Analyst Upgrades

• Large Cap Pharmaceuticals sector upgraded to Overweight at Wells Fargo.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Cypress Semi (CY) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• MFA Financial (MFA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Blackstone (BX) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Comerica (CMA) upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• NuVasive (NUVA) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink.
• Cogdell Spencer (CSA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Hersha Hospitality (HT) upgraded to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.
• G&K Services (GKSR) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at RW Baird.
• Graham Packaging (GRM) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Shaw (SJR) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Oracle (ORCL) and Alliance Data Systems (ADS) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Saint Joe (JOE) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Starwood Hotels (HOT) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Middlesex Water (MSEX) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Consol Energy (CNX) to buy from hold at BB&T.

Analyst Upgrades

• Sterne Agee upgraded American Public Education (APEI) to buy from neutral following the Q4 report and guidance. The firm has a $50 target on the stock.
• Jefferies upgraded Lamar Advertising (LAMR) to hold from underperform citing valuation and the improved ad market. The firm raised its target $30 from $22.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Wilmington Trust (WL) to neutral from sell following the company's $250M stock offering and raised its target price on shares to $13 from $10.
• AeroVironment (AVAV) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.
• Scripps Networks (SNI) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• TheKnot (KNOT) was raised to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

Technology expert Gregg Early looks to AeroVironment (AVAV) as his top pick for the coming year.

The editor of The New Tech Investor -- and the soon-to-be-launched Portfolio 2020 -- he explains, "Although the firm's military aerospace business should be strong, it is the firm's new 'clean technology' and energy efficiency projects that should be the real growth kicker."

"AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) was founded to create more ef?cient machines utilizing solar power and human power," says Brendan Coffey, a specialist on stocks poised to benefit from advancement in 'green' technologies.

The editor of the specialist advisory, The Cabot Green Letter, looks at the company's innovative role in electric vehicles, wind turbines and unmanned air vehicles used by the military.

"If you don't know the company, you've surely heard of some of its achievements, like the Gossamer Albatross-the peddle-powered aircraft that crossed the English Channel in 1979, the 1989 GM Impact - the first electric car, and the 264-foot wingspan Helios-a NASA solar-powered plane that stayed aloft for months in 2001.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

Gregg Early focuses on finding long-term growth opportunities among companies that specialize in niche, advanced technologies.

In his The New Tech Investor, he looks to AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) -- which is involved in innovative ventures in both wind power and unmanned vehicles -- as his favorite investment idea for the coming year.

"Two things make AeroVironment a unique company: its story and its stock price during the past year.

"The company has four divisions that by themselves seem very incongruous for moving the whole forward. It has a division that makes some of the most highly lauded and in-demand micro-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in service today.

"It also has a clean energy systems division that's best known for its 'architectural wind' turbines for urban settings, that are installed on manufacturing plants as well as office and apartment buildings.

"Its latter two division are the congruent in direction: one builds electric vehicle (EV) supply systems and the other supplies EV test systems.

Analyst upgrades:

• Cowen upgraded Aaron Rents (NYSE: RNT) to Outperform from Neutral and believes the company's business model is gaining momentum despite the difficult environment. The firm views valuation as attractive.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of MedCath (NASDAQ: MDTH) to Hold from Sell on valuation following the recent sell-off. The company's target was lowered to $9 from $19.
  
• Stanford upgraded AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) to Buy from Hold based on valuation and because they believe its visibility over the next year has improved.
• Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB) was lifted to Buy from Hold at BB&T.
  
• Chico's FAS (NYSE: CHS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• FCStone (NASDAQ: FCSX) was raised to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James.

Analyst downgrades:

• RBC Capital downgraded Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR) to Sector Perform from Outperform based on reduced valuation parameters and lack of catalysts. The company's target was lowered to $9 from $15.
• Kellogg (NYSE: K) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) were cut to Neutral from Buy at UBS.
  
• Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) was downgraded at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman and to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

"If Barack Obama wins, look to AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV), a company involved in both unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and alternative energy solutions," says tech and science expert Gregg Early, editor of The Real Nanotech Investor.

"For Baby Boomers or aviation fans, the founders of the company were the people that brought us the Gossamer Albatross in the 1970s, a human powered plane that flew over the English Channel.

