MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Stephens believes Diana Shipping's (NYSE: DSX) current share price represents an attractive entry point for investors. Shares were started with an Overweight rating and $40 target.
  
• Avanex (NASDAQ: AVNX) was initiated with a Buy rating at Merriman. The firm believes the recovery in optical that began in late 2005 is in a relatively early stage and that new product introductions and strong optical trends will drive growth and leverage.
  
• Jefferies assumed coverage of Fushi International (NASDAQ: FSIN) with a Buy rating and $20 target and believes the telecom infrastructure build-out in emerging markets, particularly China, and high copper prices continue to create opportunities for the company.

• Mattel (NYSE: MAT) was assumed at Caris with an Above Average rating and $25 target.
  
• Lehman initiated Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) with an Equal Weight rating.
  
• Keefe Bruyette initiated Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) with an Outperform ratin gand $28 target.

Analyst initiations: DSX, AVNX and FSIN originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Och Ziff Capital Management Group (NYSE: OZM) was initiated with an Overweight by JP Morgan, which believes the company should be able to better sustain and build its earnings power than traditional asset managers in the challenging market conditions.
  
• JP Morgan started FactSet Research Systems (NYSE: FDS) with a Neutral, as the firm is looking for a better entry point given the probability of an upcoming financial data and analytics spending slowdown.
  
• Forest Labs Inc. (NYSE: FRX) was initiated with a Buy by Roth Capital, which cited Lexapro and the company's near-term EPS as reasons for the rating.
  
• Thomas Weisel initiated optical component maker and provider companies Avanex Corp. (NASDAQ: AVNX), Bookham Inc. (NASDAQ: BKHM), Finisar (NASDAQ: FNSR), Optium Corp. (NASDAQ: OPTM), Opnext Inc. (NASDAQ: OPXT), and Oplink Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: OPLK) with Market Weight ratings, as the firm expects the unfavorable industry structure to create margin volatility.

• JP Morgan assumed coverage of American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) with an Overweight rating.
• Morgan Stanley initiated Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ: EGLE) with an Equal Weight.

Analyst initiations: Och-Ziff Capital, FactSet, Forest Labs, optical component makers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.