Now that we've taken a look at the performance returns from investing in the United States compared to those in the United Kingdom, it's time to move on to the U.S. defense industry.

In 1776, the so-called military in America was a rag-tag group of militia men. In 2010, thanks in large part to the defense industry, the United States is the world's dominant military power.

Analyst upgrades:

• B. Riley upgraded Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL) to Buy from Neutral to reflect the potential for improving trends in second half of 2009. The firm raised its target on shares to $10.50 from $9.
• Merriman upgraded OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) to Neutral from Sell following the company's better than expected Q2 results. The firm notes higher commissions per trade more than offset weak DARTs and the decline in customer additions in the quarter.
• RBC Capital upgraded Gardner Denver (NYSE: GDI) to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its target to $34 from $28 citing the additional scale of restructuring, better tone to end-markets, and few downside catalysts. Baird upgraded Gardner Denver to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $35 from $32 based on a bottom in fundamentals and compelling valuation.
• BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBR Capital.
• Shire (NASDAQ: SHPGY) was upgraded to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
• UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst upgrades:

• 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.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded MICROS Systems (NASDAQ:MCRS) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's cost cutting is running ahead of Street expectations. The firm raised its target on shares to $25 from $18.
  
• KeyBanc upgraded Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ:CAKE) to Buy from Hold. The analyst believes companies will beat EPS estimates given lower commodity costs, focus on cost controls, and reduced drag of inefficient, new restaurants on unit level margins. Additionally, they believe reduced mortgage payments from refinancing will incrementally help traffic.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded First Niagara (NASDAQ:FNFG) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the company's Q1 results. The firm raised its target price to $15.
• American Electric Power (NYSE:AEP) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) was upgraded to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer at CIBC and to Neutral from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Micron (NYSE:MU) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

Today had all the earmarks for a weird trading day as banks, bonds, Canadians, and Japanese weren't a part of the market due to holidays. But stocks were open, and for once it's a great thing they were open. The DJIA put on a massive rally after overseas markets reacted favorably to US and globally coordinated bailouts.

Below are the unofficial closing bells prices:
DJIA 9,390.08 +938.89 +11.11%
S&P500 1,003.70 +104.48 +11.62%
NASDAQ 1,844.25 +194.74 +11.81%
10YR T-Note 3.8610% (Closed Today)

52-Week Lows
Top Analyst Upgrades

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) was up on talks that it is actually considering a mega-merger with Chrysler in a deal where Cerberus would keep some stake in the combined auto company and perhaps take over the rest of GMAC as part of the deal. Shares rose 33% to $6.52 on the day.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says recent downgrades are killing whole industries, and they're coming at a terrible time.

You can't lose autos and aerospace. Yet that's what's happening. The devastating aerospace downgrade by Goldman yesterday had pin action galore, wrecking everything from United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) and Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) to BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) (Cramer's Take). It took the whole frame down with it and made everything toxic. And it happens at a terrible time. It isn't like Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take), which with a few days left in the quarter can come out defending itself. Goldman rolled a perfect strike.

And now the bowlers are back for more with an equally devastating "sell everything" call based on GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take). Once again it is seamless: Lear (NYSE: LEA) (Cramer's Take) and Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) (Cramer's Take) get jettisoned too, but you know that Visteon (NYSE: VC) (Cramer's Take) and American Axle (NYSE: AXL) (Cramer's Take) and Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) (Cramer's Take) and BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) (Cramer's Take) -- the good ones! -- go down with the car.

I don't care to try to predict if we're heading into recession or how bad that recession will be. I have no idea where the market will bottom or how long it will take to get there; the one thing I do know is that stocks are going to continue to get wrecked, whether or not we have a short-term bounce. Amazingly, it's been just eighteen days since I warned investors the market would drop 10% in 2008 and now we're already there. I've considered buying quality growth stocks like Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), Monsanto (NYSE: MON), Sigma Designs (NYSE: SIGM), Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN), BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV), Vistaprint (NASDAQ: VPRT) and Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU) on weakness, but their continued downtrending has made them falling knives, aka, too unpredictable for me.

My fellow blogger Lita Epstein has talked about picking up bargains on beaten stocks with strong fundamentals. I disagree with her. While maybe her statement applies to a precious few like Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), I don't care how great those companies are, we're looking at a housing collapse and a massive slowdown in consumer spending which will hurt even the best of companies. For now, forget about stock picks; this is not the time for speculation. If foreign stock markets have tanked this hard on U.S. recession fears, imagine how hard U.S. stocks will get hit -- why not protect yourself and respect the downside for once?

Update: See the latest posts about stocks to buy from BloggingStocks.

After nailing the top in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and warning investors this would be a painful year, I've been getting hundreds of emails from people asking me what to do next? As if suddenly after two correct predictions, I'm Nostradamus or David Blaine!

