Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Cogdell Spencer (CSA) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Micron (MU) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• El Paso Electric (EE) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• MICROS Systems (MCRS) and Harmony Gold (HMY) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Meridian Bioscience (VIVO) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Verso Paper (VRS) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Sony (SNE) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Noble Corp. (NE) and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Tyson Foods (TSN) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from hold at BB&T.

Analyst Upgrades

• Tyco Electronics (TEL) and Weight Watchers (WTW) to buy from neutral, and Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from underperform, at BofA/Merrill.
• Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Gold Fields (GFI) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Novartis (NVS) to outperform from neutral and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
• Dollar General (DG) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
• Eagle Rock Energy (EROC) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

After a week full of mixed economic data taking its toll on the markets, things will settle down somewhat this coming week.

• Monday: Fed releases October data on consumer credit outstanding.
• Tuesday: TIPP Economic Optimism Index is due.
• Wednesday: Labor Dept. offers initial jobless claims numbers for last week, EIA's crude oil inventory last week, October wholesale trade numbers from the Census Bureau.
• Friday: Trade balance data for October, Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Import Price Index for November, preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is due, and the Treasury Dept. releases the federal budget balance in November.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Duoyuan Global Water (DGW) to neutral from underweight, citing the potential for positive fundamental news flow through the end of the year, and upped its price target to $16 from $9.
• Jefferies upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from underperform, expecting a benefit from a significant ramp in EVDO software sales as mobile data growth accelerates.
• Myriad Genetics (MYGN) was upgraded at RBC Capital to outperform from sector perform with a $23 price target based on valuation and potential to be acquired.
• Goldman upgraded Mohawk (MHK) to neutral from sell with a $53 price target.
• Smithfield Foods (SFD) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at BMO capital with a $21 target.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.

Smithfield Foods (SFD - option chain) shares are rising today after the company reported earnings this morning, posting a first-quarter profit of $76.3 million, or 46 cents per share, on revenue of $2.90 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of 45 cents per share on revenue of $3.04 billion. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SFD.

SFD opened this morning at $16.75. So far today the stock has hit a low of $16.48 and a high of $17.18. As of 12:20, SFD is trading at $16.74 up 0.44 (2.7%). The chart for SFD looks neutral and S&P gives SFD a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

The Federal Reserve's next Beige Book report is scheduled to be released this week. This report is a compilation of anecdotal information on current economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Bank districts, and it is released eight times a year. The data comes from interviews with business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. While the June report showed modest growth across the districts, the July report showed that the economic recovery had slowed, even stalled in some districts.

Other economic data due out this holiday-shortened week include:

Smithfield Foods (SFD - option chain) shares are rising today as rumors have surfaced that the company may be an acquisition target for Brazilian meat titan JBS. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SFD.

SFD opened this morning at $15.60. So far today the stock has hit a low of $15.28 and a high of $16.20. As of 12:15, SFD is trading at $15.34 up 0.46 (3.1%). The chart for SFD looks neutral and S&P gives SFD a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

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

• Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP) was downgraded due to concerns about its 2010 earnings outlook.
• Analogic Corp. (ALOG) received an analyst's downgrade after it reported weaker-than-expected earnings.
• AutoZone Inc. (AZO) strong Q1 results beat earnings expectations, but shares rose only a little.
• BWAY Holding Co. (BWY) received an analyst's upgrade following release of its Q4 results.
• Casey's General Stores Inc. (CASY) topped Q2 earnings estimates but lower revenue fell short.
• Ciena Corp. (CIEN) shares plummeted after it fell short of its earnings expectations for Q4.

Hog producer Smithfield Foods (SFD) reported weak second-quarter results Thursday as live hog prices plummeted because of lower export demand, especially from China. The company said weak prices and squeezed margins offset improvements in its pork and packaged-meat businesses.

Smithfield said it lost $26.4 million, or an adjusted 26 cents per share, for the quarter. Sales fell 15% form a year ago to $2.69 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of 39 cents per share on revenue of $2.71 billion.

Smithfield Foods (SFD - option chain) shares are rising today in anticipation of the company's second quarter earnings report tomorrow morning before the markets open. Analysts are expecting the company to report a loss of 39 cents per share on revenue of $2.71 billion, compared to a loss of 21 cents per share on revenue of $3.15 billion in the year-ago period. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SFD.

SFD opened this morning at $16.94. So far today the stock has hit a low of $16.83 and a high of $17.27. As of 12:05, SFD is trading at $16.86 up 18 cents (1.1%). The chart for SFD looks bearish and S&P gives SFD a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

Pigs at the Minnesota state fair have tested positive for the H1N1 "swine" flu virus in preliminary tests.

Confirmation tests are pending, but this could be bad news and cause panic within the pork industry. Pork belly futures and companies like Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD), Tyson (NYSE: TSN), and Hormel (NYSE: HRL) are a few that could be affected.

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

• Best Buy Inc. (NYSE: BBY) was downgraded by one analyst ahead of next week's Q2 earnings report.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) better-than-expected Q4 and full-year profit failed to impact the share price.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) boosted its Q1 earnings guidance ahead of next week's quarterly report.
• JoS. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) saw its Q2 earnings jump higher than expected.
• Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) swung to a Q1 net loss as revenue plunged despite cost cuts.
• lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) strong Q2 numbers topped estimates and drove shares higher.

Pork producer Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) confessed Tuesday morning to a first-quarter loss of $107.7 million, or 75 cents per share, notably worse than its year-ago loss of just $13.2 million, or 10 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, SFD would have swallowed a loss of 56 cents per share for the recently concluded quarter. Revenue for the period fell by more than 13% to $2.72 billion.

Both figures fell short of analysts' expectations, which called for a loss of 53 cents per share on $2.82 billion in revenue. Thanks to the twin factors of the recession and the still-spreading H1N1 virus -- a.k.a. the "swine flu" -- Chief Executive Larry Pope said, "I feel like the world has been against us for 12 months." (While H1N1 cannot be contracted by consuming pork products, the pork industry has suffered nevertheless by association.)

Investors and analysts may be wondering whether the market rally is really over, and whether this signals more trouble ahead for the economy. Well, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its next Beige Book report of economic conditions on Wednesday, offering a glimpse of where things stand. The Beige Book report in July suggested that, in some of the 12 Fed districts, the economy appeared to be stabilizing, suggesting that the recession may have reached its bottom, but offering little sign of a recovery. Retail activity remained weak and employment numbers were not good. Yet the minutes of the FOMC August meeting seemed a bit more optimistic about the economy.

In addition to the Beige Book report, the TIPP Economic Optimism Index is scheduled to be released Tuesday, and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index comes out Friday. So by the end of the week, we could have a good gauge of the mood about the U.S. economy.

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) is up 9% in early afternoon trading as I write this. The company's second-quarter earnings release is driving the buying. According to this article, Tyson reported an adjusted loss of $0.05 per share. The market was expecting a loss of $0.06 per share. So I guess the market was pretty happy about that.

Wall Street was probably encouraged by something else as well. If you take a look at the actual release, head on down to the statement of cash flows. Last year at this time, Tyson generated $144 million in cash from operations during the six-month period. This year, the company made $407 million from operations. Some nice changes in working capital helped out.