MOST NOTEWORTHY: Illinois Tool Works, Perficient and GATX were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $59 target at Banc of America, as they believe the challenging macro environment and tougher international comparisons will impact near-term base revenue growth and margin opportunities.
  
• JMP Securities believes shares of Perficient Inc. (NASDAQ: PRFT) have overreacted to weak 2007 organic growth and expects shares to be driven by an acceleration in growth in combination with accretive acquisitions. The firm initiated Perficient with a Market Outperform rating and $20 target.
  
• GATX Corp. (NYSE: GMT) was initiated with a Neutral rating at SunTrust on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Credit Suisse initiated Bank of America with a Neutral rating and $48 target and Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) with an Underperform rating and $35 target.
  
• Goldman initiated Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Morgan Stanley started WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) with an Equal Weight rating.

When they are in the market for electrical and industrial construction products and MRO supplies, many of the biggest firms around go to an outfit that represents some 29,000 suppliers and offers more than a million products. It serves about 110,000 customers worldwide.

WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) is a leading distributor of electrical construction products and electrical/industrial maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies. The firm operates seven automated distribution centers and approximately 400 full-service branches around the world. Clients include ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT) and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN).

The company pleased investors last week, when it announced that it had completed a $400 million stock repurchase program and had authorized a new program for the same amount. CIBC World Markets and Bank of America Securities subsequently initiated coverage of the stock with "buy" ratings. The stock popped on the news and has since moved into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The biotech sector, WESCO International, Wyndham and Century Casinos were today's noteworthy initiations:

• BMO Capital initiated coverage on Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) and Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) with Outperform ratings and a $16 target and $51 target and Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) and Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) with Market Perform ratings and a $69 target and $85 target.
  
• CIBC initiated shares of WESCO International Inc. (NYSE: WCC) with a Sector Outperformer rating and $46 target. The firm believes lower estimates are already priced into shares and that the company's operating initiatives increase the chances for more stable margins in this environment.
  
• Deutsche Bank started shares of Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) with a Buy rating and $41 target. The firm believes stability of the timeshare industry, international expansion and improved transparency will serve as catalysts for shares.
  
• Century Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: CNTY) was initiated at Nollenberger with a Neutral rating, citing the underperformance of new properties and concerns from the smoking ban in Colorado; however, the firm believes the company is headed in the right direction.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Soleil started shares of Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) with Buy ratings and targets of $96 and $88, and initiated shares of Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) with a Hold rating and $55 target.
  
• Rodman & Renshaw started shares of Labopharm Inc. (NASDAQ: DDSS) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• UBS resumed coverage on Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) with a Buy rating and $34 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Blockbuster Inc (BBI), Molson Coors Brewing Co (TAP), Illumina, Inc (ILMN), and ARM Holdings plc (ARMHY) were today's more noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Blockbuster Inc (NYSE: BBI) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, improving box office visibility and their belief that the lower-priced online-only rental product will help improve costs.

• Molson Coors Brewing (NYSE: TAP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS based on valuation, volume strength and pricing.

• Matrix believes strong demand for genetic analysis equipment is boosting profits for Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN), upgrading shares to Strong Buy from Sell; Matrix sees upside to their Intrinsic Value Calculation of $50/share.

• ARM Holdings (NASDAQ: ARMHY) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JP Morgan to reflect the strength in the high-end handset market...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bristol Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.

• RBC Capital raised Sapient Corp (NASDAQ: SAPE) to Outperform from Sector Perform.

• Sandler upgraded Chemical Financial Corp (NASDAQ: CHFC) to Hold from Sell.

• UBS raised WESCO International, Inc (NYSE: WCC) to Buy from Neutral.

• Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Omnicell, Inc (NASDAQ: OMCL) to Outperform from Market Perform.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Intel Corp (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (AMD), Post Properties, Inc (PPS), Analogic Corp (ALOG) and the base metals sector were today's more noteworthy upgrades:

• DA Davidson raised Intel Corp's (NASDAQ: INTC) rating to Buy from Neutral based on market share gains and unexpected PC growth.

• American Technology upgraded Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) to Buy from Neutral as the firm expects shares to trade higher near-term with data not likely to get worse over the next six months. The firm suspects AMD could win a notebook platform at Toshiba Corp (TOSBF) and expects further offerings at Dell Inc (DELL).

• Banc of America upgraded shares of Post Properties Inc (NYSE: PPS) to Neutral from Sell and raised their target to $53 from $42 after REIT Wrap, a real estate industry newsletter, reported the company may have already received several unsolicited bids.

• Stanford upgraded Analogic Corp (NASDAQ: ALOG) to Buy from Hold based on improving fundamentals in the security and medical businesses.

• Goldman upgraded the base metals sector to Attractive from Neutral as the firm believes above-consensus metal prices for 2008-2009 are sustainable. The firm favors copper fundamentals over nickel, zinc and aluminum and views Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX) as its top pick.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Lehman upgraded Alon USA Energy, Inc (NYSE: ALJ) to Equal Weight from Underweight.

• Bear Stearns upgraded Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd (NASDAQ: SNDA) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

• Wesco International, Inc (NYSE: WCC) was upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.

• BMO Capital raised ResMed Inc (NYSE: RMD) to Outperform from Peer Perform.

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