Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A), a manufacturer of equipment for scientific testing, reported third quarter earnings on Monday after the bell. It was a challenging quarter for the business, but estimates were beat, at least.

Revenues fell 27%. Earnings on an adjusted basis likewise took a severe tumble, coming in at 15 cents per share. Agilent made well over three times that amount in the year-ago quarter. Here's the saving grace: according to Reuters, the company earned four more pennies than the average estimate.

Monday, June 9

• The Pediatric Ethics Subcommittee of the Pediatric Advisory Committee will meet at 8:30 am to discuss the application of 21 CFR 50.52 (Clinical investigations involving greater than minimal risk but presenting the prospect of direct benefit to individual subjects) to FDA-regulated research. The discussion will be illustrated with hypothetical case examples of research involving HIV vaccines in adolescents and controlled trials of inhaled corticosteroids in children with asthma.
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) to give mid-quarter update at 5:00 pm.

Tuesday, June 10

• The Pediatric Ethics Subcommittee will meet at 8:00 am to discuss the application of 21 CFR 50.52 to FDA-regulated research illustrated with a hypothetical case example of research using stem cells for treating periventricular white matter injury in children.
• Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) to hold conference call at 11:00 am to discuss business video innovation.
• Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) to hold mid-year review meeting at 12:00 pm.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Polaris Industries, Edwards Lifesciences, BearingPoint and Fortis were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Rochdale upgraded Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) to Buy from Hold, as they have increased confidence in the company's ability to achieve estimates.
  
• Piper upgraded shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) as they believe the bad news is behind the company with a U.S. turnaround expected in 2008.
  
• Jefferies raised shares of BearingPoint (NYSE: BE) to Hold from Underperform on valuation as they believe the risk/reward is neutral following the recent pullback.
  
• Fortis (OTC: FORSY) was upgraded to Outperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns. The firm upgraded shares on valuation as they believe the recent weakness is overdone.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman Sachs added Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) and Commercial Metals (NYSE: CMC) to its Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Varian Semiconductor (NASDAQ: VSEA) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• Bear upgraded Bruker Biosciences (NASDAQ: BRKR) and Hutchison Telecom (NYSE: HTX) to Outperform from Peer Perform.
  
• Banc of America upgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) and J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Neutral from Sell.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) highlighted the possibility of a merger between XM Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: XMSR) and Sirius Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI).
• XM Satellite Radio has softened its stance about a possible deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, but any deal between the companies would face obstacles from the FCC.
• Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX) rival Dunkin' Donuts plans to open its first store in Taiwan today as part of a regional push into mainland China. Starbucks also has expansion plans for China.
• Commerce Bancorp (NYSE: CBH) is under federal investigation by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve, due to the company's transactions with bank insiders.
  
• The Financial Times (subscription required) wrote that handset maker Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE, NASDAQ: ERIC) moved closed to pushing aside Samsung for third place in market share behind Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK) and Motorola, Inc (NYSE: MOT); last year it overtook LG Electronics.
  

OTHER PAPERS:

• The New York Times reported that the Chief Independent Investigator has found that a top Interior Department official was told nearly three years ago of a "legal blunder" that allowed drilling companies to avoid billions of dollars in payments for oil and gas pumped from publicly owned waters.
• The Toronto Sun reported rumors that Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is working to get the Beatles catalog onto its iTunes service.
  
• Investor's Business Daily mentioned Varian Semiconductor (NASDAQ: VSEA) positively in the "New America" column.