MOST NOTEWORTHY: Potash, Cadbury Schweppes and Zoran were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Potash (NYSE: POT) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $178 from $141 to reflect their expectation for a more bullish outcome from the ongoing China Potash contract negotiations.
• Cadbury Schweppes (NYSE: CSG) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan to reflect the company's takeout potential and cash returns.
• Oppenheimer raised its rating on Zoran (NASDAQ: ZRAN) to Outperform from Perform on valuation, as they believe the recent weakness is overdone.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) was upgraded to Market Weight from Underweight at Thomas Weisel.
• JMP Securities upgraded Actuate (NASDAQ: ACTU) to Strong Buy from Outperform.
• Goldman raised Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) to Buy from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Siemens , Siliconware Precision and Palm were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Siemens AG (NYSE: SI) to Buy from Neutral and views shares as defensive in the current environment.
  
• Merriman upgraded shares of Siliconware Precision (NASDAQ: SPIL) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, as they believe the negative sentiment regarding the U.S. economy is already priced into shares.
• JP Morgan upgraded Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) to Overweight from Underweight citing new smart-phone products expected in 2008 and stronger-than-expected Centro sales.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Jefferies upgraded Pioneer Drilling (NYSE: PDC) to Buy from Hold.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) to Buy from Hold.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: DPL Inc, IAC/InterActiveCorp, F5 Networks, Community Health and Parametric Technology were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Baird upgraded DPL Inc (NYSE: DPL) to Outperform from Neutral following better-than-expected guidance.
  
• Citigroup upgraded IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) to Buy from Hold as they believe HSN's turnaround, Lending Tree's stabilization and Ask's profitability ramp should drive EBITDA growth acceleration in 2008. The company was also upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman following IAC's better-than-expected Q3 report.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ: FFIV) to Buy from Hold, as they believe now is the time to buy the stock with sentiment at a low-point heading into an attractive 2008 product cycle.
  
• Stifel raised its rating on Community Health Systems Inc (NYSE: CYH) to Buy from Hold based on improved visibility from detailed 2008 guidance.
  
• Kaufman upgraded Parametric Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: PMTC) to Buy from Hold based on an impressive quarter and favorable industry trends.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• China Life Insurance Company Limited (NYSE: LFC) was upgraded to Peer Perform from Underperform at Bear.
  
• The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• JP Morgan added Nalco Holding Company (NYSE: NLC) to its Focus List.
  
• RBC upgraded Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Chrysler LLC is discussing shuttering or selling Mopar, its auto parts unit, and Chrysler Transport, the overseer of supplies to Chrysler's plants, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
• Tomorrow, troubled condo developer WCI Communities Inc (NYSE: WCI) is expected to vote Carl Icahn and two of his representatives to the company's board, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Barron's Online's (subscription required) "Inside Scoop" column reported that Pep Boys (NYSE: PBY) director James Mitarotonda, a director since August 2006, purchased over $1.2M in stock through his equity fund Barington Companies Equity Partners on Aug. 23 and 24 according to SEC data.
• The sale of a 20% strategic stake in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE: SMI), China's biggest chipmaker, has stalled, as the company's board is reportedly undecided about how to proceed, reported the Financial Times (subscription required).

OTHER PAPERS:

• Nasdaq Stock Market Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ) has agreed to seek the approval of London Stock Exchange CEO Clara Furse before it sells its minority stake in the British exchange to any single buyer, reported the Independent.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: SanDisk (SNDK), Business Objects (BOBJ) and the Beverage Sector top today's list of downgrades.

• SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, citing expectations for an oversupply of flash memory in 2006 and 2007.
• Business Objects (NASDAQ:BOBJ) was downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at Pacific Crest, citing valuation concerns and increasing competition from Oracle (ORCL), Microsoft (MSFT) and open source competitors.
• The Beverage Sector was downgraded to Cautious from Neutral at Goldman Sachs. The firm cited declining demand in core categories, raw material inflation and valuation.
  • Goldman downgraded PepsiAmericas, Inc. (NYSE:PAS) and Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:CCE) to Sell from Neutral
  • while COTT Corp (NYSE:COT) was added to their Conviction Sell List.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Kevin Dann & Partners downgraded shares of Pep Boys (NYSE:PBY) to Hold from Buy on valuation and the lack of near-term catalysts.
• Thomas Weisel downgraded Ikanos Comm (NASDAQ:IKAN) to Peer Perform from Outperform citing a slowdown of VDSL deployments in Japan due to persisting inventory build at NTT.

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