Analyst Upgrades

• Chesapeake (CHK) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Biogen (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Caribou Coffee (CBOU) to outperform from neutral and Encore Energy (ENP) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Fluor (FLR) to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Hornbeck Offshore (HOS) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Saks (SKS) and Zale (ZLC) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Aeropostale (ARO) to neutral from sell. The firm, which has a $34 target on the stock, cites the recent sell-off in shares for the upgrade.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Consolidated Water (CWCO) to buy from neutral on valuation and on expectations the company's earnings will recover in 2010. The firm has a $15 target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Transmontaigne Partners (TLP) to buy from hold on valuation as it believes the sell-off on the company's Q3 results is overdone. The firm keeps a $26.50 price target on the stock.
• Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• HSBC (HBC) was raised to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• Redwood Trust (RWT) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded Sunpower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) two levels to Buy from Sell after transitioning coverage. The firm believes Sunpower is emerging from the current recession as the CleanTech leader and has a $38-$48 price range on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Varian Medical (NYSE: VAR) to Buy from hold as it believes capex pressure and health care reform uncertainty is priced into shares, and demand will return as hospital budgets stabilize. Citi raised its target on shares to $45 from $36.
• FBR Capital upgraded Gap (NYSE: GPS) to Outperform from Market Perform following the Q2 results to reflect product improvement and ongoing inventory control. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $18.
• Schnitzer Steel (NASDAQ: SCHN) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
• UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Wells Fargo.
• The Buckle (NYSE: BKE) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

On today's STOP TRADING! segment on CNBC, Jim Cramer issued what he calls a "Dirty Dozen" of stocks to avoid. He made some of these in sub-prime liar-loan companies as well on TheStreet.com. Here is his list that the short sellers are targeting, although Cramer said this isn't his list per se and he actually thinks some of these are well managed. Many of these are up huge today as well:

IndyMac Bancorp. Inc. (NYSE:NDE)
Carterac (NYSE:CHC)
Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group Inc. (NYSE:FBR)
Fremont General Corp. (NYSE:FMT)
Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT)
Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE:NCT)
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. (NYSE:AHM)
Gramercy Capital Corp. (NYSE:GKK)
Rait Financial Trust (NYSE:RAS)
Thornburg (NYSE:TMA)
CapitalSource (NYSE:CSE)

There is one missing here, but that's 11 of the 12. Today is the second anniversary of the MAD MONEY show.