"The company that formed from Dr. Paul MacCready's fascination of manned flight eventually transitioned into a business that focused on unmanned flight, more precisely unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

"This work on UAVs made the company a long-time partner with NASA in developing the concept of unmanned aviation.

"When 9/11 came, and we set off to war and birthed the Department of Homeland Security -- the largest agency built by the government since the Department of War -- UAVs became one of the hottest sectors in the armed force and homeland security.

"AeroVironment started getting a lot of those orders. What's more, the company has two other divisions.

"One focuses on 'architectural wind' power for urban settings. The other focuses on industrial/consumer electric vehicle charging systems as well as solar pump controllers that use solar power to pump water, run water purification, etc. in remote areas.

"Between next-generation defense products and alternative energy solutions, this company will doubly benefit from a president focused on technology and innovation to secure the U.S. competitive position in the world again."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

Which stocks would benefit from a victory by either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama? To help investors sort through the sectors and stocks best positioned to benefit in a post-election environment, we posed this question to some of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

Importantly, this is not a partisan report; each participating advisor has provided a favorite stock for both candidates, focused not on political preferences but unbiased stock analysis. Below we feature those stocks and ETFs that the advisors believe will be the winners depending on which candidate prevails.

McCain Stocks:

Roger Conrad - Comcast (NYSE: CCW)
Gregg Early - Elbit Systems (NASDAQ: ESLT)
Elliott Gue - Paladin Resources (Toronto: PDN)
Doug Fabian - Market Vectors Nuclear Energy (NYSE: NLR)
Vivian Lewis - Barclays (NYSE: BCS)
Bill Martin - CGG Veritas (NYSE: CGV)'
Yiannis Mostrous - Lonking Holdings (OTC: CIMHF)
Carla Pasternak - Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund (NYSE: EVT)
Nate Pile - SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)
John Reese - General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)
Nathan Slaughter - USEC (NYSE: USU)
Paul Tracy - Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR)
Kelley Wright - CenturyTel (NYSE: CTL)
Tom Vass - Molex (NASDAQ: MOLX)
Martin Hutchinson - Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG)

Obama Stocks:

Roger Conrad - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Gregg Early - AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV)
Elliott Gue - SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR)
Doug Fabian - Industrial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE: XLI)
Vivian Lewis - Cosan (NYSE: CZZ)
Bill Martin - Geron (NASDAQ: GERN)
Yiannis Mostrous - Dr. Reddy's (NYSE: RDY)
Carla Pasternak - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP)
Nate Pile - Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)
John Reese - American Eagle (NYSE: AEO)
Nathan Slaughter - Fluor (NYSE: FLR)
Paul Tracy - Market Vectors Global Alternative Energy (NYSE: GEX)
Kelley Wright - Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH)
Tom Vass - Ingersoll Rand (NYSE: IR)
Martin Hutchinson - Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR)

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) beat earnings expectations for Q3, lifting shares.
• AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) topped Q1 estimates and maintained its full-year guidance.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported solid Q3 results that topped analysts' expectations.
• FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) Q1 profits slumped on fuel costs and the economy, but revenues were higher.
• General Mills Inc. (NYSE: GIS) posted solid Q1 results and lifted its full-year guidance.
• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) beat Q3 earnings expectations but revenue fell short of estimates.
• K12 Inc. (NYSE: LRN) reported a loss for Q4 but still beat analysts' expectations.
• Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) reported strong Q3 results, including a rise in same-store sales.
• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) posted better-than-expected Q3 results amidst chaos on Wall Street.
• Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCL) beat Q1 expectations and annouced record operating margin rise.
• Palm Inc. (NASDAQ: PALM) reported better-than-expected results even as its net loss widened.

Upcoming quarterly reports include AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Lennar (NYSE: LEN), Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY), Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE), Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM), and KB Home (NYSE: KBH).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is engaged in the design, development, and production of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and electric energy technologies for various industries and governmental agencies. The company's small aircraft are used by U.S. Department of Defense customers to deliver real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition to tactical operating units. Its electrical products include recharge systems for industrial vehicle batteries and power processing test equipment. Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) are on the company's commercial customer list. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q1 EPS of 22 cents and revenues of $53.6 million. Analysts had been expecting 18 cents and $49.9 million. Management also maintained its FY09 guidance for year over year revenue growth of 20%-25%, with an operating income margin of 12%-14%. The CEO noted, "Winning the All Environment Capable Variant competition with our Puma AE earned us the fourth Department of Defense program of record for small UAS."

