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Analyst initiations: Biotech, WCC, WYN, CNTY, VLO, KR

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The biotech sector, WESCO International, Wyndham and Century Casinos were today's noteworthy initiations:

BMO Capital initiated coverage on Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) and Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) with Outperform ratings and a $16 target and $51 target and Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ: CELG) and Genentech Inc. (NYSE: DNA) with Market Perform ratings and a $69 target and $85 target.
CIBC initiated shares of WESCO International Inc. (NYSE: WCC) with a Sector Outperformer rating and $46 target. The firm believes lower estimates are already priced into shares and that the company's operating initiatives increase the chances for more stable margins in this environment.
Deutsche Bank started shares of Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) with a Buy rating and $41 target. The firm believes stability of the timeshare industry, international expansion and improved transparency will serve as catalysts for shares.
Century Casinos Inc. (NASDAQ: CNTY) was initiated at Nollenberger with a Neutral rating, citing the underperformance of new properties and concerns from the smoking ban in Colorado; however, the firm believes the company is headed in the right direction.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

Soleil started shares of Sunoco Inc. (NYSE: SUN) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) with Buy ratings and targets of $96 and $88, and initiated shares of Tesoro Corp. (NYSE: TSO) with a Hold rating and $55 target.
Rodman & Renshaw started shares of Labopharm Inc. (NASDAQ: DDSS) with a Market Perform rating.
UBS resumed coverage on Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) with a Buy rating and $34 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Labopharm (DDSS), Dell (DELL) and Nasdaq (NDAQ) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

Labopharm Inc. (NASDAQ: DDSS) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch and to Market Perform from Outperform at Leerink Swann after the 2nd approval letter from the FDA said Tramadol did not show efficacy. CIBC World Markets downgraded shares of Labopharm to Sector Performer from Outperformer and at Canaccord Adams to Sell from Hold.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Merrill Lynch, which recommended investors take profits following the strong earnings reports. The firm does not believe the drivers behind the earnings upside are sustainable. Dell was also downgraded at Morgan Stanley, to Equal Weight from Overweight, based on valuation.
The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman, as the firm believes the stock is range-bound for the next several months following the OMX acquisition announcement.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

Robert W Baird downgraded shares of DiamondRock Co. (NYSE: DRH) and Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (NYSE: CPK) to Neutral from Outperform on valuation.
Bear Stearns downgraded shares of Emmis Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: EMMS) to Underperform from Peer Perform, as the firm does not believe the CEO will make another bid to take the company private.
Matrix USA downgraded shares of Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL) to Hold from Buy.
Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Cintas Corp. (NASDAQ: CTAS) Underweight from Equal Weight, citing growth concerns, and downgraded shares of Virgin Media Inc. (NASDAQ: VMED) to Equal Weight from Overweight, citing higher customer churn and weaker pricing power.
Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of RadioShack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) to Neutral from Buy.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Seagate Technology (STX), Analog Devices inc (ADI) and Whole Foods Market Inc (WFMI) were some of today's notable upgrades:

AG Edwards upgraded Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) to Buy from Hold citing improving fundamentals as the company ramps 1.8" drives in the first quarter, with a potential Apple (AAPL) qualification, and market share gains in notebooks.

ThinkEquity upgraded Analog Devices Inc (NYSE: ADI) to Accumulate from Source of Funds, with a target of $38, as they believe the improvement in bookings are sustainable; Citigroup also upgraded Analog Devices, to Buy from Hold, to reflect the company's earnings expectations.

William Blair upgraded Whole Foods Market Inc (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Outperform from Market Perform based on valuation and the benefits of the Wild Oats Markets (NASDAQ: OATS) acquisition; HSBC upgraded shares of Whole Foods to Neutral from Underweight, with a $52 target, and UBS upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral based on the acquisition.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Prudential upgraded Goldcorp inc (NYSE: GG) to Neutral from Underweight citing the increase in gold prices and a potential increase in Penasquito mine reserves.

Stifel upgraded QMed Inc (NASDAQ: QMED) to Buy from Hold on improved revenue visibility.

IHOP Corp (NYSE: IHP) was upgraded at Raymond James to Outperform from Market Perform with a $64 target.

Bernstein upgraded Commerce Bancorp Inc (NYSE: CBH) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Stereotaxis Inc (NASDAQ: STXS) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs following its better-than-expected fourth quarter.

Morgan Stanley upgraded National Semiconductor Corp (NYSE: NSM) to Overweight from Equal Weight citing improving fundamentals and valuation.

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

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