Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and indications that negative sentiment has reached a bottom.
• Citigroup upgraded Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation attractive and think management can grow earnings and book value in 2009/2010. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered their target price to $37 from $45.
• ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) was upgraded at Natixis to Buy from Hold.

Fall earnings are winding down, but there were still a number of notable companies reporting this week.

Excellent

• AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) 27c per share vs analyst expectations of 21c - at $22.45 (yesterday's close) the stock is up 42% year-to-date and is near its 52-week high of $22.66.
• American International Group (NYSE:AIG) $1.53 vs $1.42 - AIG is only now returning to its levels from the beginning of the year with just over a 2% return YTD. The stock is up more than 2.5% today.
• Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) 31c vs (12c) - while FLR is up more than 20% in the past year, its YTD return is only 8% and at $83.39 is trading within its 52-week range of $68.70-$103.85
• JC Penney (JCP) $1.26 vs. $1.23 - JCP had an amazing run. YTD return is nearly 45%. The stock is up another 1.3% today to $80.61, very near its 52-week high of $81.40 set yesterday during the session.

On the Fence

• El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) 16c vs 16c
• Watson Pharmaceutical (NYSE:WPI) 33c vs 34c
• Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) 36c vs 34c

Awful

• Federated Department Stores (NYSE:FD) 20c vs 25c
• IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ:IMAX) (30c) vs 5c
• Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. (NYSE:LGF) (14c) vs (2c)

Earnings review from Tedd Cohen of TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).