Analyst upgrades:- Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Underperform and raised its target to $17 from $10 citing expectations that the company will "qualify for and accept TARP funding."
- Credit Suisse upgraded AU Optronics (NYSE: AUO) to Outperform from Neutral as it believes inventory levels are low end demand is better than expected.
- JP Morgan upgraded Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm views the recent pullback in shares as a buying opportunity given the company's attractive nuke position and expected ramp in government spending.
- Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
- Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.
- Stryker (NYSE: SYK) was lifted to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
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