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) beat Q4 estimates on demand for unmanned aircraft.
• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) beat Q3 expectations on increased enrollment and tuition collection.
• Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) predicted earnings at the high end of the previously announced range.
• Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) posted better-than-expected Q1 earnings, sending shares up.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), in an effort to calm investors, said that it expects a Q2 profit.
• Family Dollar Stores Inc. (NYSE: FDO) beat Q3 expectations and raised its Q4 guidance.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) posted solid Q4 and full-year results and boosted its dividend.
• Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) posted record Q1 EPS and in-line guidance, and its share buybacks continue.
• Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) warned of lower Q2 earnings due to slowing demand and lower prices.
• Robbins & Myers Inc. (NYSE: RBN) beat Q3 expectations and raised its Q4 and full-year outlook.
• Thornburg Mortgage Inc. (NYSE: TMA) 2007 results are being investigated by the SEC.
• UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) cut its full-year outlook due to changing business trends.

More highlights from this past week: BP, Discover, Corel, Citigroup, WD-40, MSCI and others

Also, Peter Cohan points out that a bear market means low earnings expectations, and also that negative surprises are likely to outweigh positive ones in the second half of the year. Aaron Katsman, on the other hand, predicts a rebound for earnings in the second half. And BusinessWeek reminds us that cheap stocks -- even with big names such as Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F), Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), and Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) -- are no bargain if they have no earnings.

Upcoming results to watch for include Alcoa (NYSE: AA), Pepsi Bottling Group (NYSE: PBG), Marriott International (NYSE: MAR), and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is engaged in the design, development and production of unmanned aircraft systems and electric energy technologies for various industries and governmental agencies. The company's small aircraft are used by U.S. Department of Defense customers to deliver real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition to tactical operating units. Its electrical products include recharge systems for industrial vehicle batteries and power processing test equipment. Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) are on the company's commercial customer list. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a major competitor.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported fiscal Q4 EPS of 30 cents and revenues of $64.3 million. Analysts had been expecting 27 cents and $59.3 billion. In discussing the successful quarter, the CEO pointed to strength in demand for unmanned aircraft and related support services. Management also guided FY09 revenues to about $258.9-$269.7 million, versus Street consensus of $259.44 million. Funded backlog at the end of Q4 was up 35% from the same point last year.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AeroVironment, American Oriental and Intel were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Suntrust initiated AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) with a Buy rating and $32 target and expects AVAV's market leadership in unmanned aerial systems and increased effort in the high altitude to drive strong organic growth.
• Jefferies believes American Oriental (NYSE: AOB) is capable of making sizable acquisitions given its strong cash position and finds the valuation attractive at current levels. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $20 target.
• Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $30 target at Baird on valuation.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at Wachovia.
• Goldman started Quest Diagnostics (NASDAQ: DGX) with a Sell rating and $55 target, LabCorp (NASDAQ: LH) with a Neutral rating and $77 target and Pinnacle Entertainment (NASDAQ: PNK) with a Buy rating and $35 target.

It's Thursday, so on CNBC's MAD MONEY Jim Cramer featured his SELL BLOCK, where he reviews some past picks and says to Sell or to Stick With It.

He says that of his recent picks in IPO's he wants to review Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ:CLWR). He would Sell Fortress Investment Group (NYSE:FIG) to switch into Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS). He would also Sell Melco PBL Entertainment (NASDAQ:MPEL) in Macau, as he was wrong and it is down 16%, and IPG Photonics (NASDAQ:IPGP) which is down 21% from the first day's close. Cramer likes trying to get in on the IPO pricing because you have a lower chance of getting hurt.

Cramer does have ones that he likes from the recent IPO pool: Switch & Data Facilities Co. (NASDAQ:SDXC) is one he likes right now. AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Opnext Inc. (NASDAQ:OPXT) are ones that you can buy on weakness.