Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), a DVD-rental business that competes with Blockbuster (NYSE: BBI), was upgraded yesterday by Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities. He sees good tidings ahead for the company. He believes that Netflix will see higher margins and a healthy stream of earnings. His thesis centers on the fact that the subscriber base is likely to grow and that streaming movies will lower the cost of delivery.

Upgrades are tricky beasts. Ideally, an investor or, more likely, a trader, wants to be in the stock before the upgrade occurs. Buying a company after it's been upgraded requires a lot of due diligence. And you have to get over the fact that you might be buying at a high price.

Marvel (NYSE: MVL) is a great company. It's got a lot of cool characters in its vast comic book portfolio. Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, you know them all. And it's a fun stock to both invest in and trade. It's a more direct play on movies than a Disney (NYSE: DIS) or a Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) is. I've made money on Marvel in the past. I don't currently own it, so I was pretty interested when I heard that Wedbush Morgan issued an upgrade this week.

Wedbush Morgan basically said that the market is undervaluing Marvel's potential. It sees a price target of $31. I myself think Marvel will break $30 yet again, but the problem I have is with sentiment. Exactly how will the market react to Marvel's shares this year?

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) recently up 45 cents to $104.10.

IBM is frequently chattered as a potential acquirer of Research in Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM). IBM trades at a P.E. of 33. RIMM trades at a P.E. of 78. IBM has a market cap of $142 billion. RIMM has a market cap of $59 billion. IBM December option implied volatility of 31 was above its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) volatility fattens as CRM rallies to record on earnings per share:

CRM was recently up $2.22 to $46.34. Wedbush Morgan says "Good Q3, but we remain cautious due to conservative 2009 revenue guidance with only modest margin expansion." CRM call option volume of 9,200 contracts compared to put volume of 11,092 contracts. CRM December option implied volatility of 50 was near its 26-week average after decreasing from a level of 68 on November 15 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risk.

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