Analyst Upgrades

• Exxon Mobil (XOM), Netflix (NFLX), Noble Corp. (NE), Pioneer Natural (PXD) and Noble Energy (NBL) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Cenovus Energy (CVE) to conviction buy from neutral and Atwood Oceanics (ATW) to neutral from sell at Goldman as well.
• Southern Company (SO) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Chevron (CVX) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Ryder (R), Entergy (ETR) and Seaspan (SSW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Gerdau (GGB), Crown Castle (CCI) and American Tower (AMT) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Ryland Group (RYL) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.

Analyst Upgrades

• Molycorp (MCP) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Humana (HUM), HealthSpring (HS) and UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Williams Cos. (WMB) to conviction buy from neutral and UBS (UBS) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• China Kanghui (KH) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Armstrong World (AWI) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Time Warner (TWX) to buy from hold at Benchmark Co.
• Calpine (CPN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• 3M Company (MMM) to neutral from underperform and Kirby (KEX) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wells Fargo upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to outperform from market perform, citing strong flows and a potential recovery in the U.S. equity markets.
• UBS upgraded BorgWarner (BWA) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $50 from $48. The firm expects BorgWarner to benefit from fuel economy regulation.
• Cowen upgraded Celgene (CELG) to neutral from underperform, citing improved fundamentals and valuation for the upgrade.
• TRW Automotive (TRW) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Finish Line (FINL) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Jazz Pharmaceutical (JAZZ) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst Ugrades

• Stephens upgraded Old Dominion Freight (NASDAQ: ODFL) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the financial problems at YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW), which the firm believes could lead to market share gains. Stephens raised its target on Old Dominion Freight to $40 from $22.
• UBS expects SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWRA) to benefit from the U.S. residential solar segment as investment tax credits come available. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $38 from $26.
• KeyBanc upgraded DPL (NYSE: DPL) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and potential upside from the Ohio approval of the rate settlement, 2010 guidance, and potential to use cash flow for accretive purposes.
• Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Buy at Goldman.
• Carnival (NYSE: CCL) was raised to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• South Financial Group (NASDAQ: TSFG) was upgraded at SunTrust to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades:

• Merriman upgraded shares of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Neutral from Sell as they believe consensus estimates for Q4 and FY09 are no longer too high. In addition, the firm believes Google's slowing capex spend will improve margins and their recent channel checks indicate the company's ad coverage has increased significantly during Q4.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) to Outperform from Perform following yesterday's disclosures regarding Steve Jobs' health. The firm has a $135 price target on Apple shares.
  
• UBS upgraded BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $31 from $28 citing easier booking comps in the March quarter.
• YRC Worldwide (NASDAQ: YRCW) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.
  
• Goldman removed Hewitt (NYSE: HEW) from its Conviction Sell List.

Analyst downgrades:

• Stephens downgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Equal Weight from Overweight on valuation, as they believe the stock is fairly valued at current levels. The firm maintains a $39 price target.
  
• Merriman downgraded Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) to Neutral from Buy after Super Micro pre-announced a Q2 miss to reflect the company's "challenging" outlook.
  
• Baird downgraded Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) to Neutral from Outperform citing Revlimid growth concerns following their most recent survey and potential pressures on the European business and on Thalomid.
• Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) was lowered to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink.
  
• Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) was cut at Goldman to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Barclays.

Analyst initiations:

• Merriman believes Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) is well-positioned to benefit from the upgrade to Advanced Metering Infrastructure by tier one utilities and finds the stock attractively valued. Shares were initiated with a Neutral rating.
  
• Oppenheimer assumed Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL) with a Perform rating and expects the company's growth to slow in 2009 given global credit concerns and the economic slowdown.
  
• Citigroup started Telmex (NYSE: TMX) with a Sell rating and $15 target. The firm believes the company's inability to offer 3-play services could lead to accelerated market share loss in 2009.
• Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) was initiated at Janney Montgomery with a Neutral rating and $31 fair value estimate.
  
• Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Jesup & Lamont assumed UTi Worldwide (NASDAQ: UTIW) with a Buy rating and $18 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Papa John's (PZZA), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), SourceForge (LNUX), Cathay Pacific (CPCAY) and Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Matrix downgraded shares of Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA) to Hold from Strong Buy to reflect minimal improvement to fundamentals and negative free cash flow trends.

• Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN) was downgraded to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation as the firm believes shares fully reflect solid Las Vegas & Macau fundamentals and the company's development pipeline.

• SourceForge (NASDAQ: LNUX) was cut to Underperform from Market perform at JMP Securities, with a $3 target, following the disappointing results.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Cathay Pacific (OTC: CPCAY) to Sell from Buy on valuation.

• Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) was cut to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns as they believe margin expansion will be lower than expected, softening insurance pricing will impact organic growth, and cites managements acquisition desires over aggressive repurchases...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• PolyMedica (NASDAQ: PLMD) was downgraded to Hold from Buy.

• Merrill downgraded Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) to Neutral from Buy.

• Morgan Stanley cut Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) to Underwieght from Overweight.

• JP Morgan downgraded Sonic (NASDAQ: SONC) to Neutral from Overweight.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Arthur J. Gallagher (AJG), Akamai Technologies (AKAM) and three railcar companies were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Citigroup believes Arthur J. Gallagher (NYSE: AJG) is at a disadvantage to smaller rivals who accept contingent commissions and lacks the global presence of larger competitors, and started shares with a Sell rating and $25 target.

• Friedman Billings believes Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) can leverage its broad product portfolio, global network deep pockets and extensive track record to remain the leader in the content delivery market, starting shares with an Outperform.

• Keefe Bruyette started coverage of three railcars with a Buy rating: Greenbrier (NYSE: GBX), Wabtec Corporation (NYSE: WAB) and FreightCar America (NASDAQ: RAIL)...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Citigroup started Goodyear Tire (NYSE: GT) with a Buy rating.

• CIBC initiated Praxair (NYSE: PX) with a Sector Performer rating.

• Crucell NV (NASDAQ:CRXL) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Lehman.

• FTN Midwest initiated RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) with a Neutral rating.

• Cowen initiated Penwest Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PPCO) with an Outperform rating.

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