Analyst upgrades:

• Verizon (NYSE: VZ) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo, which believes Verizon wireline margins troughed in Q3 and that Street estimates have been reset to more achievable levels.
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital, which believes the company is gaining analog market share and shares are attractively valued at current levels. The firm maintains a $31 price target.
• Cablevision (NYSE: CVC) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes this year's run-up in the stock was primarily due to the company's spin-off of MSG, but the firm believes the stock can rise further based on fundamentals.
• Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan following the company's Q3 results due to valuation and its above-average growth. The firm raised its target to $51.50 from $47.
• RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) was upgraded to Hold from Underweight at KeyBanc, which said that its recovering sales trends were encouraging.
• Travelzoo (NASDAQ: TZOO) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Wedbush as it believes the divestiture of its Asian business coupled with growth in its Fly.com unit will drive 2010 growth. The firm raised its target to $17 from $13.

Analyst Upgrades

• McAdams Wright expects Dendreon's (NASDAQ: DNDN) near-term momentum to continue but has long-term concerns that Street estimates are too high. The firm upgraded shares to Hold from Sell.
• JPMorgan upgraded Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect valuation, potential catalysts from Colorado's easing gaming regulations, and the company's strong free cash flow. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $20.
• Citigroup upgraded Valspar (NYSE: VAL) to Hold from Sell after channel checks indicated paint demand is shifting to big-box retailers, the company's primary sales channel. The firm raised its target on shares to $22 from $19.
• Vulcan Materials (NYSE: VMC) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Altera (NASDAQ: ALTR) was raised to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.
• Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Spectra Energy (SEP), ComScore (SCOR) and Data Domain (DDUP) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Spectra Energy (NYSE: SEP) was initiated with a Buy rating and $32.50 target at Citigroup, with an Overweight rating and $32 target at Lehman Brothers and with an Overweight rating at Wachovia. Citigroup believes SEP provides investors above-average distribution growth driven by stable cash flows with little or no direct exposure to commodity prices. Wachovia is positive on SEP given its multi-year growth profile and high quality assets.

• ComScore (NASDAQ: SCOR) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $28 target at FBRC on valuation. The company was also initiated at Jefferies with a Hold rating and $25 target, citing valuation, although the firm believes the company is well positioned to benefit from the market demand for Web traffic data/analytics. Deutsche Bank initiated shares of ComScore with a Buy rating and $28 target.

• Data Domain (NASDAQ: DDUP) was started at Pacific Crest with an Outperform rating and $30 target and the firm expects growth to exceed 50% annually for at least the next two years.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• ThinkEquity started shares of Altair Nanotechnologies (NASDAQ: ALTI) with a Buy rating and $6 target.

• ThinkEquity transferred coverage of Blue Coat Systems (NASDAQ: BCSI) with a Buy rating and raised its target to $63 from $51.

• Stifel started shares of ICT Group (NASDAQ: ICTG) with a Buy rating and $20 target.

• B. Riley started shares of Charles & Colvard (NASDAQ: CTHR) with a Buy rating and $8 target.

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

Just call it the last equity blast before summer. Wall Street's equity market offers a full schedule this week, as lead managers and companies attempt to capture as much buy-side demand as possible a week before the shorter 4th of July week, which is traditionally the start of a lighter syndicate period on Wall Street.

All told, 11 IPOs and 8 Secondaries are on the docket. Those deals tentatively scheduled to price include:

IPOs:

Tuesday

• GSC Acquistion (GGA), a 15M-share IPO for this business financing company. Ladenburg, Thalman & Co. and I-Bankers Securities are the lead managers. Filing price: $10.00.
• Spectra Energy Partners LP (SEP), a 10M-share IPO for this natural gas MLP. Citigroup and Lehman Brothers are the lead managers. Filing range: $19.00-$21.00.