Analyst initiations:

• Allegheny (NYSE: AYE) was initiated with a buy at Citigroup as attractive at current levels. Target is $33.
• PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL) was initiated with a buy at Citigroup. Citi believes PPL's earnings power from the Pennsylvania regulated utility market is being underappreciated. Target is $35.
• FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) was initiated with a Buy at Citigroup who believes the company's current valuation doesn't reflect its transition to full market-based rates in 2011. Target is $56.
• Waste Management (NYSE: WM) coverage resumed with a Neutral at Goldman.
• Exxon (NYSE: XOM) initiated with a Buy at Soleil. Target is $90.
• Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) was initiated with a Buy at ING Group.

Analyst upgrades:

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Viacom (NYSE:VIA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the improving ad market and better ratings at key cable networks. The firm raised its target on shares to $35 from $29.
  
• Baird upgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) to Outperform from Neutral on valuation as it views the recent weakness as a buying opportunity. The firm keeps an $84 price target on shares.
  
• Jefferies upgraded Usana (NASDAQ:USNA) to Buy from Hold as it believes direct selling companies have been gaining momentum. The firm raised its target on shares to $44 from $37.
• AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• First Merit (NASDAQ:FMER) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Time to scoop up shares of a somewhat under-the-radar natural gas play: Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE).

Spectra owns and operates a diversified portfolio of natural gas-related energy assets and is primarily a natural gas midstream company. It operates in three natural gas segments: transmission and storage, distribution, and gathering and processing.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm believes Spectra's valuation is attractive and that the dividend is secure.
• Soleil upgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent pullback and maintains a $45 target on the stock.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) to Outperform from Underperform on valuation and the company's better than expected sales and earnings acceleration. The firm has a $38 target on the stock.
• Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Sell List.
  
• Intercontinental Hotels (NYSE: IHG) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  
• Valspar (NYSE: VAL) was lifted to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

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

• Akamai Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) earnings prospects garnered an analyst's upgrade.
• Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) warned of a loss for the quarter due to the economic slowdown.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) posted lower Q2 profit and revenue that missed estimates.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) Q2 profit fell but beat estimates, and it reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
• Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) swung to a Q4 loss and warned that low demand will continue.
• Hartford Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: HIG) posted a loss, cut its dividend, and offered weak guidance.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Carlisle (NYSE:CSL) to Outperform from Neutral and lowered their target to $25 from $33 following the company's Q4 results citing attractive valuation and solid execution.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Talbots (NYSE:TLB) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe the company's cash flow is improving and does not expect the company to face bankruptcy in next three years.
  
• Jefferies upgraded shares of Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) to Hold from Underperform on valuation following the company's Q4 results and raised their target price to $15 from $11.75.
• Costco (NASDAQ:COST) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• AU Optronics (NYSE:AUO) and LG Display (NYSE:LPL) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Alpha Natural (NYSE:ANR) was raised to Buy from Hold at Natixis.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The North American Pipeline sector, Aeropostale and ImClone were today's noteworthy initiations:

• BMO Capital initiated the North American Pipeline sector with a Market Perform rating. El Paso Corp (NYSE:EP), Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) and Spectra Energy (NYSE:SE) were initiated with Outperform ratings and CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) and AGL Resources (NYSE:ATG) ATG were assumed with Market Perform ratings.
  
• Friedman Billings believes Aeropostale (NYSE:ARO) has an impressive back-to-school floorset and that momentum should carry into the fall. Additionally, the firm, which initiated shares with an Outperform rating and $38 target, expects the company to buyback shares.
  
• Thomas Weisel believes ImClone (NASDAQ:IMCL) is attractively valued as Erbitux is positioned to capitalize on a number of label-expanding opportunities and that concerns of KRAS-related revenue loss in colorectal cancer and the clinical utility of FLEX lung cancer data are overstated. Shares were assumed with an Overweight rating and $50 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• JMP Securities initiated Website Pros. inc. (NASDAQ:WWWW) and GSI Commerce (NASDAQ:GSIC) with Outperform ratings and target of $12 and $19, respectively.
  
