MOST NOTEWORTHY: Gander Mountain, Lev Pharmaceuticals, Intermune, Aetna and Medco Health were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Nollenberger initiated shares of Gander Mountain Company (NASDAQ: GMTN) with a Sell rating and $5.00 target, and believes the company's goal of reaching profitability in 2007 could prove overly optimistic.
  
• Lev Pharmaceuticals (OTC: LEVP) was initiated with a Sector Outperformer rating and $3 target at CIBC, as the firm believes Cinryze will likely be approved in 1Q08 and they expect the company to have significant pricing leverage.
  
• JP Morgan resumed coverage of Intermune Inc (NASDAQ: ITMN) with an Overweight rating and expects shares to be driven by the company's pipeline in IPF and HCV.
  
• Aetna Incorporated (NYSE: AET) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Wachovia. The firm feels Aetna is positioned for better growth and higher quality earnings than its peers.
  
• William Blair started shares of Medco Health Solutions Inc (NYSE: MHS) with an Outperform rating, as they believe an aging population, rising health care costs, and an acceleration in new product introductions should increase demand for PBM services over the next five years.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• ABN Amro started shares of Siliconware Precision Industries Company Ltd (NASDAQ: SPIL) and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (NYSE: ASX) with Buy ratings.
  
• Goldman initiated Silicon Image Inc (NASDAQ: SIMG) with a Sell rating and $4.50 target, and initiated Sigma Designs Inc (NASDAQ: SIGM) and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: SIRF) with Neutral ratings and a $43 target and $19 target, respectively.

In most businesses, diversification is the key to steady profits. There is a chip manufacturer in Sunnyvale, California that recognizes that truth and successfully serves a variety of different consumer electronics markets.

Silicon Image (NASDAQ: SIMG) designs and develops semiconductors for the secure storage, distribution and presentation of digital content. Its products are used in a variety of devices, including digital televisions, DVD players, set-top boxes, audio/video receivers, game consoles, high definition camcorders and digital still cameras. The company also offers its own consumer electronics devices, including high-definition multimedia interface transmitters and receivers, as well as products that connect PCs to digital displays. Silicon Image has strategic relationships with the likes of Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Hitachi (NYSE: HIT). Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors earlier in the month, when it announced that it expected first quarter revenues to come in essentially in-line with the consensus Street estimate. Management also said it sees gross margins exceeding the previously provided range. RBC Capital Markets subsequently upgraded the stock to "outperform."

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

The IT hardware and the toy Industry top today's extensive list of initiations.

Prudential initiated the IT Hardware sector with an Unfavorable rating. The firm expects earnings below consensus after checks indicated slower corporate IT spending. Within the sector, Prudential initiated Dell (DELL) and Lexmark (LXK) with Overweight ratings. They initiated Apple Computer (AAPL) with a Neutral and a $74 target. The firm cited valuation, a slowing media market and increased competition from Microsoft (MSFT).

In addition, Prudential initiated Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Seagate (STX), Sun Microsystems (SUNW) and Western Digital (WDC) with Underweight ratings.

Elsewhere, BMO Capital Markets initiated the toy industry with an Outperform rating on the belief the industry is positioned for a turnaround. They started Mattel (MAT) and RC2 CORP (RCRC) with an Outperform rating, Jakks Pacific (JAKK), Hasbro (HAS) and Leapfrog Enterprises (LF) with Market Perform ratings and Mega Brands (MB) with an Underperform rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Safeco (SAFC) was initiated with an Add and $70 target at Calyon. The firm is positive on management's focus on restoring relationships with independent agents.
• BB&T initiated Diana Shipping (DSX) with a Buy and $16 target. The firm is positive on Diana's growth story and improving fundamentals.
• And finally, American Technology initiated Silicon Image (SIMG) with a Buy and $17 target, believing consensus estimates for 2007 are too conservative as investors have underestimated the acceleration in HDMI adoption going forward.

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