Analyst Upgrades

• Research In Motion (RIMM) to buy from sell and Gap (GPS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Archer Daniels (ADM) and Airgas (ARG) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Valero Energy (VLO) to top pick from sector perform and Western Refining (WNR) to outperform from underperform at RBC Capital.
• Fred's (FRED) to overweight from neutral at JP Morgan.
• Marsh & McLennan (MMC), Willis Group (WSH) and Brown & Brown (BRO) to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.
• Host Hotels (HST) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• La-Z-Boy (LZB) to strong buy from market perform at Raymond James.

Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to buy from neutral.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Pulte Group (PHM) to neutral from underperform. Note that Citigroup downgraded the stock.
• Ameristar Casinos (ASCA) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Merriman.
• Citigroup upgraded Kimco Realty (KIM) to hold from sell.
• Mistras (MG) was upgraded to buy from hold at KeyBanc.
• Devon Energy (DVN) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Garmin (GRMN) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at PacCrest.

Analyst Upgrades

• SunTrust upgraded American Express (AXP) to buy from neutral with a $47 price target based on valuation.
• Argus upgraded Verizon (VZ) to buy from hold, with a $39 price target, citing valuation and the company's aggressive 4G LTE network upgrade. However, Bernstein downgraded the stock.
• BMO Capital upgraded Canadian Pacific (CP) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's cost reduction efforts, and raised its target for shares to $74 from $67.
• Agrium (AGU) was upgraded to sector outperformer from sector performer at CIBC.
• Novatel Wireless (NVTL) was upgraded to hold from sell at Canaccord.
• Essex Property Trust (ESS) was upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Overweight from Market Weight due to accelerating manufacturing cost declines, potential NAND flash sourcing upside at Toshiba (OTC: TOSBF) and Samsung and an increase in 2H09 demand.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) to Perform from Underperform to reflect potential benefits from the stimulus package and channel checks that indicated IT budgets are stabilizing. The firm raised its target price on shares to $54 from $40.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded OSI Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Outperform from Sector Perform following positive Tarceva survey results and cites valuation.
• Marriott (NYSE: MAR) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at JMP Securities.
  
• Grainger (NYSE: GWW) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
  
• Duncan Energy Partners (NASDAQ: DEP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.

Analyst upgrades:

• Stephens upgraded shares of Ann Taylor (NYSE: ANN) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the company's restructuring program, reductions in inventory and share repurchase program.
  
• AIMCO (NYSE: AIV) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank.
  
• UBS upgraded D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) to Neutral from Sell.
• Argus believes BigBand Networks (NASDAQ: BBND) is succeeding by adding new customers and driving new business with existing customers. Shares were upgraded to Buy from Hold.
  
• ThinkPanmure expects Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) to attract students at a faster rate in the coming quarters and to improve operating margins. The firm raised shares to Buy from Accumulate and raised its target to $60 from $62.
• Advanced Medical (NYSE:EYE) was lifted to Hold from Underperform at Jefferies.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Old Dominion Freight (ODFL), Jamba (JMBA), AMD (AMD), Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) and Quest Diagnostics (DGX) were today's notable initiations:

• Baird is positive on Old Dominion's (NASDAQ: ODFL) growth opportunities, valuation, 2008 improving truck fundamentals, and a potentially seasonally stronger Q4, starting shares with an Overweight rating and $36 target.

• Merriman initiated Jamba (NASDAQ: JMBA) with a Buy rating, as the company aggressively expands its store base beyond California.

• BMO Capital believes AMD (NYSE: AMD) may lose the Intel platform integrated graphics market, and sizeable Intel platform discrete graphics market share. The firm initiated AMD shares with an Underperform rating and $10 target.

• Soleil has concerns regarding Orbitz Worldwide's (NYSE: OWW) decelerating growth and poorer business mix vs. competitors and started shares with a Hold rating and $13 target.

• Credit Suisse initiated Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) with a Neutral rating and $61 target, citing the recent UnitedHealth (UNH) contract loss, slowing growth, and valuation for its Neutral rating...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• McDermott (NYSE: MDR) and Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) were initiated with Buy ratings at Citigroup.

• JMP Securities started ShoreTel (NASDAQ: SHOR) with a Market Outperform rating.

• Credit Suisse initiated LabCorp (NYSE: LH) with an Outperform rating.

• FTN Midwest started Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) with a Buy rating.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lululemon (LULU) and Worthington (WOR) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital views Lululemon (NASDAQ: LULU), which IPO'd today, as unique opportunity to participate in an early stage, retail growth story, starting shares with an Outperform rating and $23 target.

• Worthington (NYSE: WOR) is likely to continue to have headwinds in the near-term, according to CIBC; They believe shares could be a takeover target, initiating shares with a Sector Performer rating and $24 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bon-Ton Stores (NASDAQ: BONT) was initiated with a Neutral at First Albany.

• William Blair started shares of Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) with an Outperform rating.

• Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) was reinstated with a Neutral rating at Goldman Sachs.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CKE Restaurants (CKR), Capella Education (CPLA), IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI), Liberty Media (LINTA) and BWAY Holding (BWY) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• JP Morgan started CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) with a Neutral rating, citing near-term margin concerns.

• Barrington believes Capella Education (NASDAQ: CPLA) is one of the fastest growing companies within its group in every aspect including enrollment, earnings and revenue.

• Stifel started IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) with a Buy rating, believing there is a 60% chance of a material event occurring within the next 6 months. Stifel believes QVC is the best interactive retailing operator given its 22% EBITDA margins and 16% operating margins.

• Banc of America initiated BWAY Holding (NYSE: BWY) with a Neutral rating, citing a balanced risk/reward. JP Morgan started shares of BWY with an Overweight rating on valuation...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lehman initiated Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ: HBAN) with an Underweight rating.

• Montgomery initiated Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM) with a Buy rating.

• Stifel initiated Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) with a Hold rating.

• JMP Securities started BFC Financial (AMEX: BFF) with a Market Outperform rating.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: ColdWater Creek Inc (CWTR), Celadon Group, Inc (CLDN), Berry Petroleum Co (BRY), SiRF Technology Holdings Inc (SIRF) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Brean Murray started shares of Coldwater Creek (NASDAQ: CWTR) with a Buy rating and $25 target, expecting second-half upside from new merchandise this year.

• Keybanc is positive on Celadon's (NASDAQ: CLDN) disciplined approach to strategic acquisitions and leverage in its operating model, starting shares with a Buy rating and $20 target.

• CRT Capital believes Berry Petroleum (NYSE: BRY) has the ability to continue to deliver double digit percentage production/reserves growth and started shares with a Buy rating and $40 target.

• American Technology believes SiRF Technology Holdings (NASDAQ: SIRF) will continue to be a market leader in GPS chipsets and finds the company's wireless business undervalued, starting shares with a Buy rating and $26 target...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Javelin Pharmaceuticals Inc (AMEX: JAV) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Leerink Swann.

• UBS started Arris Group, Inc (NASDAQ: ARRS) with a Buy rating and $18 target.

• Publicis Groupe (NYSE: PUB) was started with a Buy rating at ING.

• Thomas Weisel initiated shares of Ambassadors International (NASDAQ: AMIE) with an Overweight rating and $41 target. Baird started

• Capella Education Co (NASDAQ: CPLA) with an Outperform rating and $46 target.

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