What does it mean when a stock is downgraded to "Outperform" from "Strong Buy" as Raymond James did this week? That was the analysis painted on Noble Corp. (NE) and it's hard to figure.

What is the difference? What are they telling investors? You should switch from betting the farm to only betting the house on this stock?

They reduced their price target to $41 from $44. Noble closed yesterday at $34.66, so Raymond James is still speculating on a gain over 20% in the next twelve months.

Petroleo Brasiliero (PBR) closed up $1.49 to $37.48. PBR aims to raise $64 billion to fund PBR's plans to develop offshore oil fields. Crude oil futures are recently down 1.41% to $73.96 a barrel according to Bloomberg. PBR call option volume of 31K contracts compared to put volume of 33K contracts. September put option implied volatility is at 30, October is at 36, January is at 40 versus its 26-week average of 35, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Expedia, Inc. (EXPE) closed at $25.43. EXPE shares have recently rallied; likely due to the news Google, Inc. (GOOG) proposed acquisition of ITA may face a lengthy review process by the U.S. Department of Justice. October put option implied volatility is at 41, January is at 45: versus its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger January price movement.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Until recently, my largest positions were in financial stocks Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC). As a contrarian investor, I do buy on fear and sell on greed as "my pal Warren" has advised for many years. This has worked out to be very profitable over the past 18 months. However, in the past 30 days the financial stocks have dropped to second place in favor of oil and gas stocks.

I think the economic recovery is moving at a snail's pace, lowering anticipated demand for oil while gas was already depressed based on the same factors and the addition of numerous new large supplies. Add to this the mess in the Gulf of Mexico and the public's already negative sentiment about oil companies and you have the makings of depressed pricing in the sector.

Insurance companies have $12 billion in indirect investments related to Iran, according to California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner -- and he wants them to stop. He's pushing insurers in his state to divest, and the perspective is gaining popularity: his counterpart in Florida thinks the policy should go national.

Kevin McCarty, commissioner in Florida, said to National Underwriter, "I have consulted with other state insurance commissioners to evaluate the practicality of developing a national initiative similar to the undertaking by the California Department of Insurance." He's already contacted the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Securities Valuation Office to figure out "the feasibility of leveraging national resources to review the financial statements of national insurers to determine their exposure to companies with operations in Iran."

It goes without saying that the investment strategy advocated here favors integrated oil companies, particularly those with a regional or product advantage. And with the aforementioned in mind, I'm reiterating my buy rating for Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR), also known as Petrobras, first recommended on April 22, 2009, at a price of $32.99. If you bought PBR in April, you're up an impressive 47%.

Petrobras remains on-track for 5% to 6% oil/natural gas production growth for FY2009 or about 2.54 million barrels of oil equivalent per day; longer-term, a roughly 7% to 7.5% average annual production increase is seen for 2010 to 2013.

"Crude oil remains deeply oversold on an intermediate-term basis, suggesting a rally sometime in the early fall," says Dennis Slothower.

The editor of Stealth Stocks looks to Petroleo Brasileiro SA (NYSE: PBR) as his latest "stock of the month." Here's his review of the Brazilian firm that is now the world's 8th-largest oil company.

"The founding of Petrobras was authorized in October 1953, with the objective of executing, on behalf of the federal government, the activities of the oil sector in Brazil.

"Over the past five decades or so, the company has become the country's leader in the distribution of oil products, an activity not covered by the government monopoly, and today it is internationally acknowledged as the eighth-largest oil company in the world.

"Leading the sector in the development of one of the most advanced deepwater and ultra-deepwater technologies for oil production, PBR was twice (in 1992 and 2001) awarded the Offshore Technology Company (OTC) prize, the most important award in the sector.

Readers of this space know that one argument I forward here is that in the era of elevated energy prices, oil/natural gas companies are likely to remain promising plays for the foreseeable future, barring the discovery of a cheap, widely-available, alternative energy. And among oil/natural gas companies, Petroleo Brasileiro is worth a review.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) is Brazil's largest industrial operation, with oil/gas production, refining and purchasing businesses, and oil/gas transport services.

(Note: Petroleo's shares split 2-for-1 in May 2008.)

