Analyst Upgrades

• Intel (INTC) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight and Autodesk (ADSK) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Citigroup upgraded Blackrock (BLK) to buy from hold.
• 99c Only Stores (NDN) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• PetSmart (PETM) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Ruth's Hospitality (RUTH) and Morton's Restaurant (MRT) to overweight from neutral.
• BioMed Realty (BMR) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Piedmont (PDM) to market perform from underperform.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AA, AOL, BLK, CSCO, GOOG, INTC, JBL, JBLU, YHOO ...

Analyst Calls: AA, AOL, BLK, CSCO, GOOG, INTC, JBL, JBLU, YHOO ... originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alaska Air (ALK) closed at $35.83. ALK January call option implied volatility is at 35, puts at 40, February calls are at 39, puts at 45; below its 26-week average of 53, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

UAL Corp (UAUA) closed at $12.93. WTI Crude oil futures are recently up 0.40% to $74.70, according to Bloomberg. UAUA January option implied volatility is at 83, February is at 82; below its six-month average of 94, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) at 19.54; 10-day moving average is 21.39.

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

Options Update: Airline Volatility Decreases as Shares Rally originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Lehman Brothers downgraded Hess Corp (NYSE: HES) to Underweight from Equal-Weight based on valuation.
• American Home Mortgage Investment Corp (NYSE: AHM) was cut to Underperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette, to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings, to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Lehman Brothers, to Sell from Hold at Citigroup and to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.
• Anglo American plc (NASDAQ: AAUK) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets based on valuation.

• Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) was cut to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Lehman.
• Credit Suisse downgraded Alaska Air Group, Inc (NYSE: ALK) to Neutral from Outperform.
• Gabelli downgraded shares of A. Schulman, Inc (NASDAQ: SHLM) to Hold from Buy to reflect the company's weak second-quarter.
• Raymond James downgraded Avnet, Inc (NYSE: AVT) to Market Perform from Outperform.
• Blyth, Inc (NYSE: BTH) was cut to Sell from Hold on valuation.

Analyst downgrades 4-09-07: Hess Corp & American Home Mortgage downgraded today originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.