Analyst Upgrades

• Marriott (MAR) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Quest Diagnostics (DGX) and Owens-Illinois (OI) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• FirstMerit (FMER) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Safeway (SWY) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Babcock & Wilcox (BWC) to buy from neutral, as well as Jacobs Engineering (JEC) and W. R. Berkley (WRB) to neutral from sell, at Goldman.
• Pioneer Natural (PXD) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Teekay Tankers (TNK) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

An invasion of U.S. oil fields by Asian buyers is happening. Recently, companies from Korea, China and India have bought land in the oil-rich states of Texas, Colorado and Wyoming, according to Reuters.

In one of the biggest land deals, Korea National Oil (KNOC) bought one-third of Anadarko Petroleum's (APC) land holdings in South Texas for $1.55 billion. The purchase of 80,000 acres is located in the Eagle Ford Shale section, which is believed to have rich deposits of oil, natural gas and liquids, according to Reuters. KNOC also will receive 16,000 acres in the Pearsall Shale in South Texas.

Analyst Upgrades

• Exxon Mobil (XOM), Netflix (NFLX), Noble Corp. (NE), Pioneer Natural (PXD) and Noble Energy (NBL) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Cenovus Energy (CVE) to conviction buy from neutral and Atwood Oceanics (ATW) to neutral from sell at Goldman as well.
• Southern Company (SO) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Chevron (CVX) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Ryder (R), Entergy (ETR) and Seaspan (SSW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Gerdau (GGB), Crown Castle (CCI) and American Tower (AMT) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Ryland Group (RYL) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.

Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

Analyst Upgrades

• TCF Financial (TCB) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Exelon (EXC) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Nvidia (NVDA) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Estee Lauder (EL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Webster Financial (WBS) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from underperform and Pioneer Natural (PXD) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Autodesk (ADSK) to buy from neutral at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Lubrizol (LZ) to Hold from Sell following the company's analyst day citing its continued pricing power in lubricants. Citi upped its target price for shares to $115 from $82.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Viacom (VIA) to Buy from Neutral citing the company's ratings improvement, 2011 film slate, and video game pipeline. The firm has a $45 price target for shares.
• BMO Capital resumed coverage on Gammon Gold (GRS) with an Outperform from a Market Perform following the its equity issue. The firm has a $12.50 price target on the stock.
• Comerica (CMA) and First Horizon (FHN) were upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Prudential (PRU) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Itron (ITRI) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel Nicolaus.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Pioneer Natural (PXD) to outperform from market perform and raised its price target for shares to $85 from $60. The firm upgraded shares on expectations that returns from the company's Spraberry field will increase materially.
• Baird upgraded Acroda Therapeutics (ACOR) to outperform from neutral based on valuation and a new survey that indicates a strong uptake for Ampyra and improvements on the reimbursement front. The firm has a $40 target on the stock.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Nokia (NOK) to overweight from underweight based on checks that indicate strong orders and less than expected discounting for its upcoming N8 smartphone.
• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and British American Tobacco (BTI) were upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Quality Systems (QSII) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at William Blair.
• Siemens (SI) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Adobe Systems (ADBE) to outperform from market perform to reflect valuation following the recent pullback in shares, as well as the upcoming release of the company's CS5 product. The firm raised its price target for the stock to $39 from $36.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Zenith National (ZNT) to market perform from underperform following the company's merger agreement with Fairfax Financial. The firm thinks the offer is a strong price to receive for Zenith National shareholders.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Infosys (INFY) to buy from hold as it believes the offshore applications outsourcing market is picking up. The firm raised its target price for shares to $67 from $58.
• Ventas (VTR) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Liz Claiborne (LIZ) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• iStar Financial (SFI) was upgraded to hold from sell at Citigroup.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Telefonica, Affymax and Hatteras Financial were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Deutsche Bank initiated Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) with a Buy rating and believes concerns of an economic slowdown in Spain are overdone and that company is on track to make 2008 guidance.
  
• Baird assumed coverage of Affymax (NADAQ: AFFY) with an Outperform rating and $25 target. The firm believes the market has discounted the regulatory and commercial prospects of lead compound Hematide, which they believe is a $800M revenue opportunity, and recommends buying shares aggressively in the mid-$20s.
  
• Shares of Hatteras Financial (NYSE: HTS) were started with an Outperform rating and $35 target at Friedman Billings. The firm believes management has the opportunity to stabilize its agency portfolio and generate a return on invested capital of about 20%.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Caris assumed OmniVision (NASDAQ: OVTI) with a Buy rating and $15 target.
  
• Pioneer Natural (NYSE: PXD) was initiated at UBS with a Buy rating and $110 target.
  
• UBS also initiated CME Group (NYSE: CME) with a Neutral rating and $430 target.
  
• Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) was assumed with a Buy rating and $14.40 target at Merrill Lynch.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Pioneer Natural, Genomic Health and Alphatec were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE: PXD) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent weakness.
• Genomic Health Inc (NASDAQ: GHDX) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital, as they believe momentum for the company's Oncotype Dx test is building based on inclusion in new clinical guidelines and expanded reimbursement.
• Alphatec Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ATEC) was upgraded to Buy from Source of Funds at Think Equity, citing the new CEO's efforts to overhaul the company, which has positioned it for growth.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE: ICE) was added to JP Morgan's Focus List.
• Banc of America upgraded Sirona Dental Systems Inc (NASDAQ: SIRO) to Buy from Neutral.
• Baird upgraded CommVault Systems Inc (NASDAQ: CVLT) to Outperform from Neutral.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD) is poised to be the first independent operator to produce oil on the North Slope, an area dominated by the major producers such as Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), though other independents such as Andarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) may not be far behind.

Ten-year-old Pioneer, based in Irvine, Texas, plans to begin drilling in a few weeks off the coast of Oooguruk Island, Alaska, in a field expected to yield as much as 90 million barrels of oil. Pioneer expects to begin producing oil from there in the first half of next year.

Pioneer's efforts are being closely watched to see whether independents can establish themselves on the North Slope. "Ours is a bellwether project," says Chief Operating Officer Tim Dove. "If we do well, make the project work in reasonable time and in a fiscally responsible manner, it could open up some avenues for us and other independents."

Pioneer also announced the start-up of its South Coast Gas (SCG) project, expected to produce approximately 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day by the end of the year. Scott Sheffield, Pioneer's Chairman and CEO, says, "With the completion of SCG and considering that a majority of the capital costs related to our Oooguruk development on the North Slope will be invested by the end of 2007, we expect our 2008 drilling and development budget to decrease significantly as compared to 2007."

The share price has been rising since reaching a 52-week low of $35.51 in August after Pioneer's second quarter report. The share price at close on Friday was $46.02. Pioneer will report on its third quarter on November 6.