Ford (F) was more than 2% higher Thursday morning thanks to an upgrade from Barclay's Capital. The brokerage house upped the automaker to overweight from equal weight and elevated Ford's price target to $16 from $15.

Barclay's feels that investors "appear to be ignoring the fundamental increase in Ford's earnings power even in a slower growth environment." The brokerage continued to say that favorable products on top of a stripped-down cost base, even assuming no further gains in the firm's U.S. market share, could lead to U.S. SAAR growth expectations by 1.5 million. This fact leads Barclay's to maintain their Ford earnings estimates materially, with a new earnings estimate of $2.00, which remains atop the consensus estimate of $1.84.

More than a year after American International Group (AIG) reached the brink of collapse, insurance buyers are still using it to lay off their risk. A survey by Barclays Capital (BCS) find that 80% of commercial buyers use Chartis, the property/casualty unit of AIG.

Since the damage to AIG in 2008 was precipitated by the company's financial products group rather than its insurance operation, the use of Chartis to cover a company's risk isn't a problem, as the division has long been successful for AIG, regardless of the name used.