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.

Quiksilver (ZQK), Body Central (BODY), and Aeropostale (ARO) are stocks to watch today, as all three are scheduled to report earnings after the bell.

Street consensus for Quiksilver is a reported loss of 5 cents per share, on revenues of $414 million. Wall Street anticipates Body Central earnings of 26 cents per share, on revenues of $62.1 million. Aeropostale, by Street consensus, is expected to report quarterly earnings of 97 cents per share, on revenues of $834.6 million.

Investors who desire more exposure to the broader sectors of retail and apparel should take a look at the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT).

Jason is a cofounder of Benzinga.com. Follow Benzinga on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/Benzinga

Analyst Upgrades

• Dynegy (DYN) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Pritchard.
• Itron (ITRI) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Goldman upgraded Ameren (AEE) to sell from conviction sell.
• Signet Jewelers (SIG) was upgraded to buy from hold at Societe Generale.
• JPMorgan upgraded Synopsys (SNPS) to overweight from neutral.

I bring an interesting tidbit for those who are involved in alternate energy source investment. This concept may actually turn into the world's greatest scientific discovery in the realm of energizing consumer devices. It would appear that an exciting development has been made that claims to harvest usable electrical energy from the operating temperature of the human body. This energy is created by utilizing the difference in temperature between the body and the surrounding ambient temperature. The technology is called the principle of thermoelectricity generators (TEG), and it seems to have incredible potential.

Imagine for instance if Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) could make available a dynamic blood sugar monitor that would give a diabetic patient a constant blood sugar readout simply by being put in contact with the body and would never require a battery change. Could I interest you in a wrist watch that uses you as its power source? How about a battery free iPhone, might that pique your curiosity? Has it already aroused the curiosity of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)?

Scientists are focusing their efforts on bringing this technology more to the forefront. They have successfully harnessed an electrical current of 200 millivolts from human thermoelectricity, but they came up against a problem with that. Given the fact that many of today's gadgets require between 1 to 2 volts for operation, 200 millivolts is not about to do the job. That is, of course, unless you create new types of circuitry that will operate at such low voltages. Creating that lower voltage circuitry, which can be energized with as little as 50 millivolts, has reportedly been accomplished. It might be time to cut loose some of those investments in battery manufacturers.

Peter Spies, manager of this sub-project at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits stated, "We combined a number of components in a completely new way to create circuits that can operate on 200 millivolts. This has enabled us to build entire electronic systems that do not require an internal battery, but which draw their energy from body heat alone."

Some scientists are convinced that thermoelectrical power generation is the way of the future. It is said that the greater the difference in temperature, the greater the voltage that can be generated. The concept not only applies to human body heat but can be utilized in any situation where a disparity of temperatures exists between surfaces or between a surface and the surrounding ambient temperature.

How soon will it be possible for us to not only conceive of, design, and build spectacular gadgets, but to also power them by our own individual electricity? Science is saying that day could come very soon. If you don't think this concept will someday be manufacturing reality, might I remind you that not so long ago computers weighed several tons and took up entire rooms. That's food for thought my friends.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Novartis AG (NVS), Barnes & Noble, Inc (BKS), Altria Group (MO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) were some of today's more notable upgrades:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) to Neutral from Underperform on valuation and the approval of its drug Tekturna.

• Merrill Lynch upgraded shares of Barnes & Noble, Inc (NYSE: BKS) to Neutral from Sell on valuation.

• Deutsche Bank believes the recent weakness in Altria Group (NYSE: MO) presents a buying opportunity given the potential to unlock value, upgrading shares to Buy from Hold.

• JMP Securities upgraded shares of Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE: AMD) to Market Outperform from Market Perform following checks that indicate the company's next-generation "Barcelona" quad-core server chip and next-generation low-power mobile PC processor chip is exhibiting excellent power, performance, scalability, and price/performance characteristics at key OEM customers.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• ThinkEquity upgraded Microchip Technology Inc (NASDAQ: MCHP) to Accumulate from Source of Funds following the company's improved guidance.

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Eni SpA (NYSE: E) to Equal-Weight from Underweight as they believe management made it clear that the dividend is sustainable and a large-scale acquisition is not forthcoming.

• JP Morgan upgraded Deutsche Telekom AG (NYSE: DT) to Neutral from Underweight citing management's new focus on customer service and expectation's for modest growth for the upgrade.

• AG Edwards upgraded Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc (NYSE: BUD) to Buy from Hold.

• Morgan Joseph upgraded Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD) to Buy from Hold based on key markets the company operating in and its diversification.

• Bernstein upgraded Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE: CVC) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The Gaming sector and CBS Corp (CBS) were the most notable companies on today's initiation list.

• Prudential initiated the Gaming sector with a Favorable rating,
  
• They initiated Boyd Gaming Corp (NYSE: BYD), Town Sports International Holdings (NASDAQ: CLUB), Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN), Shuffle Master Inc (NASDAQ: SHFL), Steiner Leisure Ltd (NASDAQ: STNR) and Great Wolf Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: WOLF) with Outperform ratings.
  
• Ameristar Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ASCA), MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and WMS Industries Inc (NYSE: WMS) were initiated with Neutral ratings.
• Underweight ratings were given to International Game Tech (NYSE: IGT), Isle of Capri Casinos Inc (NASDAQ: ISLE), Life Time Fitness Inc (NYSE: LTM), Pinnacle Entertainment Inc (NYSE: PNK) and Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc (NASDAQ: TRMP).

• UBS initiated CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS) with a Buy rating and $38 target, citing valuation, dividends and buybacks.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Nollenberger believes International Rectifier Corp (NYSE: IRF) is the way to play the trend for energy efficiency, initiating the company with a Buy rating and $60 target.

• Goldman Sachs resumed coverage of AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) with a Buy rating and Level 3 Communications inc (NASDAQ: LVLT) with a Neutral rating.

• Stanford started EDO Corp (NYSE: EDO) with a Hold rating and $25 target; the firm believes EDO can be a turnaround story in 2007, but they recommend investors to stay on the sidelines until after Q4 earnings given their concerns over the quarter and guidance.

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