TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the sooner banks repay TARP, the more likely they will power higher in 2010.

The Federal Reserve wants higher stock prices. That's all I can think of when I see that it wants repayment plans into place for the big banks such as Bank of America (BAC) (Cramer's Take), PNC (PNC) (Cramer's Take), Citigroup (C) (Cramer's Take), Fifth Third (FITB) (Cramer's Take), Wells Fargo (WFC) (Cramer's Take), Regions Financial (RF) (Cramer's Take), SunTrust (STI) (Cramer's Take) and KeyCorp (KEY) (Cramer's Take), all names that haven't repaid the Troubled Asset Relief Program yet.

Why would these plans bring about higher prices?

Analyst upgrades:

• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Canaccord, which cited the company's strong Q1 results.
• Pali Capital raised T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) to Neutral from Sell following the company's better-than-expected Q3 results.
• Under Armour (NYSE: UA) was upgraded to Neutral from Negative at Susquehanna following positive checks ahead of the company's Tuesday's Q3 report.
• Stifel Nicolaus raised American Express (NYSE: AXP) to Buy from Hold, as the firm thinks the company is close to reaching "normalized" earnings.
• Goldman Sachs upgraded Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) to Sell from Conviction Sell.
• RBC Capital upgraded Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL) to Outperform from Sector Perform.
• American Superconductor (NASDAQ: AMSC) was upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform by Pacific Crest.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) to Buy from Hold as it believes the BGI acquisition is becoming more accretive with the market rally and that the company's core trends are healthy. The firm raised its target on shares to $230 from $180.
• Citigroup upgraded Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) to Hold from Sell as it believes the risk/reward on shares is balanced based on 2010 estimates. Citi raised its target on shares to $89 from $75.
• Auriga upgraded Eclipsys (NASDAQ: ECLP) to Buy from Hold on expectations the company's margin expansion initiatives will drive benefits in 2010 and 2011. The firm raised its target on shares to $24 from $16.
• Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) was upgraded to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel and to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
• CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

"Even among the broad-based market carnage of the past year, regional banks with heavy real estate exposure have been notably poor performers," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "While investors are still wary of this group, there are cases where the market has overreacted and the stocks will eventually rebound dramatically." Here, he looks at four favorite regionals.

"Many regional banking stocks are now trading at a small fraction of their 'book value.' In more normal times, most banks will trade for two to three times book value and sometimes more.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded American Express (NYSE: AXP) to Buy from Hold and added the stock to its Top Picks Live list following the company's investor day. Citi believes American Express' credit trends are improving and raised its price target on shares to $36 from $28.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) to Buy from Neutral after meeting with management to reflect expectations for EPS growth in 2010 and valuation. The firm has a $38 target on the stock.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Buy from Underperform and raised its target to $87 from $49 based on strong copper fundamentals.
• Cbeyond (NASDAQ: CBEY) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
• Gibraltar Industries (NASDAQ: ROCK) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Baird.
• Fortress (NYSE: FIG) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Amdocs (NYSE: DOX) to Outperform from Perform on expectations the company is gaining momentum following recent contract wins. The firm set a $27 price target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Market Perform from Underperform after raising the Lodging sector to Overweight from Neutral. The firm cites improving demand data, potential foreign exchange benefits, and continued asset sales for the upgrade and raised its target price on Starwood to $19 from $14.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Buy from Neutral. The firm expects Goldman to beat Q2 estimates due favorable trading and underwriting conditions. The firm raised estimates and increased its price target to $175 from $144.
• Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Pali Capital.
• KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Ciena (NASDAQ: CIEN) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at JMP Securities.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says now that most banks have raised capital, maybe it'll help the FDIC dole out assets of the losers.

Can I just say that I don't care about the public-private investment program? It was a good idea before the stress tests and would have been excellent if all of these banks hadn't raised capital.

But they have.

So now we have to struggle with the notion of the program's relevance. It can be used as a cleanup program for some companies that desperately want to sell down assets to clean up their books, but with the capital raises, none of the major banks should be interested in selling into it.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results to reflect improved visibility. The firm raised its target price to $6.50 from $3.
• Citigroup upgraded Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) and Potash (NYSE: POT) to Buy from Hold and Agrium (NYSE: AGU) to Hold from Sell as it believes stronger grain fundamentals more than offset China contract risk. The firm raised its target on Mosaic to $72 from $48, on Potash to $145 from $83 and on Agrium to $55 from $36.
• Fulton Financial (NASDAQ: FULT) Was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
• Noble Corp. (NYSE: NE) was upgraded at Deutsche Bank to Buy from Hold.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Buy from Hold on a favorable risk/reward profile. The firm thinks sentiment is negative, estimate revisions have troughed, and compares ease in the second half of 2009. Jefferies upped its target price to $35 from $22.
• Citigroup upgraded Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to Buy from Hold on expectations for positive earnings surprises in 2009. The firm thinks home merchandise sales are picking up and consensus estimates could prove conservative. Citi raised its target price on the stock to $32 from $26.
• Bernstein upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Market Perform from Underperform and raised their price target to $23 from $10 based on its credit agreement amendment and valuation.
• SunTrust (NYSE: STI) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman. Fiat (OTC: FIATY) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) was raised to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says we should closely monitor the situation as more banks raise capital with equity.

