Analyst upgrades:

• William Blair upgraded Parexel (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Outperform from Market Perform on increased conviction in the company's earnings growth outlook following channel checks.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Outperform from Market Perform and raised its target to $22 from $26 citing the company's approximate 8% implied cap rate on is vastly improved apartment portfolio.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) to Hold from Sell on valuation as they believe weak fundamentals are now priced into the stock.
• Goldman upgraded Portland General Electric (NYSE: POR) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• StellarOne (NASDAQ: STEL) and Union Bankshares (NASDAQ: UBSH) were upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
  
• Bernstein upgraded DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Align Tech (NASDAQ: ALGN) to Hold from Buy as they believe macroeconomic pressures will limit the company's ability to reach longer term growth expectations. Align's target was lowered to $8 from $14.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Advanced Medical (NYSE: EYE) to Underperform from Buy and lowered its target to $9 from $28 following the company's lowered guidance as they believe macroeconomic pressures affecting LASIK volumes and the unanticipated slowdown in lens care should put continued pressure on the stock.
  
• ThinkPanmure expects the macro slowdown and credit crunch to slow Intel's (NASDAQ: INTC) growth and IT capex spending. The firm downgraded shares to Sell from Buy, lowered its 2009 EPS estimate to $1.01 from $1.35, vs. consensus of $1.46, and cut Intel's target to $12 from $24.
• MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) was lowered to Neutral from Positive at Susquehanna.
  
• Charles River Labs (NYSE: CRL) was downgraded at William Blair to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• Deutsche Bank cut Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA) to Hold from Buy.

Analyst initiations:

• Old Second Bancorp (NASDAQ: OSBC) was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $17 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes the company's exposure to strong markets should generate above-average returns.
  
• Susquehanna assumed Affiliated Computer (NYSE: ACS) with a Positive rating and $55 target and is positive on the company's low levels of customer concentration and high levels of geographic diversification.
  
• Cowen resumed coverage of AnnTaylor (NYSE: ANN) with a Neutral rating, citing the company's share loss to competitors and top-line weakness..
• MetLife (NYSE: MET) was assumed with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley.
  
• JMP Securities initiated HFF Inc (NYSE: HF) with a Market Perform rating.
  
• Genpact (NYSE: G) was initiated at Susquehanna with a Neutral rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alliance Imaging, Calpine and CommVault were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Stanford finds shares of Alliance Imaging (NYSE: AIQ) fairly valued and believes the company's transition to providing imaging services to hospitals from mobile imaging equipment to fixed imaging equipment will take at least several years. The firm initiated coverage with a Hold rating.
  
• Calpine (NYSE: CPN) was initiated with a Buy rating and $21.50 target at Jefferies. The firm views Calpine as a low-cost valuation generation company and expects earnings growth from its Western and Texas power plants to drive improved results.
  
• Cowen assumed CommVault (NASDAQ: CVLT) with a Neutral rating and sees limited upside to 2009 estimates due to sales and marketing investments, as well as competition.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• UBS initiated Omrix Biopharm (NASDAQ: OMRI) with a Buy rating and $17 target.
  
• Susquehanna initiated Align Tech (NASDAQ: ALGN) with a Neutral rating.
  
• Zions Bancorp (NASDAQ: ZION) was assumed with a Neutral rating and $13 target at Baird.

Silicon Labs (NASDAQ: SLAB) is trading up 12% on strong earnings.

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is up almost 10% on a good quarter.

Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) is trading higher by 8% on earnings.

Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) is off almost 20% on weak earnings.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is trading down 10% on a poor 2008 outlook.

China Life (NYSE: LFC) is down 6% on sell-off in Chinese stocks.

Stocks may trade differently in the regular session than the do in the pre-market.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

So you want straighter teeth, but think braces will hurt your chances for promotion to department head? No problem. There's an outfit in Santa Clara, California that has the answer.

Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) makes the Invisalign system, a proprietary method for treating crooked teeth. Invisalign corrects the condition using a series of clear, nearly invisible, removable Aligners that gently move teeth to a desired final position. Because it does not use brackets and wires, Invisalign significantly reduces the aesthetic limitations of braces and is appropriate for treating adults and older teens. The firm also provides an Internet-based application that enables orthodontists to choose the correct Aligners by simulating sequential stages of tooth movement. 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) is a competitor.

