Analyst Upgrades

• Bunge (BG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Textron (TXT) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• CSX (CSX) to buy from neutral and Pulte Group (PHM) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Aol (AOL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Kohlberg Capital (KCAP) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Owens Corning (OC) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Jefferies (JEF) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.
• Harris (HRS) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

Analyst Upgrades

• Netflix (NFLX) and Zions Bancorp (ZION) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Akamai (AKAM) to buy from neutral at Merriman.
• CSX (CSX) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Nordstrom (JWN) to buy from neutral, WellCare (WCG) to conviction buy from buy and Humana (HUM) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• E-Commerce China Dangdang (DANG) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• VMware (VMW) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Celanese (CE) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce, Wang Chao, led a business delegation that signed agreements with grain companies to buy just over 3 million tons of soybeans from the U.S., Reuters reported. The U.S. trading companies involved in the $1.8 billion deal are Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Bunge (BG). No details about price and delivery were given.

When dealing with state-run companies, there is a protocol that must be followed. In this case, a government official, Chao, was present to sign off the deal with the two state-run grain companies allowed to import agricultural products into China.

Bunge Ltd. (BG) reported Thursday morning that its third-quarter profit dipped 8.6% due to charges, even as revenue for the period rose 2.9% year-over-year. The agribusiness baron raked in a profit of $212 million, or $1.36 per share, on revenue of $11.66 billion.

Excluding one-time items, BG's net income of $2.26 per share easily exceeded analysts' consensus estimate for a profit of $1.57 per share. However, the firm's quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street's forecast for $12.48 billion.

"Market Vectors Agribusiness ETF (MOO) offers a great opportunity to capitalize on the move in the sector; the fund focuses on the 40 most actively traded companies in the agriculture chemical and product business," says Jim Farrish.

The exchange-traded fund specialist and editor of SectorExchange.com explains, "Below, we review the ETF as well as some individual agriculture-based stocks poised to break out on the upside.

"The agriculture stocks have been moving up aggressively since the end of June. The initial push came on the drought issues in Russia and wheat production.

Analyst Upgrades

• FBR Capital upgraded Noble Corporation (NE) to outperform from market perform as it finds the company's acquisition of Frontier Drilling as smart and strategic. The firm upped its target price for shares to $42 from $36.
• Citigroup upgraded Ameriprise (AMP) to buy from hold, citing potential margin expansion from the Columbia acquisition. The firm maintains a $50 price target for shares.
• Thomas Weisel upgraded Jabil Circuit (JBL) to overweight from market weight, citing valuation and the company's growth prospects. The firm raised its target for shares to $20 from $18.
• Blackrock (BLK) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• Disney (DIS) and News Corp (NWS) were upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Portland General Electric (POR) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

"One way to capitalize on the recent fear-drenched selloff is to take advantage of attractive valuations and invest in businesses tied to the long-term agriculture story," says David Dittman.

The contributing editor to KCI's Personal Finance explains, "Rising populations and growing middle classes in emerging markets mean people will spend more on food and increase their consumption of agriculture-intensive proteins. Here are two ways to profit from increasing demand for agricultural products: Monsanto (MON) and Bunge (BG).

"These two agribusiness heavyweights -- both of which we hold in our model Growth Portfolio -- have suffered because of specific short-term issues that don't threaten their respective positions in the sector.

Bunge (BG - option chain) shares are rising today after the company announced its board has approved a stock buyback plan under which BG will repurchase up to $700 million worth of common shares through December 31, 2011. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on BG.

BG opened this morning at $49.28. So far today the stock has hit a low of $49.28 and a high of $51.90. As of 11:55, BG is trading at $51.09 up $3.33 (7.0%). The chart for BG looks neutral and S&P gives BG a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Analyst Upgrades

• Susquehanna upgraded Yahoo! (YHOO) to positive from neutral. The firm, which has a $19 price target on the stock, cites the steep decline in shares for the upgrade.
• UBS upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to buy from neutral. The firm believes fears regarding FCC reclassification of broadband are "overblown" and that industry fundamentals are bullish. The firm has a $57 target on the stock.
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Stifel Financial (SF) to outperform from market perform on valuation following the recent pullback in shares. The firm has a $64 price target for the stock.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• RBC Capital upgraded Southern Union (SUG) to sector perform from underperform.
• Rubicon Technology (RBCN) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.

U.S. stock futures once again rose Thursday morning, indicating Wall Street is ready to finish this shortened week on a high note. Investors await economic data on jobs and manufacturing as they mull the implications of the health care bill just passed in the senate. Markets will close at 1 p.m. Eastern today and volume is likely to be light. Market are closed Friday.

