Analyst upgrades:

• Bernstein upgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Outperform from Market Perform Thursday after the close. The firm sees an improved risk/reward on the stock and raised its price target to $19 from $18.
• Bernstein also upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes sales growth and margin expansion expectations are too low. The firm raised its target on shares to $160 from $125.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded CBS (NYSE: CBS) to Neutral from Underweight following the company's Q3 results and raised its target on shares to $13 from $12.
• JPMorgan upgraded Macy's (NYSE: M) to Overweight from Neutral to reflect the company's improving comps. The firm has a $23 target on the stock.
• Ansys (NASDAQ: ANSS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
• Travelers (NYSE: TRV) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Air Methods (NASDAQ: AIRM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

Medical equipment giant Becton Dickinson's (NYSE: BDX) stock has meandered since recommended on March 17, 2009 at a price of $65.66, with volatility, most likely due to U.S. federal health care reform legislation uncertainty, but look for better quarters ahead, when the dust settles, which is why I'm reiterating my Buy rating for the company's shares.

In FY2010, Becton's revenue growth should total about 5-7%, after essentially flat revenue in FY2009. Hospital spending cutbacks will hurt, but BDX will make up for the aforementioned with increased government orders, lower operating costs, and moderating raw material costs.

Look for Becton Dickenson to land on its feet following health care reform. I'm reiterating my Buy rating for Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX), first recommended on March 17, 2009 at a price of $65.66.

While other health care players are likely to sustain revenue cuts as part of health care reform, Becton, a top manufacturer of syringes, injection devices, and IV catheters, surgical instruments, and elastic bandages, among other products, will likely see only a temporarily revenue dip. The FY2009/FY2010 EPS estimates for BDX are $4.93 to $5.41.

How would one characterize the current investment climate? Rough sledding, at best, for equities, and a defensive posture is the rule.

Still, so long as one expects the U.S. economy to return to some semblance of normalcy -- and that's the view from here -- there are bargains to be had for those investors who can tolerate moderate risk. With the above in mind, Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX) is worth a review.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE) to Overweight from Equal Weight. The firm believes Spectra's valuation is attractive and that the dividend is secure.
• Soleil upgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent pullback and maintains a $45 target on the stock.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) to Outperform from Underperform on valuation and the company's better than expected sales and earnings acceleration. The firm has a $38 target on the stock.
• Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) was removed from Goldman's Conviction Sell List.
  
• Intercontinental Hotels (NYSE: IHG) was raised to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  
• Valspar (NYSE: VAL) was lifted to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded MSM Industrial (NYSE: MSM) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and a positive view for Industrial Distributors.
  
• William Blair upgraded Allscripts (NASDAQ: MDRX) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent pullback and believes Allscripts is well positioned to benefit from public policy that drives adoption of electronic medical records.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) to Buy from Hold as they believe the ALJ recommendation in the company's pending electric rate case indicates potential for an improving outlook.
• Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Smith & Nephew (NYSE: SNN) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.
  
• Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades:

• Oppenheimer downgraded Bio-Reference Labs (NASDAQ: BRLI) to Perform from Outperform as they believe weaker volumes could pressure top-line growth in the near-term. The firm lowered their target to $25 from $30.
  
• Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect market deterioration as they find the risk/reward as balanced at current levels.
  
• JP Morgan cut Nestle (OTC: NSRGY) to Underweight from Neutral on concerns the company's 2009 revenue will miss consensus estimates due to market share losses.
• Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) and Anglo American (NASDAQ: AAUK) were lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

Hansen Medical (NASDAQ: HNSN) said economic conditions have led to lower than expected Q4 sales. HNSN, a developer of products for robotic catheter-based technologies, closed at $6.26. Thomas Weisel Partners has a $8 price target on HNSN. HNSN February call option implied volatility is at 115, puts are at 133, above its 26-week average of 69, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), a drug wholesaler and medical-equipment supplier, lowered its full-year outlook on January 8 because it sees reduced hospital spending. Smith Barney has a 12-month price target of $39 on CAH. February option implied volatility of 49 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX), a medical technology company, closed at $69.11. Morgan Stanley raised its rating on BDX to Overweight. BDX February option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

"I've always been a big fan of putting into the market on a regular basis regardless of what is happening in the overall market," explains Chuck Carlson, long considered one of the advisory industry's leading experts on dividend reinvestment plans.

Here, the editor of The DRIP Investor offers a 10-stock "autopilot" portfolio that is diversified among 10 high quality dividend-paying stocks and requiring a monthly investment of under $500.

Carlson says, "If I've learned anything in the more than a quarter of a century of following the markets, it is this fact - buying stocks when you know you should (i.e. during sharp down moves) is really difficult. Our heads says we should; after all, substantial market downturns create the best values.

"But our emotions usually take control, thus making it very difficult to pull the trigger and put money into the market when stocks are falling.

"That's why I've always been a big fan of 401(k) plans. With these investment vehicles, investment programs are put on 'autopilot,' with dollars being put into the market on a regular basis (usually each paycheck) regardless of what is happening in the overall market.

