Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Ford (F) to buy from hold and raised its price target to $19.50 from $14.50, citing positive demand trends, sustainable market share gains and strong cash flow.
• BMO Capital upgraded MGM Resorts (MGM) to outperform from market perform with an $18 target, citing stabilizing metrics in Las Vegas.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded TRW Automotive (TRW) to buy from hold, citing better-than-expected production trends, and raised its price target for shares to $52 from $39.
• Dr. Reddy's Labs (RDY) was upgraded to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Pulte Group (PHM) was upgraded to neutral from sell at UBS and $8.50 price target.
• Vodafone (VOD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Nomura.

Verizon (VZ - option chain) stock is trading lower today after VZ shares were downgraded at Bernstein today to Underperform from Market Perform. In a note to investors, a Bernstein analyst wrote, "At the core of our concern for Verizon is the fact that after it begins to make distributions to Vodafone (VOD), we project that it will generate only just enough cash to cover its current dividend payment, leaving a razor-thin margin for error and sharply limited ability to commit to future dividend growth."

Dividend investors hate to hear that kind of worries regarding their distributions and have been driving VZ's price lower today in response. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on VZ.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Salesforce.com (CRM) to overweight from neutral, citing valuation following the recent sell-off and strong business trends. The firm has a $115 price target for shares.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded M&T Bank (MTB) to market perform from underperform on valuation after AIB sold its stake in the company. The firm has a $72 price target for shares.
• Jefferies upgraded OGE Energy (OGE) to buy from hold following the announcement that ArcLight will purchase 9.9% of OGE's interest in Enogex for $183M and believes this deal highlights the hidden value associated with Enogex. The firm raised its price target to $51.50 from $43.
• Thomas & Betts (TNB) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Bayer (BAYRY) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Baird.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Anadarko Petroleum (APC) to overweight from neutral on valuation as it views the recent pullback in shares as excessive. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target for shares to $82 from $90.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Office Depot (ODP) to perform from underperform and upped its target for shares to $7 from $3 after raising its estimates for companies in the Office Products Retail space. The firm expects trends to accelerate for the sector due to moderating unemployment pressures. In conjunction with the upgrade, Opco raised its target for OfficeMax (OMX) to $26 from $21 and target for Staples (SPLS) to $30 from $28. Both stocks remain outperform rated.
• C.K. Cooper upgraded iRobot (IRBT) to buy from hold with a $30 price target following the company's analyst day.
• Seadrill (SDRL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vodafone (VOD) was upgraded to neutral from reduce at Nomura.

You'd think that Wall Street would have learned its lesson after the market's crash in 2008 and early 2009. But already investors are returning to short-sighted, self-destructive behavior by chasing fads and forgetting the facts.

Look at the Morgan Stanley U.S. REIT Index (RMZ), for example. It has been flying high even in the face of horrific commercial and residential real estate figures. Since February 9, RMZ is up about 25%. The index has skyrocketed over 150% from its March 2009 low -- about double the gains for the broader market.

When Apple (APPL) launched the iPhone three years ago, the big attraction was the sleek design and cool graphics. However, there was something else that was truly innovative: the app store. Basically, Apple allowed third-party developers to create applications for the iPhone, which certainly benefited customers. It has turned into a cash machine, as Apple gets a cut of all the downloads.

Wanting to capitalize on this -- as well as try to slow down Apple -- a group of mobile companies have formed an alliance, called the Wholesale Applications Community. The members include 24 companies, such as AT&T (T), China Mobile (CHL), Verizon (VZ), NTT DoCoMo, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone (VOD).

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Even in these difficult economic times, people are upgrading their cell phones," says Amy Calistri, who selects Vodafone (VOD) as her top pick for 2010.

The editor of Stock of the Month, adds, "Smartphone sales have been robust throughout the recession, as people want to access the latest technologies and features."

Vodafone Group Plc (VOD), which provides mobile communications services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and the United States, is another household name that should attract investor attention.

The well-defined bull channel in which it is now trading has broken out from a double-top on huge volume.

The long-term target for VOD is $30.

