Analyst Upgrades

• Valero Energy (VLO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Changyou.com (CYOU) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Albermarle (ALB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• ICU Medical (ICUI) to buy from neutral at Roth Capital.
• Check Point (CHKP) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• FMC Corporation (FMC) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Rangold Resources (GOLD) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Global Cash Access (GCA) to buy from hold at Duncan-Williams.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CTC Media, Callidus Software and Seattle Genetics were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Merrill initiated CTC Media (NASDAQ: CTCM) with a Buy rating, citing the company's healthy ad growth outlook and substantial barriers to entry.
  
• B. Riley initiated Callidus Software (NASDAQ: CALD) with a Buy rating and $7 target and believes the company's growing On-Demand offering is being overlooked by investors.
• Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN) was assumed with an Overweight rating at JP Morgan. The firm views the company as an attractive investment opportunity given the company's growing pipeline of differentiated antibody therapies and partnership with Genentech (NYSE: DNA).

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Cowen initiated Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) with a Neutral rating and St. Jude Medical (NYSE: STJ) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Lehman initiated UDR Inc (NYSE: UDR) with an Equal Weight rating.

Anyone who has ever been in marketing knows that it's possible to question a sales goal by noting that the boss may have been a little too optimistic. Now, however, there is an outfit in San Jose that has computerized the quota calculation process....and there does not seem to be an "appeals" subroutine.

Callidus Software (NASDAQ: CALD) provides sales performance management and enterprise incentive management software systems. Its programs are used to model, administer, analyze, and report on sales performance and incentive management plans that compensate employees and distribution channel partners for the achievement of sales quotas, product and territory milestones, and customer satisfaction. The company targets executives, who use its applications to align employee incentive programs with corporate business and profit objectives. Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) is a major competitor.

Callidus pleased investors last week, with Q2 numbers that handily beat Street expectations on both the top and bottom lines. It also offered solid upside guidance for Q3 revenues. It was the company's third consecutive quarter of both record revenues and forty percent growth (y/y).