Among all the negative economic data that came out last week was a positive surprise: retail sales were higher in January. A fluke or a glimmer at the end of the tunnel? That may depend on whether we see any positive surprises arising from items on this week's economic calendar:

• Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference: Monday through Friday
• NY Empire Manufacturing Index (Feb. 2009): Tuesday, 8:30 AM
• NAHB Housing Market Index (Feb. 2009): Tuesday, 1:00 PM
• Fed's Bullard speaks before National Association of Business Economists: Tuesday, 1:00 PM
• Housing starts (Jan. 2009): Wednesday, 8:30 AM
• Fed's Pianalto speaks before Commercial Developers Power Breakfast: Wednesday, 9:00 AM
• Industrial production (Jan. 2009): Wednesday, 9:15 AM
• Fed's Bernanke speaks before National Press Club Luncheon: Wednesday, 12:30 PM

Analyst upgrades:

• Societe Generale upgraded shares of Veolia Environment (NYSE: VE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company's new finance chief implement additional cost savings.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of Sun Healthcare (NASDAQ: SUNH) to Buy from Hold and added the stock to their Top Picks Live List as they believe the market is pricing in a more severe Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement outlook than is probable. The firm has a $14 target on the stock.
  
• Calyon believes in 2010, American Express (NYSE: AXP) will have easy comps, reserve releases, and income statement leverage. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Underperform.
• Societe Generale (OTC: SCGLY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Citigroup.
  
• Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) was raised to neutral from Sell at UBS.
  
• Goldman upgraded Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to the Conviction Buy List; Goldman also added Bristol-Myers (NYSE: BMY) to the Conviction Buy List.

Analyst upgrades:

• Barclays upgraded the Integrated Oil sector to Positive from Neutral citing valuations. Note that Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight based on valuation.
  
• After Force Protection (NASDAQ: FRPT) reported that its 1H08 sales increased more than 200%, Stanford thinks that Force Protection could be poised for several new opportunities in 2009 and they believe the company's risk is already priced into the stock; the firm raised Force Protection to Hold from Sell.
  
• Cowen expects eHealth (NASDAQ: EHTH) to benefit from the steady decline in employer-sponsored health insurance offered by small businesses and reduced regulatory risk, among other reasons. The firm upgraded shares to Outperform from Neutral.
• Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital.
  
• Caris upgraded Carmike Cinemas (NASDAQ: CKEC) to Above Average from Average.
  
• International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE: IFF) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: DPL Inc, IAC/InterActiveCorp, F5 Networks, Community Health and Parametric Technology were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Baird upgraded DPL Inc (NYSE: DPL) to Outperform from Neutral following better-than-expected guidance.
  
• Citigroup upgraded IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) to Buy from Hold as they believe HSN's turnaround, Lending Tree's stabilization and Ask's profitability ramp should drive EBITDA growth acceleration in 2008. The company was also upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman following IAC's better-than-expected Q3 report.
  
• Citigroup upgraded shares of F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ: FFIV) to Buy from Hold, as they believe now is the time to buy the stock with sentiment at a low-point heading into an attractive 2008 product cycle.
  
• Stifel raised its rating on Community Health Systems Inc (NYSE: CYH) to Buy from Hold based on improved visibility from detailed 2008 guidance.
  
• Kaufman upgraded Parametric Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: PMTC) to Buy from Hold based on an impressive quarter and favorable industry trends.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• China Life Insurance Company Limited (NYSE: LFC) was upgraded to Peer Perform from Underperform at Bear.
  
• The Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack (NYSE: PBY) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
  
• JP Morgan added Nalco Holding Company (NYSE: NLC) to its Focus List.
  
• RBC upgraded Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Celgene (CELG), Sysco (SYY), Kinetic Concepts (KCI), BioMimtic Therapeutics (BMTI) and Lifecell Corp (LIFC) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• William Blair believes Celgene (NASDAQ: CELG) has the best growth profile in large-cap biotechnology and initiated shares with an Outperform rating.

• Citigroup views Sysco (NYSE: SYY) as the dominant leader in the foodservice distribution industry, initiating shares with a Buy rating, and feels the company will continue to take market share from its peers. The firm thinks the current valuation reflects the perception that Sysco may perform poorly in the near-term, which they disagree with.

• Wachovia started Kinetic Concepts (NYSE: KCI) with a Market Perform, citing competitive pressures and mature markets for its rating.

• Wachovia is positive on BioMimetic Therapeutics (NASDAQ: BMTI), initiating shares with an Outperform, based on strong rhPDGF technology, strategy, and management team.

• Wachovia is positive on Lifecell Corp's (NASDAQ: LIFC) Strattice, a porcine tissue matrix, which improves the company's international exposure and provides opportunities in new markets, initiating shares with an Outperform...

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Credit Suisse initiated Community Health (NYSE: CYH) and Universal Health (NYSE: UHS) with Outperform ratings, LifePoint (NASDAQ: LPNT) with a Neutral rating, and Health Management (NYSE: HMA) and Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) with Underperform ratings.

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

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), citing people familiar with the matter, Community Health Systems Inc (NYSE: CYH) is near a deal to purchase Triad Hospitals (NYSE: TRI), which would break up an existing $4.5B private-equity buyout plan.
• The Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column reported that rumors are swirling that Infineon Technologies ADS (NYSE: IFX) will be chosen to supply the main chip to drive the upcoming iPhone from Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL).

OTHER PAPERS:

• The Business Standard reported that Reliance Industries is reportedly in advanced discussions with Nova Chemicals Corporation (NYSE: NCX), the plastics and petrochemicals firm, to form a joint venture.
• According to the U.K. Times, Barclays plc ADS (NYSE: BCS) will announce today its formal interest in buying Netherlands bank ABN Amro Holdings (NYSE: ABN) for a price of up to a little less than EUR60B, or EUR31.3 per share, according to reports.
• Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ) is trying to buy the Financial News for GBP25M, the U.K. Times reported.
• The Sunday Telegraph reported that Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is planning a 'beauty tea' in conjunction with L'Oreal ADR (OTC: LRLCY), called Lumae.
• According to Google Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOG) official blog, it has acquired Adscape media. Terms were not disclosed.