MOST NOTEWORTHY: Ruth's Chris Steak House (RUTH), Hilton Hotels (HLT) and Champps Entertainment (CMPP) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Goldman cut shares of Ruth's Chris Steak House (NASDAQ: RUTH) to Sell from Neutral following the company's preliminary Q2 sales, as they expect relative underperformance over the near-term. Goldman believes macro headwinds could weigh on Ruth's client base and keep traffic negative for the rest of the year.

• Hilton Hotels (NYSE: HLT) was downgraded by a number of firms after the Blackstone Group (BX) takeout offer: Jefferies and Citigroup cut shares to Hold from Buy, Calyon downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy, Raymond James downgraded shares to Market Perform from Strong Buy, Suquehanna cut shares to Neutral from Positive and Bear Stearns downgraded Hilton Hotels to Peer Perform from Outperform.

• B. Riley downgraded shares of Champps Entertainment (NASDAQ: CMPP) to Neutral from Buy to reflect the buyout offer from F&H Acquisition Corp...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• B. Riley downgraded shares of ACR Group (AMEX: BRR) to reflect the company's merger agreement with Watsco Inc (WSO).

• Jefferies cut Dobson Communications Corp (NASDAQ: DCEL) to Hold from Buy.

• Piper Jaffrey downgraded Selective Insurance (NASDAQ: SIGI) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Kaufman downgraded Parametric Technology (NASDAQ: PMTC) to Hold from Buy.

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

Main market news here.

It seems that there isn't a day passing without more (good) iPhone news. This time, the Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) new revolutionary phone made waves in the U.K. when the BBC reported that mobile phone operator O2 has won the deal to sell the iPhone in the UK. It is also said that the iPhone may be available in time for Christmas. Genius! A spokesman for O2, however, declined to comment on the reports. Anyone who has been expecting a dip in Apple's price was disappointed and got the exact opposite when AAPL shares climbed nearly 5% on Tuesday.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) announced yesterday it has received clearance to sell the BlackBerry in China after eight years of trying. RIM expects to start selling its 8700g handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month and has already received 5,000 advance orders. RIMM shares are up 4.8% in pre-market trading (7:41 a.m.).

Jones Apparel Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY), which has already agreed to sell Barneys New York Inc. to Istithmar for $825 million in cash, received an unsolicited bid from Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. to acquire Barneys $900 million in cash. The breakup fee for Jones deal with Istithmar is $20 million. JNY shares are up 5.6% in pre-market trading (7:26 a.m.).

Champps Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ: CMPP) has agreed to a $73.3 million buyout, or $5.60 per share, by F&H Acquisition Corp., the holding company for Fox & Hound Restaurant Group. The total value of the deal is $74.8 million. CMPP shares are up nearly 16% in pre-market trading (8:01 a.m.).

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) said it would launch the advanced version of its Xbox 360 game console, Xbox 360 Elite, on October 11 in Japan.

After deciding to start selling in retail chains and striking a deal with Wal-Mart, Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) today said it will soon start selling its laptops and desktops at Asian retail chains and stores. Dell also expects shipments to Asia to grow 20%.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) said its China retail vehicle sales rose 25% in the first half compared to last year.
After showing declines in U.S. sales in June, in Canada, Chrysler and Ford managed to post growth in sales in June. General Motors (NYSE: GM), however, already posting 21.3% decline in June sales in the U.S., showed declines north of the border as well. GM shares are down 3.7% in pre-market trading (8:03 a.m.).