Analyst Upgrades

• Goodrich (GR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Ford (F) to neutral from underperform and CenterPoint Energy (CNP) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Dollar Financial (DLLR) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Alterra Capital (ALTE) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Cheesecake Factory (CAKE) and P.F. Chang's (PFCB) to buy from neutral, as well as SunTrust (STI) to neutral from sell, at Janney Capital.
• Arch Capital (ACGL), Axis Capital (AXS), PartnerRe (PRE), Everest Re (RE) and Transatlantic (TRH) to buy from hold, as well as W. R. Berkley (WRB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• Optimer Pharm (OPTR) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

If you are looking for clues to tell you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want to consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

U.S. Gold (UXG) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending March 4 as insiders snapped up 3,067,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $19,935,500. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 30.97% and now own 21.13% of UXG stock.

Analyst Upgrades

• Ryder (R) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• HCP (HCP) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hertz Global (HTZ) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Lincoln National (LNC) to buy from neutral and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Protective Life (PL) and Janus Capital (JNS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• National Instruments (NATI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Team Health (TMH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

If you are looking for clues telling you which stocks have a good chance of increasing in value, you might want consider watching what insiders are doing. After all, talk is cheap, but when insiders put their own money on the line, you should sit up and take note.

Scientific Games Corp. (SGMS) topped the insider-buying charts for the week ending July 9th as insiders snapped up 4,387,000 shares of company stock at a market value of $38,159,298. During the past six months, insiders have increased their overall holdings in the company by 74.21% and now own 2.05% of SGMS stock.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on TransDigm Group Incorporated (TDG). Traders plowed into 1,865 new call option contracts -- 84.77 times the average volume -- on the stock on Thursday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 96% of the trades came in on the ask price.

TransDigm has been hitting 52-week highs for a few days in a row now. The stock closed Thursday at $61.25, up 7.65% during the past month.

Analyst Upgrades

• Bernstein upgraded Boeing (BA) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation. The firm also raised its price target to $81 from $80.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Thomas & Betts (TNB) to outperform from market perform, citing valuation and an expected recovery in North American nonresidential construction.
• RBC Capital upgraded Susquehanna (SUSQ) to outperform from sector perform and has a $14 target on the stock. The firm thinks the stock's valuation is attractive as its decline in response to the European debt crisis and financial regulatory reform has been overdone.
• Priceline.com (PCLN) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Genzyme (GENZ) was upgraded to neutral from underweight at JPMorgan.
• RightNow (RNOW) was upgraded to overweight from market weight at Thomas Weisel.

Analyst Upgrades

• UBS raised its Global LED demand estimates and upgraded Cree (CREE) to buy from neutral, citing lower margin risk and increased LED lighting growth. The firm raised its target to $92 from $60.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Juniper (JNPR) to outperform from market perform. The firm believes the company is beginning to generate multifaceted growth as a result of increased carrier traffic and impressive products.
• RBC Capital upgraded LHC Group (LHCG) to outperform from sector perform. RBC expects the company to increase 2010 guidance due to the passage of health care reform and raised its target for shares to $39 from $35.
• TransDigm (TDG) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• WebMD (WBMD) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Houston Wire & Cable (HWCC) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird expects Thor Industries (NYSE: THO) to benefit from industry consolidation and the eventual recovery. Shares were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform.
  
• Jefferies upgraded SPSS Inc. (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and believes the company's cost cuts will be positive for EPS. The company's target was lowered to $28 from $29.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral on valuation and believes the company is unlikely to spin-off Enexus by year-end. They believe a spin-off in 2009 or no spin at all suggests a higher share price from current levels. The company's target was raised to $104 from $101.50.
• AMN Healthcare (NYSE: AMN) was upgraded to hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Argus upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Hold from Sell.
  
• Transdigm Group (NYSE: TDG) was lifted to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Aerospace stocks, WuXi Pharma, Myriad Genetics, Cypress Bioscience and Knology were today's noteworthy initiations:

• LYON initiated shares of aerospace stocks including Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR), TransDigm Group Inc (NYSE: TDG) and Triumph Group Incorporated (NYSE: TGI) with Add ratings and a $74 target, $45 target and $90 target, respectively.
  
• WuXi Pharmatech (NYSE: WX) was started with a Hold rating and $29 target at Jefferies on valuation. JP Morgan started shares with a Neutral rating and Credit Suisse initiated shares with an Outperform rating.
  
• Myriad Genetics Inc (NASDAQ: MYGN) was started with a Hold rating and $50 target at Citigroup, as the firm is cautious on the Phase III Flurizan results and does not recommend putting new money here at these levels.
  
• Citigroup also initiated shares of Cypress Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CYPB) with a Buy rating and $22 target as the firm believes Milnacipran has sufficient database for approval and is capable of gaining meaningful market share as firstline therapy.
  
• Knology Inc (NASDAQ: KNOL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $25 target at BWS Financial, as the firm believes the company's growth potential is greater than other cable companies through a business plan that allows it to have operations in all regions of the U.S.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia resumed coverage of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) and Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) were initiated with Overweight ratings at JP Morgan.
  
• Thomas Weisel started shares of Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) with a Market Weight rating.
  
• Goldman initiated shares of Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Activision Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI) with Buy ratings and THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) with a Neutral rating.