Hurricane Dean's presence in the Western Caribbean has forced over a dozen cruise ships to quickly change their itinerary towards the eastern side of the Caribbean this week. The storm, currently moving as a Class Three hurricane through the Yucatan peninsula, has affected Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) the most.

According to the company's site, as of Sunday, August 18th, the itineraries of over ten Carnival ships have been altered, forcing them to dock in Eastern ports-of-call or cancel a part of their stay. CruiseCritic.com has reported that a dozen of Carnival's ships were impacted from Dean. The company could not be reached for comment. Only three Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE: RCL) ships needed to steer clear of the storm.

Despite many weather stations calling Jamaica "Ground Zero" all weekend, the island nation received a glancing blow on Sunday. Gene Sloan of USAToday's "The Cruise Log" reported today that Royal Caribbean will be the first to test Jamaica's waters on Wednesday, as originally scheduled. Carnival's spokesman Vance Gulliksen told Sloan their line expects to resume calls in Jamaica next week and plans to return to the Caymans as early as later this week, but is "awaiting final confirmation."

The major question is the impact of Dean on Cozumel and other Mexican ports on the Yucatan Coast. Check out CruiseCritic.com's Hurricane Zone for an updated list of the damage reports.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Motorola (MOT), SanDisk (SNDK), Time Warner (TWX), Schering-Plough (SGP), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Openwave Systems (OPWV) were some of today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank believes the worst is over for Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and expects an improvement in growth over the next several quarters, upgrading shares to Buy from Hold.

• CIBC upgraded shares of SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer following checks that indicate NAND supply is being allocated, visibility is improving, and SanDisk positioning is strengthening.

• Pali Capital raised Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) shares to Buy from Neutral as they believe the "valuation has become too attractive to ignore."

• JP Morgan upgraded Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) to Neutral from Underweight based on valuation.

• CIBC upgraded Openwave Systems (NASDAQ: OPWV) to Sector Performer from Sector Underperformer believing the Street's expectations are now in line with expectations, limiting downside potential at these levels...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Merrill upgraded BT Group (NYSE: BT) to Buy from Sell.

• JP Morgan assumed coverage of Arkansas Best (NASDAQ: ABFS) with a Neutral rating, up from an Underweight rating.

• AG Edwards upgraded UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) to Buy from Hold.

• Merrill upgraded Dean Foods (NYSE: DF) to Neutral from Sell.

• UBS upgraded Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) to Buy from Neutral.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Some of today's more noteworthy downgrades included Dean Foods Co (DF), Louisiana-Pacific Corp (LPX), Costco Wholesale Corp (COST), Alcan Inc (AL) and Horizon Offshore, Inc (HOFF):

• Dean Foods Co (NYSE: DF) was cut to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan to reflect future guidance concerns after management's cautious tone.

• Louisana-Pacific Corp (NYSE: LPX) was downgraded to Strong Sell from Buy at Matrix USA. The firm believes a weak housing market is having a significant negative impact on shares and sees downside to $14/share.

• Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ: COST) was taken off the Strategic Stock List at UBS based on valuation.

• Bear Stearns cut Alcan (NYSE: AL) to Peer Perform from Outperform based on valuation.

• Oppenheimer downgraded Horizon Offshore (NASDAQ: HOFF) to Neutral from Buy on news of the acquisition by Cal Dive International (NYSE: DVR) as the firm believes the likelihood of a materially higher bid is low...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Goldman cut Federal Signal Corp (NYSE: FSS) to Sell from Neutral.

• AG Edwards downgraded EPIQ Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: EPIQ) to Hold from Buy.

• Raymond James downgraded United Community Banks, Inc (NASDAQ: UCBI) to Neutral from Buy.

• Wachovia cut Targa Resources Partners LP (NASDAQ: NGLS) to Market Perform from Outperform.

• Gerdau Ameristeel Corp (NYSE: GNA) was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman.

• Nucor Corp (NYSE: NUE) was taken off Goldman's Conviction Buy List.

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

I just heard that Dean Baquet, the editor of the Los Angeles Times, has been pushed out by his Chicago-based overlords because he refused to oversee any more staff cuts.

Well, all of us members of the Fourth Estate, past and present, saw this coming. It's just another ill tiding for the newspaper industry.

The Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), owners of the Chicago Tribune (and lots of other media outlets), own the Los Angeles Times. It's been relentless in its pursuit of profits, slashing staff and other resources. It's slowly starving its brand by trying to wring every last penny of profit out of its business. And when was the newspaper business ever a money-making operation?

Yes, the newspaper industry is dying. Yes, more people get their news now from the Internet or TV. Yes, advertising revenue has tanked, again thanks to the Internet. I'll even hazard to say there won't be newspapers as we know them in 20 years time. But it ain't dead yet. There are still millions of people who get a newspaper every day, for whatever reason. And those people want a good product. The Los Angeles Times was a good product. A great brand.