Noble Corp. (NE - option chain) shares are rising today after Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill (MHP), announced NE will be added to its S&P 500 Index after the close of trading on Friday, replacing QLogic (QLGC). Addition to this index means that all the funds that track the index will need to add NE to their holdings, which is usually a positive thing for the stock. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NE.

NE opened this morning at $37.83. So far today the stock has hit a low of $37.37 and a high of $38.35. As of 12:30, NE is trading at $38.30 up $2.37 (6.6%). The chart for NE looks bullish and S&P gives NE a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy ranking.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Smith Micro (SMSI) to overweight from neutral and raised its price target to $15 from $9, citing the release of a WiFi iPad with MiFi from Verizon and Apple.
• Jefferies upgraded Whole Foods (WFMI) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $45 from $36, citing checks that indicate sales are accelerating and the company has been focused on expense control.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Ensco (ESV) and raised its price target to $54 to $56 from $46 to $47, citing valuation, the lifted deepwater drilling ban and higher oil prices.
• Gran Tierra Energy (GTE) was upgraded to buy from hold at Wunderlich, citing the company's Moqueta oil discovery as well as other near-term exploration opportunities, and raised its price target to $12.50 from $7.00.
• Chico's FAS (CHS) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc and set a $13 price target.
• UR-Energy (URE) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.

Wall Street's optimism in last week's preview about the earnings of tech stocks wasn't misplaced, as there were many more positive surprises than negative ones among the stocks we looked at. This week will bring plenty more data for investors in and watchers of the sector to mull over. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), for example, are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post modest earnings gains from a year ago, to $1.11 per share (on $8.1 billion in sales), $0.72 per share (on $31.3 billion in sales), and $0.47 per share (on $14.8 billion in sales) respectively. All three of these companies ended the week closer to their 52-week lows than highs, and analysts on average consider them each a buy.

Here's a look at some of the week's biggest expected earnings gainers and decliners in the sector:

• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): $1.25 per share (+44.0%) on revenues of $134.7 million (+103.2%)
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM): $0.44 per share (+38.6%) on revenues of $1.3 billion (+33.8%)
• QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC): $0.31 per share (+29.0%) on revenues of $170.0 million (+21.2%)
• FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR): $0.32 per share (+28.1%) on revenues of $275.2 million (+44.0%)
• Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR): $0.30 per share (+26.7%) on revenues of $927.4 million (+26.2%)
• Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): $0.75 per share (+17.3%) on revenues of $391.6 million (+11.1%)
• Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): $0.29 per share (+17.2%) on revenues of $8.7 billion (+57.3%)
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): $0.19 per share (+10.5%) on revenues of $3.7 billion (+12.9%)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) Q2 earnings decline on materials costs but beat analysts estimates (see transcript).
• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) solid Q3 results were accompanied by a share buyback program.
• Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) warned that Q2 results will include a delay-related charge of 22 cents per share.
• Cash America International Inc. (NYSE: CSH) predicted Q2 earnings above previous guidance.
• EZcorp Inc. (NASDAQ: EZPW) predicted better-than-expected Q3 results due to strong sales.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) beat Q3 expectations and raised its Q4 guidance.
• Flow International Corp. (NASDAQ: FLOW) swung to a better-than-expected Q4 profit on strong demand.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reported mixed Q2 results and offered an uninspiring Q3 outlook (transcript).
• Helen of Troy Ltd. (NASDAQ: HELE) Q1 results were colored by write-downs and other charges.
• International Speedway Corp. (NASDAQ: ISCA) Q2 earnings soared while revenue slipped.
• Levis Strauss Q2 profitability plunged due to declining sales and higher administrative costs.
• Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) topped Q2 estimates but lowered its guidance (see transcript).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vodafone, Citrix Systems, STMicroelectronics, Symmetricom and Smith International were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company is benefiting from increased data sales.
  
• Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings. The firm's checks indicate that its clear communication strategy and a stronger technology platform behind the Enterprise and Platinum editions is spurring top line growth.
  
• Baird upgraded shares of STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) to Outperform from Neutral based on new product cycle, multiple design wins, valuation, and strong Q4 guidance.
  
• Cantor upgraded shares of Symmetricom (NASDAQ: SYMM) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation compelling and are comfortable with Q1 estimates.
  
• Calyon Securities upgraded Smith International (NYSE: SII) to Add from Neutral following its Q3 report and guidance.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded QLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Outperform from Sector Perform.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) to Outperform from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: American Home Mortgage (AHM), Biogen Idec (BIIB), Bebe Stores (BEBE), Ingersoll-Rand (IR) and SK Telecom (SKM) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:

• RBC Capital cut American Home Mortgage (NYSE: AHM) to Sector Perform from Outperform citing the deterioration in the global debt markets for the downgrade.

• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Underweight from Equal Weight citing risk to Rituxan growth.

• Merriman downgraded Bebe Stores (NASDAQ: BEBE) to Neutral from Buy as they believe new fall merchandise is not performing well enough to improve sales trends.

• Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Outperform citing higher risk premium due to the IRS challenge and tighter credit markets that could impact the Bobcat divestiture.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Children's Place (NASDAQ: PLCE) was cut to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.

• Thomas Weisel downgraded LoopNet (NASDAQ: LOOP) to Market Weight from Overweight.

• ThinkEquity cut Kyphon (NASDAQ: KYPH) to Accumulate from Buy.

• Needham downgraded QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Hold from Buy.