Health care and related sectors are in focus today after the Senate passed a landmark health care bill Thursday. The bill ushers in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country's history. The Senate's bill must still be merged with legislation passed by the House before Obama could sign a final bill in the new year. There are significant differences between the two measures, but both bills would extend health insurance to more than 30 million more Americans, but still leave over 20 million uninsured.

Analyst upgrades:

• Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) was upgraded to Buy at Citigroup. The firm views the recent sell-off in home building stocks as a buying opportunity and thinks Toll Brothers offers the best risk/reward in its coverage universe. Citi keeps a $23 price target on the stock.
• Kellogg (NYSE: K) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup following the Q3 results, as it believes the company's reduced spending and share buyback will serve as catalysts. The firm raised its price target on shares to $63 from $50.
• Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI) and Telus (NYSE: TU) were upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital, which said the CRTC unexpectedly denied Globalive's wireless application. The analyst said Globalive was potentially the biggest of new wireless competitors and the decision removes a big threat to the group. Rogers price target was raised to $40 from $33; Telus to $44 from $36.
• Stanley (NYSE: SXE) was upgraded at Wells Fargo to Outperform from Market Perform after the company reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its FY10 guidance.
• Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) was upgraded at Bernstein to Outperform from Market Perform. The analyst believes Texas Instruments' core business earnings power is underappreciated and valuation is attractive. Target raised to $30 from $28.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) kicked off the new season with a larger-than-expected loss due to the economic slump.
• Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX) reported better-than-expected Q2 earnings.
• Apollo Group Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) share price soared after its strong Q1 earnings and guidance.
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings prospects without CEO Steve Jobs led to an analyst's downgrade.
• Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) lowered its guidance as business slows at an unprcedented rate.
• Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) reported terrible Q4 results and receivbed additional TARP money.
• Bunge Ltd. (NYSE: BG) lowered its 2008 earnings estimate due to soft soybean commodity markets.
• Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) posted a much bigger-than-expected loss and said it would split in two.
• Coventry Health Care Inc. (NYSE: CVH) offered full-year guidance that was less than analysts expectations.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) forecast Q4 earnings would come in below analysts' expectations.
• CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) increased its quarterly dividend despite the recent lowered guidance.
• Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) reported a net loss for Q4 and the full year, dragging down the sector.
• Genentech Inc. (NASDAQ: DNA) revenue and earnings surged but were lower than analysts estimated.
• Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) Q4 results were in line with low expectations as the gross margin declined.
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) reported a huge drop in Q4 earnings but it stayed in the black.
• Lexmark International Inc. (NYSE: LXK) slashed its Q4 outlook and announced job cuts.
• Pentair Inc. (NYSE: PNR) efforts to limit an earnings decline led to a buy recommendation.
• Precision Cast Corp. (NYSE: PCP) earnings prospects following the recent rally led to an analyst's downgrade.

With banking stocks getting crushed in the first few trading days of 2009, is there anywhere to hide?

For those looking to buy stocks, I provided a list of Top 10 Stocks for 2009. You won't find any financial stocks on the list.

Instead, I targeted a few themes that I believed would do well for varying reasons. One theme that I am particularly keen on is agriculture.

In a world that is full of fraud, bank collapses and historically low interest rates, I want to have some defense in any long recommendation.

The thing that makes agriculture so attractive is that the hedge fund maniacs turned this once boring space into the thrill ride of a lifetime. After a roller-coaster year, many great names in the space can be had for cheap prices.

One of the names on the list just got a whole lot cheaper.

Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) announced Tuesday it had hired Carol Bartz, former Autodesk CEO, as its new CEO. Already from the start, her style and address were apparently different from her predecessor's. Yahoo also said President Sue Decker will resign after a transitional period. YHOO shares gained over 2% in premarket trading.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) warned of a fourth-quarter loss of some $6.4 billion, mostly due to poor performance in its credit business but also because of some equity trading losses. It expects to have further write-downs on its exposure to bond insurers. DB shares were nearly 10% lower in premarket trade.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) late Tuesday announced their plan for a brokerage joint venture. Citi sold to Morgan a 51% stake in its Smith Barney unit for $2.7 billion. When the deal closes, Citi said it will recognize a gain of roughly $5.8 billion after taxes. There were no real surprises there. With that, Citi, which has become a financial supermarket, is now seen as trying to save its core banking unit by shrinking itself by one-third, according to the Wall Street Journal, which also reported that "Citi will also announce steps to shed two consumer-finance units and the company's private-label credit-card business, and scale back on the trading the company does on its own behalf." MS shares were over 3% lower in premarket trading, Citi' over 4.5% lower.