Analysts really like PBR's proved reserves of 15 billion barrels of oil equivalent, 12,900 wells, 16 refineries, 31,000 kilometers of pipeline, and astounding 5,870 gasoline stations. Further, analysts see 2008 production rising about 11-14%. The Reuters F2008/F2009 EPS consensus estimates for PBR are $4.91/$5.03.

The risks? Analysts have their eye on PBR's operating costs. Also, PBR's concentration in Brazil means a downturn in that country's economy will hurt results.

Stock Analysis: Petroleo Brasileiro is a moderate-risk stock not suitable for low-risk investors. Investors with an investment horizon longer than two years should be rewarded from PBR's shares. Sell / Stop Loss if you were to purchase shares in this company: $78.

Disclosure: Lazzaro has no positions in stocks. In addition to private real estate holdings, he owns corporate and municipal bonds, and cash certificates of deposit.

Oil driller Transocean, Inc. (NYSE: RIG), whose shares have probed, but have been unable to move and stay permanently above $160 -- may have received the catalyst it needs to reach loftier price levels.

Transocean's shares jumped $8.34, ending at $155.54 after Bloomberg News reported that Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), Brasil's state-controlled oil company, leased about 80% percent of the world's deepest-drilling offshore rigs to explore prospects. That included the Western Hemisphere's biggest discovery in decades, the Tupi field. Further, the activity of Petroleo, also known as Petrobras, is forcing up day-rates for oil rigs. PBR also closed higher Thursday, up $2.00 to $68.27.

Further, Petrobras is in talks with Transocean to extend leases as much as three years ahead of expiration, Robert Long, chief executive officer for the Houston-based RIG, told Bloomberg News. Also, Petrobras plans to start pumping oil from Tupi in Q1 2009. Tupi is the largest oil find in North America since the 1976 Cantarelli field discovery in the Gulf of Mexico.

With the current challenging market conditions probably many of us are wondering which are those reliable stocks that could offer us a big profit in the next coming years. In the light of those questions, Gene Marcial's new book, 7 Commandments of Stock Investing, reveals his perspective over seven stocks that are considered to be worth buying and holding for the next seven years (check out BusinessWeek's slideshow of his seven picks).

Taking advantage of the experience he gained over the past 30 years, BusinessWeek's Gene Marcial shares his opinions related to investors' strategy to use market meltdowns for their own benefit, being able to turn the stock market panic into success.

Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR), also known as Petrobras, is a petroleum company that finds, produces, refines, purchases and transports oil and gas products. It's domestic Brazilian operations involve more than 100 production platforms, sixteen refineries, almost 20,000 miles of pipeline and more than 6,000 gas stations. Subsidiaries invest in fuel alcohol, fertilizer and power generation endeavors. The firm's foreign units conduct exploration, production and supply operations throughout the Americas and Africa. The Brazilian government owns 32% of Petrobras and controls 56% of its voting shares. BP plc (NYSE: BP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) are competitors.

Investors came to attention earlier in the week, when the head of Brazil's National Petroleum Agency said that Petrobras and partners Repsol-YPF (NYSE: REP) and BG Group had made what may be the world's biggest oil discovery in at least 32 years. The Carioca find was said to contain up to 33 billion barrels of oil and gas. That would make it the third largest oil field in the world, with a capacity topping all the proven reserves in the United States (29.9 billion barrels). Petrobras officials have been cautious in their appraisals, saying that further drilling would be needed before any meaningful estimate of volumes could be made. The CEO said they would have a clearer idea of size in two to three months.

Readers of this space know that one argument forwarded here is that in the era of elevated energy prices oil/natural gas companies are likely to remain promising plays for the foreseeable future, baring the discovery of a cheap, widely-available, alternative energy source. And among oil/natural gas companies, Petroleo Brasileiro is worth a review.

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (ADR) (NYSE: PBR) is Brazil's largest industrial operation, with oil/gas production, refining and purchasing businesses, and oil/gas transport services.

Analysts like PBR's proven reserves of 15 billion barrels of oil equivalent, 12,900 wells, 16 refineries, 31,000 kilometers of pipeline, and 5,870 gasoline stations.