Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), a producer of crop nutrients, closed at $41.35. MOS is presenting at Goldman Sachs Agriculture Biotech Forum on February 10. MOS is presenting at the Morgan Stanley Global Basic Materials Conference on February 18. MOS February option implied volatility is at 71, March is at 76 is below its 26-week average of 81, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movements.

Terra Industries (NYSE: TRA), a nitrogen producer, is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on February 10. CF Industries (NYSE: CF) announced on January 16 an unsolicited bid for TRA, offering to exchange 0.4235 shares of CF for each share of TRA. TRA closed at $22.22. CF closed at $52.44. TRA February and June option implied volatility of 73 is below its 26-week average of 85, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

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

Analyst upgrades:

• Philip Morris (NYSE: PM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Principal Financial (NYSE: PFG) to Market Perform from Underperform as they believe the company's capital buffer could keep outrunning credit losses.
  
• Friedman Billings also upgraded Office Max (NYSE: OMX) to Outperform from Market Perform. The firm believes the risk of recourse to Office Max from the Timber Notes formerly backed by Lehman is low and that any litigation by noteholders will have a low level of success.
  
• Citigroup upgraded CF Industries (NYSE: CF) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent weakness but lowered their target to $113 from $128.
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  

Analyst upgrades:

• Merrill believes Assurant (NYSE: AIZ) is well-positioned to weather the turmoil in the capital markets environment and cites the company's defensive characteristics for the upgrade. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded R.H. Donnelly (NYSE: RHD) to Hold from Sell to reflect the company's cost cuts and its ability to buy back bonds at discounted prices.
  
• Citigroup raised Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) to Buy from Hold on valuation as they are seeing no fundamental deterioration in coal.
• Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Credit Suisse.
  Raymond James raised shares to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Penske Automotive (NYSE: PAG) was upgraded to Add from Neutral at Calyon.
  
• ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) was lifted to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) to Sell from Hold after the company reported Q2 results to reflect a deceleration in growth and margin pressures. RIMM's target was lowered to $70 from $120. RBC Capital downgraded Research in Motion to Sector Perform from Outperform citing reduced margin visibility and the slowing macroeconomic environment.
  
• Stephens downgraded Vitran (NASDAQ: VTNC) and Saia (NASDAQ: SAIA) to Equal Weight from Overweight to reflect the companies' deteriorating demand and pricing environment. Vitran's target was cut to $15 from $22 and Saia's was lowered to $16 from $24.
  
• Mentor (NYSE: MNT) was downgraded to hold from Buy at Jefferies to reflect continued weakness in the breast implant market and the potential for lowered guidance. Mentor's target was lowered to $31 from $36.
  
• Merrill cut ING Group (NYSE: ING) to Underperform from Neutral.
  
• CF Industries (NYSE: CF) was downgraded at Citigroup to Hold from Buy.
  
• Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) was lowered to Sell from Hold at Natixis.

• Suntrust initiated Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) with a Neutral rating, citing slowing organic revenue growth, valuation and a slowing lab business.
  
• Jefferies initiated Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) with a Hold rating and $33 target. The firm prefers to stay on sidelines due to valuation and macro risks.
  
• Hersha Hospitality (NYSE: HT) was assumed with a Market Perform rating and $7.50 target at Keefe Bruyette. The firm believes near-term demand trends in New York City could slow.
  
• Ecolab (NYSE: ECL) was initiated at Baird with a Neutral rating and $54 target.
  
• KeyBanc assumed ENGlobal (NASDAQ: ENG) with a Hold rating.
  
• Piper initiated Pentair (NYSE: PNR) with a Neutral rating and $39 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Keefe Bruyette initiated AmericanWest (NASDAQ: AWBC) with a Market Perform rating and $5 target, citing limited capital and credit visibility.
  
• Sandler started Raymond James (NYSE: RJF) with a Buy rating.

• Goldman assumed Terra Industries (NYS: TRA) with a Sell rating and CF Industries (NYSE: CF) with a Neutral rating and $180 target.

So far this year, it's been a tough IPO market. However, there were no problems for the offering of Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), which sold 30 million shares at $32 a piece. In today's trading, the shares are up an impressive 56%.

Intrepid Potash is the largest producer of muriate of potash in the U.S. It operates production facilities, three in Mexico and two in Utah.

According to Fertecon Limited, the global potash market is expected to grow 3.5% per year from 2007 to 2011. Simply put, there is strong demand from China, India and other emerging economies. In fact, as personal incomes grow, there tends to be an increase in consumption of animal protein, which requires significant amounts of grain for feed.

As for Intrepid Potash, the firm is ramping up nicely. Last year, revenues spiked 40% to $213 million and earnings came to $29.7 million.

What's more, the rest of the potash market has been red hot. Just look at the strong stock performances of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) and CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF).

If you want to learn more about the Intrepid Potash offering, you can find the prospectus at the SEC website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• BWS Financial downgraded Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Hold from Buy citing valuation.

• Jefferies cut WellCare Health Plans Inc (NYSE: WCG) to Underperform from Hold and lowered their target to $69 from $80 as the firm believes higher-than-expected medical costs in Georgia will put significant pressure on earnings.

• Citigroup downgraded Agrium Inc (NYSE: AGU), CF Industries Holdings, Inc (NYSE: CF), Potash Corp (NYSE: POT) and Terra Industries Inc (NYSE: TRA) to Hold from Buy given the year-to-date share appreciation, as their analysis suggests near-term positive earnings revisions are near a peak and should slow going forward. Citigroup remains positive on the fertilizer industry over the long-term.

• Keefe Bruyette downgraded Federated Investors, Inc (NYSE: FII) to Market Perform from Outperform citing the potential impact from Bank of New York Co (BK)/ Mellon Financial Corp (MEL) transactions.

• Jefferies cut Amerigroup Corp (NYSE: AGP) to Underperform from Hold with a $25 target.

• Stephens downgraded Pacer International, Inc (NASDAQ: PACR) to Equal Weight from Overweight.

• Atlantic Equities downgraded Adobe Systems Inc (NASDAQ: ADBE) to Neutral from Overweight.

• Harman International Industries Inc (NYSE: HAR) was taken down to Hold from Buy at Gabelli.

On tonight's MAD MONEY on CNBC, Jim Cramer had a couple of interesting notes. To invest in a hedge against inflation: you buy Gold, Art, Collectibles. He says you can buy Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) because it is in a duopoly in the world now. Cramer did say that this is actually in a secular trend of permanency where the rich are getting richer and richer. He says this will help as more and more super-high-end items will sell. He says their margins are huge and any extra business they get from prices rising goes straight to the bottom line. He said he's been behind this one for a long time and it is up 100% since then.