Analyst Upgrades

• Soleil upgraded Community Health (CYH) to buy from hold based on expectations for improved 2011 demand. The firm has a $40 price target on the stock.
• Wunderlich upgraded Invesco Mortgage (IVR) to buy from hold following the company's better-than-expected Q3 dividend. The firm also raised its target price for shares to $23.50 from $21.50.
• Goldman upgraded SuccessFactors (SFSF) to conviction buy from buy, citing cloud exposure.
• Vulcan Materials (VMC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Comstock Resources (CRK) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Ladenburg.
• Trimble Navigation (TRMB) was upgraded to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Deutsche Bank upgraded Smurfit-Stone (SSCC) to buy from hold after raising its estimates for containerboard names and upped its target for shares to $28 from $22. The firm also raised its price target for International Paper (IP) to $38 from $32, for Packaging Corp. (PKG) to $33 from $28, for Temple-Inland (TIN) to $31 from $28, for Greif (GEF) to $67 from $65, and for Rock-Tenn (RKT) to $70 from $65. All stocks are buy rated.
• ThinkEquity upgraded VMware (VMW) to buy from hold and has a $90 price target on the stock. The firm expects VMware to benefit from increased virtual infrastructure adoption and improving vSphere solutions.
• Needham upgraded Cavium Networks (CAVM) to strong buy from buy, citing the recent pullback in shares following Cisco's (CSCO) cautious commentary. The firm has a $37 target on the stock.
• Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• MedAssets (MDAS) was upgraded to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Brookfield Properties (BPO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wunderlich upgraded Inergy (NRGY) to buy from hold on valuation after the stock sold off following the proposed merger with Inergy Holdings (NRGP). The firm raised its target for shares to $46 from $40.
• Soleil upgraded Applied Industrial (AIT) to buy from gradually accumulate following the company's better-than-expected Q4 results and raised its target for shares to $42 from $36.
• Citigroup upgraded Starwood Property (STWD) to buy from hold with a $21 price target, citing a pick-up in CRE loan sales.
• Family Dollar (FDO) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Intercontinental Hotels (IHG) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• Yucheng Technologies (YTEC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Roth Capital.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman said International Paper (NYSE: IP) is its top pick in the group citing leverage to early cycle containerboard. The firm upgraded shares to Conviction Buy from Buy and has a $26 target on the stock.
• Morgan Keegan upgraded Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR) to Outperform from Market Perform citing valuation and better-than-expected Q2 results.
• William Blair upgraded Harbin Electric (NASDAQ: HRBN) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the Chinese economy is likely to accelerate and the company's balance sheet is strengthened following the retirement of debt.
• Allstate (NYSE: ALL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Commercial Vehicle Group (NASDAQ: CVGI) was upgraded to Overweight from Underweight at JPMorgan.

• Goldman upgraded shares of Daimler (NYSE: DAI) to Buy from Neutral as it believes the company's restructuring and greater visibility on its outlook could be positive for the stock.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded shares of Goodyear Tire (NYSE: GT) and Cooper Tire (NYSE: CTB) to Overweight from Neutral on expectations that industry volumes will improve in the coming quarters.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) following the company's better than expected preliminary Q1 results. The firm maintains a $17 target on shares.
• Ruby Tuesday (NYSE: RT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.
  
• Portfolio Recovery (NASDAQ: PRAA) was raised to Buy from Neutral at SunTrust.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Abbott Lab (NYSE: ABT) to Hold from Sell on valuation following the stock's recent underperformance. The firm maintains a $48 price target.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Pepsi Bottling (NYSE: PBG) and Dr. Pepper Snapple (NYSE: DPS) to Buy from Hold as they believe carbonated soft drinks market is showing signs of stabilization. The firm raised its price target on Pepsi Bottling to $28 from $25 and on Dr. Pepper Snapple to $22 from $20.
  
• Baird upgraded CommScope (NYSE: CTV) to Outperform from Neutral and raised their target to $19 from $10 as they expect fundamentals to bottom in Q1 and ramp strongly in Q2 as wireless capex outlook improves.
• Sinopec Shanghai (NYSE: SHI) was raised to Buy from Sell at Goldman.
  
• TRW Automotive (NYSE: TRW) was upgraded at JP Morgan to Neutral from Underweight.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Akzo Nobel, SureWest Communications and the cable sector were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company's growth and restructuring potential are being undervalued by the market.
• Jefferies raised its rating on SureWest Communications (NASDAQ: SURW) with to Buy from Hold. The firm believes the company's fiber network and strong cash position make it an attractive M&A target.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded the cable sector to Attractive from Cautious, also upgrading Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to Overweight from Equal Weight.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Lehman upgraded Comstock Resources (NYSE: CRK) to Equal Weight from Underweight and PDL BioPharma (NASDAQ: PDLI) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
• Cowen upgraded Genentech (NYSE: DNA) to Outperform from Neutral.
• Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Merrill Lynch.