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Analyst upgrades: TSN, UN, BRKS, AKZOY and YHOO

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Tyson Foods, Unilever, Brooks Automation, Akzo Nobel and Yahoo! were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the potential for protein complex improvement.
Goldman upgraded shares of Unilever (NYSE: UN) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the company's diversified product range and growing exposure to developing and emerging markets.
Bear Stearns raised its rating on Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) to Outperform from Peer Perform. The firm cited the company's compelling valuation and growth drivers.
Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at SNS Securities, as they see absolute total return greater than 20%.
CIBC upgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation following the recent pullback and their analysis of Yahoo's non-operating assets. They believe Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group is now worth about $4/share and raised their target to $31 from $28.

OTHER UPGRADES:

First Analysis upgraded Spss Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
UBS upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) to Buy from Neutral.
WestLB upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Hold from Reduce.
HSBC upgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Overweight from Neutral.

MAJOR PAPERS:

Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC), already forced to shut two hedge funds that bet heavily on the risky subprime-mortgage market, is now facing big losses in a third fund that has roughly $900 million in mortgage investments, according to people familiar with the matter, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
Three months after announcing that it may sell itself to Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) is expected to move ahead with the $2.9B sale for its exit from the public market, reported the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

According to people familiar with the matter, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), the largest chemicals group in the U.S., is considering making a counter-bid for ICI, which has a GBP7.8B bid from Akzo Nobel (NASDAQ: AKZOY), reported the Telegraph.
The Telegraph reported that British Airways (OTC: BAIRY) has agreed to pay a fine of GBP121.5M to the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading and will also pay a fine to the U.S. Department of Justice because of its involvement in an alleged price-fixing scandal.

WEBSITES:

Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) has fired four purchasing managers for their involvement in a purchasing scandal involving millions of dollars in kickbacks regarding the display of flooring products, reported CBS News.