• JMP Securities downgraded ValueClick (NASDAQ: VCLK) to Market Perform from Outperform.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: QLogic (QLGC), Cnet Networks (CNET), Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), Darden Restaurants (DRI) and Anadys Pharma (ANDS) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) was cut by several firms:
  
• QLogic was cut to Neutral from Outperform and removed from JP Morgan's Focus List due to the lack of catalysts to drive shares higher.
  
• Caris cut shares to Average from Above Average and Pacific
  
• Crest downgraded QLogic to Sector Perform from Outperform as the company's profits decline.

• Citigtroup downgraded CNet Networks (NASDAQ: CNET) to Hold from Buy as they no longer expect material revenue growth acceleration and operating leverage in 2H07; First Albany cut shares to Neutral from Buy.

• HSBC downgraded shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE: TSM) to Neutral from Overweight to reflect worse than expected pricing pressures.

• Matrix downgraded shares of Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI) to Hold from Buy on increasing competition and rising costs.

• Piper cut Anadys Pharma (NASDAQ: ANDS) to Underperform from Outperform following the company's announcement that it has discontinued development of ANA975...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• First Albany cut Zimmer Holdings (NYSE: ZMH) to Buy from Strong Buy.

• Bear Stearns downgraded AutoNation (NYSE: AN) to Peer Perform from Outperform.

• Piper Jaffray downgraded Volcom (NASDAQ: VLCM) and Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Bernstein downgraded Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) to Underperform from Market Perform.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: HouseValues, Inc (SOLD), Fortune Brands (FO), D.R. Horton (DHI), Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) and USG Corp (USG) were some of today's noteworthy initiations:

• Cantor believes HouseValues (NASDAQ: SOLD) may be a lagging indicator of the broader real estate market. As such, it may see its customer and revenue bases contract further in the face of still-sluggish housing data and started shares with a Hold rating.

• Pali Research initiated Fortune Brands (NYSE: FO) with a Neutral rating based on valuation.

• The firm also believes D.R. Horton's (NYSE: DHI) risk to book value and profitability is higher than some of the competition since the company has taken significantly less land charges. Shares were initiated with a Hold rating.

• Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) was initiated with an Outperform at Baird and is positive on Dick's store expansion, market leadership, margin opportunities and fundamentals.

• USG (NYSE: USG) was initiated with a Sell rating at Banc of America, believing wallboard price and profit declines will be worse than expected due to lower housing starts and less spending on remodeling. Their analysis suggests another leg down for housing...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Morgan Joseph started Jamba, Inc (NASDAQ: JMBA) with a Buy rating.

• Wachovia started Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) with a Market Perform rating.

• Baird started Golfsmith International Holdings (NASDAQ: GOLF) with a Neutral rating.

• Merrill Lynch initiated Bayer AG (NYSE: BAY) with a Buy rating and UBS initiated QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) with a Neutral rating.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alcoa Inc (AA), Marvell Technology Group Ltd (MRVL) Under Armour, Inc (UA), Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) and QLogic Corp (QLGC) topped today's list of noteworthy upgrades:

• RBC Capital upgraded Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) to Sector Perform from Underperform following the bid by Alcan Inc (NYSE: AL).

• Marvell Technology Group Ltd (NASDAQ MRVL) was upgraded to buy from Neutral with a $23 target at Oppenheimer based on valuation and the improvements made to HDD PC/Desktop.

• Morgan Stanley raised shares of Under Armor Inc (NYSE: UA) to Equal Weight from Underweight with a $47 target, based on valuation and long-term growth.

• Stifel upgraded shares of Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) to Buy from Hold with a $100 target citing valuation.

• Morgan Keegan upgraded shares of QLogic Corp (NASDAQ: QLGC) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation and expectations for strong sequential growth to resume in 2H07.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Sonic Corp (NASDAQ: SONC) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• JP Morgan added Sara Lee Corp (NYSE: SLE) to its Focus List.

• CRT upgraded Forest Oil Corp (NYSE: FST) to Buy from Fair Value with a $45 target.

• Wachovia raised Eagle Rock Energy Partners, LP (NASDAQ: EROC) to Outperform from Market Perform.

• Gabeili upgraded New York-based Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: FFIC) to Buy from Hold.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc (JBHT), QLogic Corp (QLGC), General Motors (GM), Big 5 Sporting Goods Corp (BGFV) and Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB) were today's more noteworthy downgrades:

• Wachovia downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Market Perform from Outperform citing a more tempered outlook for the U.S. Intermodal market.

• QLogic Corp's (NASDAQ: QLGC) downgrade to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings was based on weaker then planned HBA and switch revenue and low gross margins on new Infiniband products that spiked up in the mix.

• Buckingham cut General Motors (NYSE: GM) to Underperform from Neutral.

• Oppenheimer downgraded Big 5 Sporting Goods (NASDAQ: BGFV) to Neutral from Buy believing current trends suggest a lagging west coast customer.

• RBC Capital Markets cut Biogen Idec Inc (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Sector Perform from Outperform citing mixed feedback at AAN that indicates longer-term safety data will be needed to drive adoption of Tysabri and lingering long-term concerns over Rituxan royalties and profit share.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Goldman downgraded Steelcase Inc (NYSE: SCS) to sell from Neutral.

• MeadWestvaco Corp (NYSE: MWV) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at Prudential.

• Jefferies cut Ista Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ISTA) to Underperform from Hold.

• Lazard downgraded Talbots, Inc (NYSE: TLB) to Hold from Buy.

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