MOST NOTEWORTHY: Edison International, Animal Health International and SanDisk were today's noteworthy initiations:

• RBC Capital initiated Edison International (NYSE: EIX) with an Outperform rating and $64 target citing strong rate base growth and the favorable environment at Southern California Edison.
  
• Piper assumed coverage of Animal Health International (NASDAQ: AHII) with a Buy rating and $10 target, as they believe the current valuation is attractive from long-term investors.
  
• Pacific Crest started SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) with a Sector Perform rating and believes the valuation is too high following the recent strength as product margins are trending down.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Sandler initiated Heritage Commerce (NASDAQ: HTBK) with a Hold rating and $16 target.
  
• Burger King (NYSE: BKC) was initiated with a Buy rating and $34 target at Piper.
  
• RBC Capital assumed U.S. Geothermal (AMEX: HTM) with an Outperform rating and $4 target.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: RF Micro Devices, Western Digital and Boyd Gaming were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of RF Micro Devices (NASDAQ: RFMD) to Hold from Buy to reflect the continued softness in the China Market after Asian channel checks suggested the March quarter will be weak.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Western Digital (NYSE: WDC) to Hold from Buy, as they believe the HDD industry is nearing a cyclical peak. They also view the likelihood of consolidation as less likely given the current conditions.
  
• Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD) was lowered to Neutral from Add at Calyon following its Q4 report.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan downgraded BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA), Lea Corporation (NYSE: LEA) and TRW Automotive Holdings (NYSE: TRW) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Merrill lowered Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Research in Motion, Virgin Mobile, VMWare, and McAfee were today's noteworthy initiations.

• Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) was initiated with an Overweight by Thomas Weisel, which thinks the company has one of the strongest growth profiles among large-cap tech stocks.
  
• Virgin Mobile (NYSE:VM) was initated with an Overweight by Thomas Weisel, which cited the company's strong global brand and low cost base.
  
• Pacific Crest initiated VMWare (NYSE:VMW) with a Sector Perform based on the company's thin float and competitive risks.
  
• McAfee (NYSE:MFE) was reinstated with a Buy by Deutsche Bank, which believes the company is one of the best positioned security vendors due to its comprehensive security platform.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Thomas Weisel initiated Palm (NASDAQ:PALM) with a Market Weight rating.
  
• Gabelli initated Edison International (NYSE:EIX) with a Buy rating.
  
• Bank of America initiated Akamai (NASDAQ:AKAM) with a Neutral rating.

Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) has five separately managed segments comprising of Southern California Gas, San Diego Gas and Electric, Sempra Commodities, Sempra Generation and Sempra Pipeline and Storage. SRE is expected to report earnings on 11/1. SRE overall option implied volatility of 23 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting flat risk.

Edison International (NYSE: EIX) is the parent of Southern California Edison, the largest electric utility in California. EIX is expected to report earnings on 11/2. EIX overall option implied volatility of 28 is above its 26-week average of 26 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger risk.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Vonage Holdings Corp (VG), General Maritime Corp (GMR), Newmont Mining Corp (NEM) and Edison International (EIX) were some of today's notable downgrades:

• Citigroup cut Vonage Holdings Corp (NYSE: VG) to Sell from Hold on patent litigation concerns as the firm believes the risk to profitability has increased.

• General Maritime Corp (NYSE: GMR) was downgraded to Sell from Hold on valuation with a $23 target.

• Newmont Mining Corp (NYSE: NEM) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at HSBC.

• Lehman downgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Equal-Weight from Overweight on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Deutsche Bank cut Volvo (NASDAQ: VOLV) to Sell from Hold. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey downgraded shares of SafeNet, Inc (SFNT) based on the Vector acquisition.

• CIBC downgraded Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd (NYSE: AEM) to Sector Perform from Outperform on valuation as the firm expects an upcoming downward correction due to lower zinc prices.

• Ryan Beck cut Fulton Financial Corp (NASDAQ: FULT) to Market Perform from Outperform with a $16 target; SunTrust Robinson downgraded shares to Neutral from Buy due to the early payment defaults.

• Matrix cut Christopher & Banks Corp (NYSE: CBK) to Sell from Hold on valuation.

• Golden Star Resources Ltd (AMEX: GSS) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital.

• UBS cut Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Buy with a $47 target.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Amgen, Inc (AMGN), Secure Computing Corp (SCUR), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) were some of today's more notable downgrades:

• UBS downgraded shares of Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) to Reduce from Neutral as the firm believes most Medicare carriers will drop reimbursement for Aranesp in certain types of anemia due to safety concerns.

• Goldman Sachs cut Secure Computing Corp (NASDAQ: SCUR) to Sell from Neutral, citing valuation.

• Thomas Weisel believes Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) will have a difficult time regaining lost channel share from Intel (INTC) without additional price cuts, downgrading shares to Market Weight to Overweight.

• Buckingham cut Level 3 Communications (NASDAQ: LVLT) to Accumulate from Strong Buy on valuation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Edison International (NYSE: EIX) to Hold from Buy.

• Wachovia downgraded shares of Countrywide Financial Corp (NYSE: CFC) to Underperform from Market Perform on concerns that subprime weakness has spread to other sectors of the residential mortgage market.

• Ferris Baker Watts downgraded shares of Comstock Homebuilding (NASDAQ: CHCI) to Hold from Buy to reflect the uncertainty regarding the company's lender relationships and homebuilding market outlook.

• Citigroup downgraded shares of StanCorp Financial Group (NYSE: SFG) to Hold from Buy on valuation and recommends swapping money into Assurant, Inc (AIZ).

• JP Morgan cut AngloGold Ashanti Ltd (NYSE: AU) to Underweight from Neutral.

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