Looking back at the history of high technology, there are countless examples of hyper-growth companies that eventually faded into nothingness. Examples include WordPerfect, Wang, DEC and on and on.

Yes, it's life in the tech fast lane.

And, this week we got some more road kill: Silicon Graphics (SGI) sold out to Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) for a measly $25 million.

Founded in 1982, SGI quickly found its growth groove. Then again, the company's mastermind was James Clark (who eventually went on to create companies like Netscape).

Analyst upgrades:

• Merrill upgraded shares of AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Neutral from Underperform to reflect the company's pipeline momentum and lack of negative catalysts.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation as they believe DB should trade at a higher multiple.
• Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) was raised at HSBC to Overweight from Neutral.
• American International (NYSE: AIG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

• Merrill cut Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) to Underperform from Neutral as the firm sees better opportunities elsewhere in the sector.
  
• Merriman downgraded Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) to Neutral from Buy following the company's mixed Q2 results to reflect its customer concentration and fluctuating margins.
• Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• Fortress (NYSE: FIG) was cut to Sell from Hold at Citigroup.

• UBS believes Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has a competitive advantage and their checks indicate new Macs, new iPhone colors and potentially new iPods may come early on in the second half of 2008. The firm initiated shares with a Buy rating and $195 target. UBS also initiated Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) at Neutral.
• KeyBanc initiated Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) with an Underweight rating and $25 target based on slowing core growth at Bed Bath and likely margin erosion from the ramp in growth at Christmas Tree Shops and buybuy Baby.
• Infineon (NYSE: IFX) was initiated with a Buy rating at Deutsche Bank.

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW) volatility elevated into 9/5 financial analyst meeting.

SUNW is flat at $4.86. SUNW, which will change its symbol to JAVA on 8/27, will have an analyst meeting in New York on 9/5/07. The company has announced a $3 billion stock buyback on 5/16/07. SUNW recent market cap is $17.3 billion. SUNW over all option implied volatility of 45 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.

Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) volatility flat on renewed buyout chatter.

RACK, a provider of servers and storage products, is recently up $0.65 to $12.62 on unconfirmed and renewed deal speculation. SUNW & DELL have been frequently chattered as interested in RACK. RACK call option volume of 2,690 contracts compares to put volume of 250 contracts. RACK September option implied volatility is at 47, October is at 51 and December is at 56, above its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional and less price risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• JP Morgan cut FormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM) to Underweight from Neutral citing expected competition from Micronics Japan, which has successfully ramped up production at its new advanced probe card factory.

• CIBC's checks suggest that challenges still remain in Graco's (NYSE: GGG) contractor segment and is likely to impact results, downgrading shares to Sector Performer from Sector Outperformer.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of China Telecom (NYSE: CHA) to Hold from Buy to reflect slower user growth as the company added 77% fewer fixed-line customers in the first five months of 2007.

• Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) was cut to Outperform from its Top Pick rating at RBC Capital following the company's JV announcement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBSPY).

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Unica (NASDAQ: UNCA) to Hold from Buy after the company reported lower than expected Q3 licenses to reflect too much variance in execution...

• Linear Technology (NASDAQ: LLTC) was downgraded to Accumulate from Buy at ThinkEquity.

• Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) was downgraded to Sector Outperform at RBC Capital.

• Stanford cut Dobson (NASDAQ: DCEL) to Hold from Buy.

• Lehman assumed coverage of Extreme Networks (NASDAQ: EXTR) with an Equal Weight rating, downgrading shares from Overweight.

• Lazard downgraded First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Hold from Buy.

Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) -- rallies on takeover Chatter. MAR is recently up $0.59 to $47.25 on speculation a pension fund will make an offer for MAR. MAR has a market cap of $17.8 billion with long term debt of $2.3 billion. MAR call option volume of 5,079 contracts compares to put volume of 186 contracts. MAR June 50 calls are bid 35 cents above its theoretical value of 12 cents. MAR July option implied volatility of 30 is above its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Rackable Systems (NASDAQ: RACK) -- volatility flat on heavy call volume on renewed Speculation. RACK, a provider of servers and storage products, is recently up $0.77 to $12.86 on renewed takeover speculation. RACK call option volume of 3,175 contracts compares to put volume of 62 contracts. RACK July option implied volatility of 57 is near its 26-week average of 55 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price risk.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ: CDNS) -- volatility & volume up on New York Times report. CDNS develops electronic design automation software and hardware. CDNS is recently up $1.52 to $24.52 after The New York Times reported CDNS is in talks for possible sale. CDNS call option volume of 2,099 contracts compares to put volume of 599 contracts. CDNS June 25 calls are bid 60 cents, above its theoretical value of 19 cents. CDNS July option implied volatility of 34 is above its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Option volume leaders today are: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT).

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• William Blair started THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) with an Outperform rating, as they are positive on shares based on earnings upside potential from the new video game cycle.

• RBC initiated shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) with an Outperform rating and $52 target, as the firm expects growth to be driven by portfolio repositioning efforts and renovations.

• OfficeMax Inc (NYSE: OMX) was initiated at Bear Stearns with a Peer Perform rating citing a balanced risk/reward.

• Lehman Brothers initiated both AK Steel Holding Corp (NYSE: AKS) and Steel Dynamics Inc (NASDAQ: STLD) with Equal Weight ratings.

• Wachovia started Beazer Homes USA Inc (NYSE: BZH) with a Market Perform rating, saying the company has few discernible competitive advantages over other public homebuilders and lacks catalysts.

• Cowen initiated Rackable Systems Inc (NASDAQ: RACK) with a Neutral rating.

• Bear Stearns re-initiated Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) with a Peer Perform rating.

• Leerink Swann started Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) with an Outperform rating, with a range of $21-$23, believing the company's Invisalign technology is well positioned for renewed growth.

• Bernstein initiated Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) with an Outperform rating.

• Cascade Financial Corp (NASDAQ: CASB) was initiated with a Hold rating and $19 target at Sandler.