• McAfee (NYSE:MFE) was assumed at Baird with an Outperform rating and $44 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: BigBand Networks, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Cognos were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• BigBand Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: BBND) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies and to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan on the company's negative Q2 pre-announcement to reflect decreased visibility.
  
• Citigroup downgraded Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) to Hold from Buy on valuation.
  
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: VRTX) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, as they believe investor expectations are high into November's American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases meeting.
  
• Soleil downgraded Cognos Inc. (NASDAQ: COGN) to Hold from Buy as they believe the strong Canadian dollar will depress operating margins and limit share upside.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Jefferies downgraded Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE: SE) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded MeadWestvaco Corp. (NYSE: MWV) to Neutral from Buy and removed Crown Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CCK) from its Americas Conviction Buy List.
  
• UBS downgraded Atlantic Tele-Network Inc. (NASDAQ: ATNI) to Neutral from Buy.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

It's a good time to be a little defensive in the stock market, to look at stocks with a history of increasing earnings as well as dividends. While these don't tend to have a catalyst that will vault them into the stratosphere the way a tech or biotech stock can, they give a lot of comfort when there's so much turmoil in the market.

The first thing to think about when you're on defense is the shape of the economy and the kinds of items consumers always buy, no matter what the economy is doing. Consumer spending makes up about 2/3 of the U.S. economy. What the consumer does matters. Right now many consumers are having trouble paying their mortgages. Housing prices are going down in many areas of the country. Large mortgage lenders such as Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) and IndyMac Bancorp. (NYSE: IMB) k are having problems with their portfolios. Defensive investors won't be looking into the mortgage lending stocks for comfort.

More likely they'll be looking at companies that supply things that people must buy, things like drugs, toothpaste, gasoline, toilet paper (also known as bathroom stationery), soap, food, utilities, etc. These are the basics. They're supplied by many different companies, and many of those companies are improving, even in these difficult times. Here are just a few ideas (not recommendations for investing, but recommendations for more investigating):

We started a new fund about two months ago and that is where we're at, 52% cash / 24% funds / 24% stocks. We are in no hurry to invest the capital and will pursue only value positions in the portfolio. Eventually we will have 2% cash / 49% funds / 49% stocks, which is what I would recommend to anyone who desires a balanced portfolio. Although it appears to many that this bull market is going to charge ahead we will not make any decisions based on this. When it comes to making any investment I generally tend not to listen to the bullish or bearish chatter and simply look at each opportunity on it's own merits, on a case by case basis.

May 8, 2006 is my one year anniversary writing for BloggingStocks. I started a couple of weeks after the site opened its doors for business with my first post: Microsoft: What are you thinking about? Since that time additional writers and editors have joined the team and the site has continued to improve. There are a lot of fantastic writers on this site with plenty to say about stocks and investing in general.

I am not a journalist or writer by profession, I have published no books, I did not go to a business school -- I am self taught in this area, with a lot of practical input from parents, mentors and experience investing. Remember the adage about experience - it's what you get when you were expecting something else.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Actions Semiconductor Co., Ltd. ADS (NASDAQ:ACTS) was the only noteworthy initiation today. Shares of the fabless semiconductor company were started with an Outperform rating and $10 target at Pacific Crest. The firm believes Actions is a cheap way to play the world's largest MP3-controller vendor.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lazard started Immunomedics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) with a Buy rating and $6 target.
• SuperValu, Inc. (NYSE:SVU) was initiated at Morgan Stanley with an Equal Weight rating.
• CIBC started Cameco Corp. (NYSE:CCJ) with a Sector Outpeformer rating, with expectations for uranium demand to stay robust.
• HSBC Holdings initiated shares of Liberty Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA) with an Overweight rating.
• AG Edwards initiated Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) with a Hold rating.

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