What really did happen Friday? I keep thinking about this because, surely, if you saw how well the Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) (Cramer's Take) deals behaved, didn't you, as a bank player, have to presume that there would be and will be more offerings?

If Wells Fargo went up 6, isn't it reasonable to presume that Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) (Cramer's Take), KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) (Cramer's Take), Capital One (NYSE: COF) (Cramer's Take), BB&T (NYSE: BBT) (Cramer's Take) and no doubt all of the others, would do the same? Who wouldn't take advantage of this? Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) (Cramer's Take)? Suntrust (NYSE: STI) (Cramer's Take)?

Why did they rally so much?

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says he'd sell the regionals, but this group is mired till housing sales tick up.

Is it SunTrust (NYSE: STI) (Cramer's Take)? Maybe it is Key (NYSE: KEY) (Cramer's Take)? How about Regions (NYSE: RF) (Cramer's Take)? Maybe Huntington (NASDAQ: HBAN) (Cramer's Take)? Fifth Third (NASDAQ: FITB) (Cramer's Take)?

Oh, who cares? Frankly these are all small, nothing banks that you could short and probably do pretty well with, if you can borrow the shares. None of them is really important, and incredibly, all of them can easily be made delicious morsels for a JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) or a U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) (Cramer's Take) or a Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) without a lot of money spent by Treasury.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that before you buy into the conventional wisdom, you should consider these counter-arguments.

Sometimes it pays to know the consensus thinking of the big boys, the smart boys who trade every day. So let's detail it before we critique it:

1. Someday the companies that report bad earnings are going to start going down again. This is the Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) dilemma I keep alluding to, a company that skyrockets on terrible numbers no matter how you cut it.

2. The market will now recognize that the stress test is a big joke, everything's a phony, and the banks will fold again. Roubini's right; Geithner's a lightweight.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded HMS Holdings (NASDAQ: HMSY) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they believe the recent weakness provides an attractive entry point. The firm keeps a $36 price target on shares.
  
• Credit Suisse believes Universal Health (NYSE: UHS) is well positioned to gain market share, that earnings risk from the Las Vegas market is manageable, and that the balance sheet provides flexibility. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Neutral and raised their target to $48 from $46.
  
• UBS upgraded RF Micro (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Buy from Neutral citing checks that indicate strengthening momentum, impact from recent restructuring, and expected debt reduction. The analyst raised RFMD estimates above consensus and upped the price target to $3 from $1.10.
• Liberty Capital (NASDAQ: LCAPA) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) was raised to Hold from Sell at Soleil.
  
• SunTrust (NYSE: STI) was lifted at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says they're too important to just let them go.

You never want to buck the financials. I have said over and over again that the group is too important to make let go. Can we really envision a world without Citigroup (NYSE: C) (Cramer's Take) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) (Cramer's Take) common stock? Can we envision a world where PNC (NYSE: PNC) (Cramer's Take) and Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) (Cramer's Take) and State Street (NYSE: STT) (Cramer's Take) are no more? A world where Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) (Cramer's Take) and JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) (Cramer's Take) don't make it?

It's funny when you put it that way, because we know that if those stocks weren't in the S&P 500, if we just took them out, we would be feeling like we should be buying, buying, and buying judging from the very nice pullbacks we have had to above the lows of October and November now that we are oversold.

Tons of charts, from Forest Labs (NYSE: FRX) (Cramer's Take) to AT&T (NYSE: T) (Cramer's Take), from Disney (NYSE: DIS) (Cramer's Take) to Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take), all sorts of charts from all sorts of industries, charts like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) and BP (NYSE: BP) (Cramer's Take) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take), if they hold here, will embolden people to come in. As will IBM (NYSE: IBM) (Cramer's Take) on Wednesday.

I think it's fair to say that there's much trepidation about the earnings season that picks up steam this week. And for better or worse, numbers from the big financials have begun to roll in. Last week we saw profit sink for JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and significant losses from Bank of American Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (NYSE: BK) to be among those financials reporting fourth-quarter earnings growth this week. They anticipate that Bank of New York will post a profit of $0.70 per share, compared to $0.67 per share a year ago and $0.72 in the previous quarter. Revenue is expected come to $3.8 billion, about the same as it was a year ago. Bank of New York has fallen short of earnings estimates in two of the past five quarters, by as much as 11.1%. For the full year, analysts are looking for $2.78 per share (+5.8%) on $14.8 billion (+4.2%). The consensus recommendation of analysts is to buy BK, and the long-term EPS growth rate forecast is 10.7%. Shares are 48.7% lower than a year ago. Other financials expected to report quarterly earnings growth this week include SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) and M&T Bank Corp. (NYSE: MTB).