Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Market Weight due to accelerating manufacturing cost declines, potential NAND flash sourcing upside at Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) and Samsung and an increase in 2H09 demand.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) to Perform from Underperform to reflect potential benefits from the stimulus package and channel checks that indicated IT budgets are stabilizing. The firm raised its target price on shares to $54 from $40.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Outperform from Sector Perform following positive Tarceva survey results and cites valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  
• Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• Duncan Energy Partners (NASDAQ: DEP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

I would think that all of the diapers the latest FightBaby goes through may have helped Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) a bit, but that was not the case.

The home of Kleenex and Huggies announced yesterday that it will cut 1,600 jobs, roughly 3% of its total workforce. A majority of the cuts will come from salaried and nonproduction workers; the company does not plan to close any plants. The company believes that these cuts will save roughly $150 million a year, or 25 cents per share. These results will be reflected the most in the second quarter, when the company will record $110 million of the costs.

Natus Medical (NASDAQ: BABY) makes products for the detection, treatment, monitoring and tracking of common medical disorders in babies. Ailments addressed include hearing impairment, neurological dysfunction, epilepsy, sleep disorders, newborn jaundice and metabolic disorders. In addition, the company makes neonatal oxygen delivery hoods and heatshields. It also provides software that collects and reports newborn screening data to health labs and disease control centers.

The firm pleased investors earlier in the month, when it reported Q1 EPS of 11 cents and revenues of $36.9 million. Analysts had been looking for 10 cents and $35.5 million. The CEO particularly noted strong sales of the company's newborn hearing screening products. Management also guided Q2 EPS to 14-15 cents (14 cent consensus), Q2 revenues to $38-$39 million ($38.23M consensus), FY08 EPS to 70-72 cents (67 cent consensus) and FY08 revenues to $161-$162 million ($159.58M consensus).

I'm pregnant, with my third child, and the ultrasound gods did not smile upon me. So whereas I was able to select my previous sons' names (Everett, a family name, and Truman, a presidential name that was distinguished by being both unusual and easily pronounceable) by the time I hit five months, with this baby, I'm lost in a sea of uncertainty -- and I only have a little more than two months to go. I have a girl's name, but for boys, what to do?

So, I've been Googling. A friend suggested "Miles" and "Lowell" and (when paired with my husband's name) I quickly eliminated "Miles Hanson" as far too popular, so much so that it appeared on an IRS publication. Ick. And this is the top result for "Lowell Hanson" ... hmmm. While I ultimately discarded "Lowell" for other reasons, the Google factor was definitely in there.

When other bloggers read the Wall Street Journal's report on baby name Googling, they showed a bit of skepticism; Brian White didn't really believe that brands are competing with baby names, while Marc Perton thought Googling for unique names was, most importantly, not a good SEO strategy.

Haha. When I saw the article I just Googled "Kohler Hanson." Hmm... not bad...

If you have any good ideas, by all means, send 'em my way. You might want to Google first.

Any parent knows that one of the most distressing things in the world is finding out that your baby is not altogether well. There is an outfit in San Carlos, California that provides products specially designed to get small folks off the sick list.

Natus Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:BABY) makes products for the detection, treatment, monitoring, and tracking of common medical disorders in babies. Ailments addressed involve hearing impairments, neurological dysfunctions, epilepsy, sleep disorders, newborn jaundice and metabolic disorders. In addition, the company makes neonatal oxygen delivery hoods and heatshields. It also provides software that collects and reports newborn screening data to health labs and disease control centers.

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q4 EPS of 13 cents and revenues of $28.8 million. Analysts had been looking for 12 cents and $27.8 million. Management also guided Q1 EPS to 7-8 cents (8 cent consensus), Q1 revenues to $25.5-$26.0 million ($25.60M consensus), Q2 EPS to 10-11 cents (11 cent consensus), Q2 revenues to $27.5-$28 million ($27.28M consensus), FY07 EPS to 49-52 cents (50 cent consensus) and FY07 revenues to $115-$117 million ($115.22M consensus). The CEO noted a positive response to the introduction of the firm's Cool-Cap system for the treatment of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and indicated that it was a significant factor leading to the solid guidance figures. BABY shares popped through 30-day, 50-day and 90-day moving average resistance on the news and have since been consolidating the gain in a bullish "flag" pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend BABY with two "strong buys," three "buys" and one "hold." Analysts see a 43% average annual growth rate, through the next five years. The stock's PEG ratio (0.76), Price to Book ratio (3.60) and Sales Growth rate (128.57%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 86% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52-weeks, BABY has traded between $9.89 and $22.50. A stop-loss of $14.05 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

If you've had a baby in the U.S., you've probably done the obligatory walk to the car with a nurse, who inspects your vehicle to make sure you have, indeed, installed an infant car seat.

Consumer Reports came out with a (for parents) terrifying and (for the Evenflo Company, Inc.) damaging study today that detailed crash results from 12 widely-available infant car seats. To put it mildly? I never want to put a baby in a car again. Next time the nurse walks me out, it will be to the bus stop. Something I didn't know: infant car seats are only meant to withstand a crash at 30 mph. When Consumer Reports tested car seats at 35 or 38 mph, most seats failed, disengaging from their bases or (in four cases) flying out of them. Many seats would have "inflicted grave injuries" according to the Consumer Reports.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL)'s Graco Products unit has reason to crow, however; its SnugRide with EPS car seat was one of the two that passed the tests; both it and the other acceptable seat, the Baby Trend, Inc. Flex-Loc, retail for around $90.

I'm certainly glad to know that my children, having always been buckled into Graco SnugRides while in the car, were reasonably safe. But I have to ask myself: is the lack of safety of the inexpensive versions an even deadlier stake driven between the poor and the middle-class?