Make no mistake, I'm neither a forecaster nor a magician, I'm just a trader who bases his decisions around these key elements: a distrust of everyone and every company on Wall Street (made easier by the likes of MBIA (NYSE: MBI), E*Trade (NASDAQ: ETFC) and Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC); a respect, bordering on religion, for charts and a quick trigger finger if the charts turn against me. I know people want longer term predictions, but I believe those to be 100% guessing games and potentially hazard to your investment health. Pregnant women should avoid them at all costs. Just kidding, it's fine for some people, but I like to make my predictions and cash out, so I can enjoy stress-free weekends if you catch my drift.

So, here's what I see right now: two weeks in and we're already halfway to my 10%-down market prediction, and Apple is down 15% (take that you stereotypical cheerleaders, go date some football players)! The markets are definitely rolling over, and while it's usually a long, drawn-out process, the charts seem to have little concern for what's normal as all the major indices have formed perfect head-and-shoulders patterns (a very bearish sign) and investors are rightfully freaking out.

B/E Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) is a leading provider of aircraft cabin interior products for both commercial aircraft and business jets. Offerings include aircraft cabin seating, lighting, emergency oxygen systems, refrigeration equipment, galley structures, storage equipment and aerospace fasteners. The company also provides cabin interior design, reconfiguration and passenger-to-freighter conversion services. B/E sells its products to most major airlines and to manufacturers of aviation equipment. Its client list includes Boeing (NYSE: BA), UAL Corporation (NASDAQ: UAUA) and US Airways Group (NYSE: LCC).

The firm had good news for investors earlier in the week, when it reported Q2 EPS of 39 cents and revenues of $398.2 million. Analysts had been expecting 37 cents and $387 million. Management also guided FY07 EPS to $1.57 ($1.59 consensus), FY08 EPS to $2.25 ($2.17 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $2.0 billion ($1.91B consensus).

With Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) having now showcased its new 787 Dreamliner, investors might wonder if it is too late to invest. According to three newsletter advisors, there are still upside opportunities. One looks at Boeing itself, one spots value in an aircraft seat and interior designer, and one looks at an aircraft leasing play.

Boeing is a buy for longer-term investors from Bernie Schaeffer, who recommends the shares in his Power Stocks advisory.

Technically, the advisor notes that Boeing recently broke out after a lengthy sideways consolidation. From mid-November 2006 to the middle of last month, he points out that the stock traded in a narrow range between $85 and $92. He explains, "Such long periods of sideways movement can be followed by extended trends."

That level, he now says, should hold as support and should serve as a "foundation for higher prices." Further, he adds, the stock's rise above $100 is "psychologically significant" and should offer additional support for the stock.

The contrarian advisor notes, "Even with the strong fundamental and technical backdrop, Wall Street remains fairly pessimistic. According to Zacks, nine of the 18 analysts rate the stock a 'hold' or worse and three of those have a 'strong sell' rating on it. Any upgrades or upward price target revisions from this skeptical crowd could boost the stock."

Meanwhile, he maintains a target price for the stock is $127 a share. In addition to investing in Boeing itself, there are two ancillary companies that couldl benefit from the success of the Dreamliner.

If you want to get your car seats reupholstered, there are lots of places to go, but where do you take your plane? Whether it's new seats, or a complete cabin reconfiguration, there is a company headquartered in Wellington, Florida that's got you covered.

BE Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ:BEAV) is a leading provider of aircraft cabin interior products for both commercial aircraft and business jets. Offerings include aircraft cabin seating, lighting, emergency oxygen systems, refrigeration equipment, galley structures, storage equipment and aerospace fasteners. The company also provides cabin interior design, reconfiguration and passenger-to-freighter conversion services. B/E sells its products to most major airlines and to manufacturers of aviation equipment.

The firm had good news for investors last week, when it said it expected first quarter EPS to come in above the Street consensus estimate. As a result, management raised full year EPS guidance to $1.45-$1.47. Analysts had been looking for $1.44. The CEO cited recent awards and a continued strong order environment for the favorable outlook.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Research in Motion Ltd (RIMM), BE Aerospace Inc (BEAV) and Burger King Holdings (BKC) were some of today's more notable initiations.

• JMP Securities started Research in Motion Ltd (NASDAQ: RIMM) with a Market Perform rating as the firm has concerns about RIMM's enterprise-focused prospects in the hits driven, high-end consumer market.

• Wachovia initiated BE Aerospace Inc (NYSE: BEAV) with an Outperform rating, expecting significant growth in its core businesses.

• AG Edwards started Burger King Holdings (NYSE: BKC) with a Buy rating and $25 target. The firm believes Burger King has improved fundamentals and robust future earnings potential after years of turnaround efforts.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Raymond James initiated AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN) with an Outperform rating, Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) with a Strong Buy rating and Charlotte Russe Holding (NASDAQ: CHIC) with a Market Perform rating.

• Caris started Medtronic, Inc (NASDAQ: MDT) with a Buy rating and $61 target.

• ThinkEquity initiated Gaming Partners International (NASDAQ: GPIC) with a Buy rating.

• Morgan Stanley initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with an Equal-Weight rating.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).