"Fortunately, investors can duplicate the autopilot feature of 401(k) plans with their DRIP investments by taking advantage of automatic monthly investment features provided by most DRIPs.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says its stunning buy of Rohm & Haas will get people thinking about an energy top.

Just when you thought it was safe to short anything, particularly anything with any commodity exposure, Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) (Cramer's Take) comes along and inexplicably pays a gigantic amount of money, $78 in cash, for Rohm & Haas (NYSE: ROH) (Cramer's Take)? My first thought was that it must be a joke. That is inconceivable. A hoax. Something perpetrated by frustrated longs to spook the shorts.

I mean, a chemical company? Two chemical companies? Ground Zero for slowing economic activity and raw costs? People unsure if Dow could even pay its nearly 5% yield? I mean, even last night on my show, I made fun of the idea that people are confusing Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) (Cramer's Take), a medical supply company, with a chemical company because it uses resin.

Amazing.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Amazon.com, PG & E and Centerplate were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded shares of Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Buy from Hold and raised their target to $119 from $95 as they believe the recent weakness has created an attractive entry point and that Amazon has one of best Fundamental outlooks for 2008 among all U.S. internet stocks.
  
• The firm also upgraded PG & E (NYSE: PCG) to Buy from Hold on valuation, as they believe skepticism around the company's 8% EPS growth target is alredy priced into the stock.
  
• Centerplate Inc. (AMEX: CVP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Piper on valuation following the recent weakness.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• CIBC upgraded Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer.
  
• JP Morgan raised its rating on Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN) and Becton Dickinson & Co. (NYSE: BDX) to Overweight from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The medical supplies and devices sector, East West Bancorp, Tempur Pedic and AbitibiBowater were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Credit Suisse initiated the medical supplies and devices sector with a Market Weight rating and started shares of Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) and Becton, Dickinson and Co (NYSE: BDX) with Outperform ratings and Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) and Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) with Neutral ratings.
  
• East West Bancorp (NASDAQ: EWBC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $36 target at B. Riley; the firm's target implies a 23.1% potential total return over the next twelve months including the stock's 1.35% dividend yield.
  
• Tempur Pedic (NYSE: TPX) was started with an Outperform rating at William Blair, as they find the current valuation attractive for long-term investor given the company's strong position in the specialty sleep products.
  
• Deutsche Bank resumed coverage of AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) with a Hold rating and $29 target, citing the strength of the Canadian dollar and difficult newsprint fundamentals.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America initiated shares of JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) with Buy ratings and targets of $73 and $76, and initiated Horizon Lines (NYSE: HRZ) and Solarfun Power (NASDAQ: SOLF) with Neutral ratings and targets of $34 and $14.

On last night's "MAD MONEY" on CNBC, Jim Cramer wanted to show defensive stocks in the medical industrial field. He has seen enough earnings from big companies and he is fed up with the Fed sitting around while the U.S. economy is slowing to a halt. He wants an "Ultimate Defensive Portfolio" of three stocks that are defensive but whose businesses are still growing. He even wanted to take out the companies that are only growing because of foreign business.

1) Bard (C.R.) (NYSE: BCR) is one stock he's been behind since 2005, and he is still behind it. Besides thinking it can still be bought, there is more to like on it, especially its catheter business, but its biopsy technology and the angioplasty operations as well.

2) Becton, Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) is a safe traditional medical device and diagnostics company. BDX has been up 31% since Cramer first recommended it, and he thinks it will go higher. More on BDX here.

3) Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) was Cramer's #3 spot as the best of breed, but he only wants to buy it now if it sells off. You can read what else he noted on it.

Back in February I came up with a list of 20 Defensive Stocks for a Crummy Market. After those 20 stocks, I even came up with a list of 15 Second Line Defensive Stocks. Many of my names were different than Cramer's names at the time. Some of my picks were medical and some were not, and most were chosen at a time that fear and panic were starting to come front and center. These picks that Cramer came up with are all different in that they may grow, and not only because of the weak dollar.

Jon Ogg is a partner at 24.7 Wall St.; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Chuck Carlson is the newsletter industry leader in DRIPs, or dividend reinvestment plans. Not surprisingly, then, his newsletter is called The DRIP Investor.

For those unfamiliar with these programs, DRIPs are dividend reinvestment plans, which are set up by companies to make it easier and more cost-effective for individual investors to buy and accumulate long-term positions by reinvesting dividends back into additional shares.

Usually, the commissions and other related costs of DRIPs are low, and in some cases, free. Says Carlson, "All things equal, a DRIP with no fees is better than one that charges fees."

He continues, "To be sure, I'm not suggesting investors should automatically discard a DRIP because it charges fees. Still, fees erode investment returns, so taking fees into account in your selection process makes sense."

To help investors find the most cost-effective way of building portfolios, the advisor has conducted a review of "fee-free" plans. Using a proprietary system that ranks 5,000 stocks based on over 100 metrics, he has developed a "starter portfolio" for those with limited investment funds. Such a starter portfolio, he notes, could be developed with as little as $1,000 to start.

He notes, "If I were constructing a reasonably diversified starter portfolio of six "fee-free" stocks, I would focus on the following issues: