Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (18.41) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 80% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $6.83 and $10.85. A stop-loss of $9.05 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.