After seven months of one of the strongest rallies in history, the stock market is showing signs of faltering. From here on out through the rest of 2009, I believe the advance will shift gears, and instead of recording new highs every month, the trend will tend to flatten.

And as we head into the heart of the fourth quarter, I wouldn't bet on the market making many more new highs this year.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) newly-minted CEO Carol Bartz has been on an open-ended tear recently, admitting what is broken at the company and even admitting that she uses a competitor's mapping product instead of the one produced by the company she now leads.

That's all well and good, but real change needs to come forth at Yahoo! for the company to know what it is supposed to be doing. Bartz has 2009 to prove that change is not being talked about, but is happening.

In a way, Africa is a new frontier for mobile services. The continent is seeing growth from the commodities boom. Plus, there is certainly a need to build up the infrastructure.

No doubt, Vodafone Group plc (NYSE: VOD) sees the opportunity. In fact, this week the company plunked down $900 million for a 70% stake in Ghana Telecom (the remaining 30% will be held by the government).

Actually, Ghana Telecom is the main player in the market, with 99% of the fixed-line segment. There is also a 90% control of the broadband category.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Vodafone Group Plc (NYSE: VOD) and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ), is in talks to acquire Alltel Corp. in a deal valued at about $27B, the Wall Street Journal reported. If successful, the combined companies would create the largest cellphone company, and would be better positioned to compete against AT&T Inc (NYSE: T).
• Gregory B. Penner, the son-in-law of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) chairman S. Robson Walton, is expected to join the company's board of directors, a move seen as the beginning of a leadership change at the company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek refused to provide funds to Bear Stearns shortly before Bear's sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM). Temasek reportedly refused the request for practical and political reasons.
• Russia's Interior Ministry questioned the head of BP Plc's (NYSE: BP) Russian oil venture as part of a criminal investigation into possible large-scale tax evasion, the Financial Times reported.

It's a forgotten continent but Africa holds lots of potential. There are opportunities for infrastructure investments. What's more, with the surge in commodities prices, there has been an influx of capital.

We are already seeing some dealmaking: the biggest wireless carrier in Africa, MTN Group, appears to be in talks for a merger with Reliance Communications.

Now there may be another deal. It looks like Telkom (NYSE: TKG), a South African fixed-line operator, is in play. A group of players -- Mvelaphanda Holdings, Och-Ziff Capital Management (NYSE: OZM) and other strategics – are interested in purchasing the company. Although, there is a hitch: Telkom needs to unload its wireless unit, Vodacom Group, which is a joint venture with mighty Vodafone (NYSE: VOD).

And it becomes even more complex as South Africa owns 38.9% of Telkom, which can slow things down. What's more, it will not be easy coming up with an agreeable valuation.

However, investors are optimistic. In Monday's trading, Telkom's shares were up 6.79%.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) recently up $1.73 to $140.29:

The Wall Street Journal reported RIMM plans to introduce a Touch-Screen Blackberry in Q3. The new BlackBerry will be sold at Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone Group Plc (ADR) (NYSE: VOD) only. RIMM call option volume of 66,506 contracts compared to put volume of 33,947 contracts. RIMM June option implied volatility of 42 wa below its 26-week average of 57 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

"I'm like Ma Bell, I got the ill communication." -- Beastie Boys

When considering these two particular companies, it is important to note their roots as offspring of the famous "Ma Bell" network. The Bell System, which has produced the most complex ongoing series of mergers and break-ups in the history of the United States, is the origin of the companies that are now AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), as well as competitor Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q). A lot has changed since those early times -- remember, after all, that the second "T" in AT&T stood for Telegraph. Now phones are the latest devices to be made supercomputers. AT&T has its exclusive deal with the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone, while Verizon slings the Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry.

Since wireless is the way of the future, the wireless divisions of these companies is the most hotly contested, and the focus of this "Battle of the Brands." It is important to note that despite Verizon Wireless bearing solely Verizon's name, it is not owned by just them, it is a 55%-45% joint venture between Verizon and Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD). It is also important to note that AT&T Mobility is the service formerly known as Cingular, which was acquired by AT&T in 2006 when it bought BellSouth for $86B.