MOST NOTEWORTHY: Teva Pharmaceutical, Blue Coat Systems and American International Group were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Teva Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: TEVA) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's greater growth prospects following the acquisition of Barr (NYSE: BRL). The firm raised the target to $56 from $47.
  
• ThinkPanmure upgraded Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) to Buy from Source of Funds based on the company's growth prospects following positive channel checks.
  
• American International Group (NYSE: AIG) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America on valuation, as they find the risk/reward attractive at current levels.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman upgraded the Semiconductor Production Equipment sector to Neutral from Cautious and added Verigy (NASDAQ: VRGY) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Cintas (NASDAQ: CTAS) to Equal Weight from Underweight.
  
• Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper.

Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) manufactures residential and commercial building products and processed metal products for industrial applications. The Building Products segment offers ventilation systems, mailboxes, roof edging, flashing, metal roofing, steel framing, gutters, shelving and fasteners. The Processed Metal unit fashions cold-rolled strip steel into a variety of intermediate products for companies in the automotive and hardware industries. It also provides coated sheet steel and powdered metal. The firm operates 81 facilities in the United States, Canada, China, England, Germany and Poland.

Gibraltar surprised the Street earlier in the month, when it reported Q1 EPS of 27 cents and revenues of $325.5 million. Analysts had been expecting 14 cents and $317.6 million. The CEO attributed success to growth in the company's commercial building, industrial and international businesses. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.05-$1.25 ($1.02 consensus).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Morgan Stanley, Boardwalk Pipeline and Brasil Telecom were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Oppenheimer downgraded Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to Perform from Outperform based on limited upside to its revised earnings outlook.
  
• RBC downgraded shares of Boardwalk Pipeline (NYSE: BWP) to Sector Perform from Outperform following the company's Q4 results, due to overruns and project delays.
  
• Brasil Telecom (NYSE: BRP) was lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan on corporate governance share concerns.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Wachovia lowered Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) and Masco (NYSE: MAS) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Citigroup lowered Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE) to Hold from Buy.

On the ABC show Brothers and Sisters, one of the main characters (a brother) is gay, and currently dating a soap star. The soap star is keeping his yen for a boyfriend a secret at all costs as he's sure his fans will revolt if he's exposed. I keep wondering if the plotline is a serious examination of daytime television fans and their bigotry or the writers are just poking fun at the ridiculousness of any star in today's climate hiding homosexuality. It seems that many stars have increased their bankability by coming out, from Ellen DeGeneres to her gorgeous girlfriend, Portia de Rossi.

And today, the news that Cyndi Lauper is launching her 'True Colors Music Tour' to support gay and lesbian equality appeared in my inbox and I have to wonder, is Cyndi Lauper gay? (As far as I know, she's not; she's been married to a man for years and they appear happily heterosexual.) Or is her association with the gay audience simply a marketing tool?

Let me start out by saying that (a) I support GBLT rights and only got the news because I had clicked to back gay marriage and (b) I really, really want to go to Cyndi Lauper's tour. But the point is that I've been beginning to wonder if being gay has gone from anachrony to characteristic, and an attractive characteristic at that, kind of like being from a small town in Oklahoma, or being connected in the tabloids with the hottest, youngest actor of the moment.