MOST NOTEWORTHY: Fiserv, Arbitron and Anadarko Petroleum were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JMP Securities upgraded Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV) to Outperform from Market Perform citing a reversal of the Bank of America in-house risk, potential re-branding initiatives, and relative pricing stability.
  
• Bear upgraded Arbitron (NYSE: ARB) to Outperform from Peer Perform citing PPM earnings growth potential, strong industry position, defensive nature of shares, and it views the company as an acquisition target.
  
• Lehman raised Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) to Overweight from Equal Weight citing relative valuation and strong U.S. gas exposure.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman added Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Morgan Stanley lifted Kroger (NYSE: KR) and British American Tobacco (ASE: BTI) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

Commercial radio audience surveys have traditionally required participants to keep a daily written log of listening activity. Now, the leading U.S. provider of survey statistics has devised an easier way. Listeners can just carry a cellphone-sized device that detects inaudible program codes and records the data automatically.

Arbitron (NYSE: ARB) is a media and marketing information company. The firm surveys radio listeners in some 300 U.S. markets, gathering information about listening habits, income, lifestyles and shopping habits. More than 4,600 radio stations and 2,100 advertising agencies subscribe to its services. Arbitron also offers market research to cable TV, internet and outdoor advertising clients. The company has developed the Portable People Meter system, a new technology for commercial radio ratings which will replace its current diary-based system with passive, electronic measurement. Plans call for the PPM to be deployed in the Top 50 radio markets by 2010.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) has hired Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to find a buyer for its WMC Mortgage subprime mortgage unit, signaling its exit from the mortgage business, reported the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
  
• GE's CNBC cable business news channel and the Financial Times Group are in discussions to share resources and shore up their Web business, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• VeriSign Inc (NASDAQ: VRSN), which oversees dot-com and dot-net domain names registry, has recorded an additional $160M in compensation expenses related to stock option grants made between 1998 and 2006, causing the CFO to resign, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times (subscription required) reported that Virgin Media Inc (NASDAQ: VMED) has hired financial services company UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) yesterday to pursue strategic buyers.

OTHER PAPERS:

• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" column:
  
• Investors are paying attention to Arbitron Inc (NYSE: ARB), the media research company that compiles radio ratings.
  
• Ziopharm Oncology (NASDAQ: ZIOP) is testing the use of ZIO-101 arsenic [organic] to treat myeloma and other blood cancers.
• Zoltek Companies Inc's (NASDAQ: ZOLT) carbon fiber used in wind turbines is in-demand, as windmill demand soars as an alternative energy source.