The company pleased investors last week, when it reported Q1 EPS of ten cents and revenues of $63.8 million. Analysts had been looking for a loss of a penny and $58.5 million. Management also guided Q2 EPS to 10-12 cents (1 cent consensus), Q2 revenues to $72-74 million ($62.21M consensus), FY07 EPS to 30-38 cents (6 cent consensus) and FY07 revenues to $268.4-278.0M ($250.72M consensus). Deutsche Securities, Roth Capital and JMP Securities subsequently reiterated "buy" recommendations.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The more notable initiations today included THQ Inc (THQI), LaSalle Hotel Properties (LHO) and OfficeMax Inc (OMX):

• William Blair started THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) with an Outperform rating, as they are positive on shares based on earnings upside potential from the new video game cycle.

• RBC initiated shares of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) with an Outperform rating and $52 target, as the firm expects growth to be driven by portfolio repositioning efforts and renovations.

• OfficeMax Inc (NYSE: OMX) was initiated at Bear Stearns with a Peer Perform rating citing a balanced risk/reward.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman Brothers initiated both AK Steel Holding Corp (NYSE: AKS) and Steel Dynamics Inc (NASDAQ: STLD) with Equal Weight ratings.

• Wachovia started Beazer Homes USA Inc (NYSE: BZH) with a Market Perform rating, saying the company has few discernible competitive advantages over other public homebuilders and lacks catalysts.

• Cowen initiated Rackable Systems Inc (NASDAQ: RACK) with a Neutral rating.

• Bear Stearns re-initiated Tiffany & Co (NYSE: TIF) with a Peer Perform rating.

• Leerink Swann started Align Technology (NASDAQ: ALGN) with an Outperform rating, with a range of $21-$23, believing the company's Invisalign technology is well positioned for renewed growth.

• Bernstein initiated Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE: MUR) with an Outperform rating.

• Cascade Financial Corp (NASDAQ: CASB) was initiated with a Hold rating and $19 target at Sandler.

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

So you think straighter teeth will make all the difference, but can't see yourself wearing braces in the boardroom? No problem. There's an outfit in Santa Clara, California that has the answer.

Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:ALGN) makes the Invisalign system, a proprietary method for treating crooked teeth. Invisalign corrects the condition using a series of clear, nearly invisible, removable Aligners that gently move teeth to a desired final position. Because it does not use brackets and wires, Invisalign significantly reduces the aesthetic limitations of braces and is appropriate for treating adults and older teens.

The company pleased investors last week when it reported a Q4 loss of a penny per share and revenues of $55.2 million. Analysts had been looking for a fifteen cent loss and sales of $54 million. Management also guided Q1 EPS to 2-4 cents (beating the 5 cent loss consensus), Q1 revenues to $56.8-$59.8 million (compared to the $54.75M consensus), FY07 EPS to 15-27 cents (penny loss consensus) and FY07 revenues to $240-$255 million ($238.37M consensus).

The markets moved up mildly through yesterday's session to close with small gains, even though crude oil futures climbed 5% after reports of possible Saudi Oil cuts. Recreational goods along with independent oil and gas stocks were up while major airlines and consumer services stocks were down.

Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) jumped up $2.92 (21%) to $16.69 after topping forecasts. UnumProvident (NYSE:UNM) was up $2.09 (10.5%) to $22.02.

The NYSE had volume of 2.6 billion shares traded with 2,331 issues advancing while 970 declined for a gain of 66.84 points to close at 9,206.39. On the NASDAQ, 1.8 billion shares were traded, 1,840 stocks advanced and 1,195 declined for a loss of 7.55 points closing at 2,448.64.

Yesterday's list of most active stocks included Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) down $0.05 to close at $30.48, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) up $1.27 to $19.58 and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW) up $0.08 to $6.43. Investors traded Microsoft shares heavily after it launched the consumer versions of Windows Vista.

Today's put/call option volume ratio was a neutral 0.83 with 2.8 million puts and 3.4 million calls trading hands. Options on General Electric (NYSE:GE) were particularly active with the March $37.50 puts (GEOS) trading over 28,000 contracts. Options on Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) were active with the February 25 calls (DLQBE) trading over 22,000 contracts.

Looking at today's market action there are a number of economic reports due including GDP, Construction Spending, and EIA Petroleum Status report. Investors will also be reading the latest FED notes coming out at 2:15 PM EST. Stocks to watch tomorrow include Altria (NYSE:MO) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) both of which will be reporting earnings.

Kevin Kersten is an analyst with InvestorsObserver. DISCLOSURE NOTE: Mr. Kersten owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.