Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) to Market Perform from Underperform following the Q3 results to reflect the company's improved earnings outlook and better credit trends. The firm has a $70 price target on shares.
• Kaufman Bros. upgraded Autodesk (NASDAQ: ADSK) to Buy from Hold as it believes a bottom has been reached in the manufacturing and construction industries. The firm raised its target on shares to $30 from $26.
• Goldman upgraded Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Neutral from Sell and raised its target to $64 from $48 citing improved cost controls and construction outlook.
• Pentair (NYSE: PNR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.
• Lexmark (NYSE: LXK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JPMorgan.
• Stryker (NYSE: SYK) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR) to Overweight from Equal Weight and raised its target to $64 from $48 following the better-than-expected Q2 report.
• Cowen upgraded Whirlpool (NYSE: WHR) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm cites stabilizing demand trends and recovering margins for the upgrade.
• Susquehanna upgraded Isle of Capri (NASDAQ: ISLE) citing weakness following the weak quarter. The firm, which has a $13 target on shares, expects regional operators to benefit from improving macro trends quicker than destination markets.
• Senior Housing (NYSE: SNH) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo.
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• CGI Group (NYSE: GIB) was upgraded to Buy from Speculative Buy at Canaccord.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Gymboree (NASDAQ: GYMB) to Outperform from Perform following the company's Q2 results to reflect valuation and square footage growth from Crazy 8. The firm has a $52 target on the stock.
• KeyBanc upgraded Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU) to Buy from Hold on expectations sales and margins will improve in the near-term due to clean inventory levels. The firm recommends a pair trade of long Lululemon, short Under Armour (NYSE: UA).
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) to Market Perform from Underperform following the company's Q2 results and raised its target on shares to $3.50 from $1.
• Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• LogMeln (NASDAQ: LOGM) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) was reinstated with an Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Going into its IPO, investors were expecting nice gains from Emdeon. Well, the company did not disappoint. Last night, the company priced 23.7 million shares at $15.50 (this was an 11% increase in the number of shares). It was at the top of its $13.50-$15.50 range.

Emdeon runs a sophisticated platform that connects payers, providers and patients in the US healthcare system (built over the past 25 years). Yes, in light of the proposed reforms from the Obama Administration, this is certainly an attractive space. After all, a big goal is to find ways to cut costs -- and technology should be a key.

Banking crisis? Well, banks continue to post profits. Look at Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS), which today reported a $3.15 billion profit for the first half of 2009.

Why the growth? Interestingly enough, Barclays got a big boost from its investment banking division (which is focused on mergers & acquisitions, public offerings and capital raises). Keep in mind that the company purchased the U.S. operations of Lehman Brothers.

And the strength is no fluke. Other major banks -- such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) -- also posted strong results with investment banking.

For many top operators in high-finance, it's getting tough to snag nice paydays, especially for those who work for major firms. What to do? The answer is easy: leave.

In today's world, this is fairly straightforward. After all, office space is cheap. And with the Internet and outsourcing, it doesn't take much to put together an infrastructure

Just take a look at Roger Jenkins, who is a senior executive at Barclays (NYSE: BCS). After a long career with the firm, he is now leaving to Los Angeles where he will start his own advisory firm. This is according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (subscription only).

Several years ago, I heard a presentation from Laurence Fink, the mastermind behind the asset management giant, BlackRock (NYSE: BLK). At the time, he gave some frank advice; that is, he warned that investors needed to be very cautious.

Of course, it was spot-on (and saved me lots of money). And, I'm sure Fink's investors also appreciated the counsel.

Well, this week BlackRock became the king of asset management because of its $13.5 billion acquisition of Barclays Global Investors (NYSE: BCS). In all, the assets under management will now amount to $2.8 trillion.

A year ago, a variety of sovereign wealth funds pumped billions into financial institutions. While the results have been mixed, there are still some clear winners.

An example is the £7 billion investment in Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) last October, so as to stave off a takeover from the UK authorities. One of the investors included PCP Gulf Invest 1 Ltd., which is part of the sprawling empire of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Well, he has decided to unload about 1.3 billion shares, which will translate into a near doubling of the original investment (this is according to the Wall Street Journal, a paid publication). Yes, in light of the large amounts, it's a stunning investment.

• Stephens upgraded Arris (NASDAQ: ARRS) to Overweight from Equal Weight following the company's Q1 results and raised its target on shares to $15 from $8.
  
• Goldman upgraded Goodyear Tire (NYSE: GT) to Neutral from Sell and raised their target to $11 from $7 citing better earnings prospects and stabilizing volumes.
  
• KeyBanc upgraded Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) to Hold from Underweight citing the company's improved balance sheet and valuation.
• Digital River (NASDAQ: DRIV) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
  
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) was raised to Buy from Sell at Royal Bank of Scotland.
  
• First Potomac (NYSE: FPO) was upgraded at RBC Capital to Sector Perform from Underperform.

• Goldman upgraded Gerdau AmeriSteel (NYSE: GNA) to Buy from Neutral and has a $5.50 target on shares. Shares were upgraded due to the potential impact from infrastructure spending. Note that Goldman downgraded Steel Dynamics (NYSE: STLD) and Olympic Steel (NYSE: ZEUS) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Banc of America/Merrill upgraded Coca-Cola Enterprises (NYSE: CCE) to Buy from Neutral and raised the price target to $18 from $15. The firm the strong Q1 report gives them greater confidence in shares.
  
• Roth Capital upgraded Halozyme (NASDAQ: HALO) to Buy from Hold due to increased clarity into Roche programs, the discontinuation of the chemophase program, and progress on insulin delivery.
• American Movil (NYSE: AMX) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan and to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.
  
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) and Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) were upgraded at HSBC to Overweight from Neutral.

• Jefferies upgraded Quicksilver (NYSE: KWK) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company has many options to resolve its liquidity crisis. The firm expects shares to move towards its $10 NAV estimate and raised its target price to $10 from $7.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) to Hold from Sell following the Q1 results as the company's margins are holding up better than previously thought. The firm raised its target price on shares to $31 from $21.
  
• Deutsche Bank also upgraded Universal Health (NYSE: UHS) following the company's better than expected Q1 results. Shares were lifted to Buy from Hold and the firm raised its target on the stock to $60 from $45.
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) was raised to Buy from Reduce at Nomura.
  
• Orient-Express (NYSE: OEH) was lifted to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  
• CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) was upgraded at Goldman to Conviction Buy from Buy.

• Royal Bank of Scotland upgraded shares of Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's dividend yield.
  
• JMP Securities expects HFF Inc. (NYSE: HF) to benefit from increased U.S. commercial real estate sales and mortgage volumes. Shares were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm has a $5 target on shares.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Church & Dwight (NYSE: CHD) to Outperform from Perform as it believes Church & Dwight's value-oriented portfolio should continue to benefit from the consumer trade-down and that concerns over distribution are overblown. The firm set a $62 price on shares.
• Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
  
• Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• AMB Property (NYSE: AMB) was lifted to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.