Analyst Upgrades

• Exxon Mobil (XOM), Netflix (NFLX), Noble Corp. (NE), Pioneer Natural (PXD) and Noble Energy (NBL) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Cenovus Energy (CVE) to conviction buy from neutral and Atwood Oceanics (ATW) to neutral from sell at Goldman as well.
• Southern Company (SO) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Chevron (CVX) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Ryder (R), Entergy (ETR) and Seaspan (SSW) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Gerdau (GGB), Crown Castle (CCI) and American Tower (AMT) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Aon (AON) and Willis Group (WSH) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• Ryland Group (RYL) to buy from neutral at Ticonderoga.

Analyst Upgrades

• TCF Financial (TCB) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Exelon (EXC) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Nvidia (NVDA) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Estee Lauder (EL) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Webster Financial (WBS) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Acorda Therapeutics (ACOR) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• NCR Corp. (NCR) to outperform from neutral at Wedbush.
• Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from underperform and Pioneer Natural (PXD) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Autodesk (ADSK) to buy from neutral at Goldman.

Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) and American Public (APEI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• KBR (KBR) and Foster Wheeler (FWLT) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Bio-Rad (BIO) to outperform from market perform at Leerink.
• Oceaneering (OII) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• ASM International (ASMI) and Avid Technology (AVID) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Dominion Resources (D) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Vivus (VVUS) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• Intersil (ISIL) to buy from hold at Canaccord.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

"Considering that the 73 utility stocks in the S&P 1500 Index combine to represent just 4% of the index's market value, they certainly occupy a big place in the hearts of investors," notes Richard Moroney.

The editor of Dow Theory Forecasts -- a newsletter that has been published for nearly 60 years -- explains, "Here, we offer a diversified 12-stock utility portfolio, as well as our top utility choice for investors who only wish to buy one stock in the sector.

Rare is the day I'll sell an electric power generation play, particularly nuclear power. Unlike France, the United States frittered away an opportunity to create a 21st century power generation system 30 years ago, and it will now play catch-up for 20 years, and nuclear will be a part of the solution.

Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR), the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., will be a part of that mix. It is performing as expected, which is why I'm reiterating my Buy rating for the company's shares, first recommended on May 12, 2009 at a price of $74.31.

One of the U.S.'s colossal energy policy mistakes was the nation's failure to fully-develop nuclear power technology for electricity in the second half of the twentieth century. Thankfully, it looks like the nation is recommitting to nuclear power, and Entergy should benefit.

Like the U.S. economy, Entergy (NYSE: ETR), the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S., is performing well below potential, but expect that to change, relatively soon.

While other earnings may have disappointed last week, the news was good for oil giant ConocoPhilips (NYSE: COP). In what some took as a good sign for big oil, the Houston-based company reported that third quarter net income surged 41% year over year to $3.39 per share, and that revenue also surged 52% to $70 billion. We'll see whether the good news extends to other petroleum giants scheduled to report quarterly results this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for BP (NYSE: BP) profits to have grown 43.2% in the most recent quarter to $2.34 per share on revenue of $109.7 billion, and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) to post earnings up 39.4% to $3.25 per share on revenue of $86.8 billion. Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO), ExxonMobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) likewise are expected to report higher net income of $2.33 per share (sales of $23.4 billion), $2.40 per share (sales of $131.4 billion), and $2.65 per share, respectively. Even Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) is expected to post earnings slightly higher to $1.46 per share (sales of $36.4 billion), despite the effects of Hurricane Ike. Among these companies, only BP and Valero beat earnings expectations in the previous quarter. Not surprisingly, analysts on average recommend buying all except Valero, and shares of all of these companies have recently hit 52-week lows.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Pfizer, Dell, Quest Diagnostics, and Societe Generale were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Lehman upgraded Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to Equal Weight from Underweight on valuation.
  
• Friedman Billings raised Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing expectations for improved margins next quarter, and valuation.
  
• Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse, which cited valuation.
  
• Lehman upgraded shares of Societe Generale (OTC: SCGLY) to Overweight from Underweight to reflect a potential takeover by BNP Paribas and limited downside.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bayer (OTC: BAYRY) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight by Lehman.
• Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) was upgraded to Hold from Sell by Citigroup.
• Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) was raised to Buy from Hold by Deutsche Bank.
• UBS raised Entergy (NYSE: ETR) to Buy from Neutral.

Roger Conrad is among the advisory industry's leading expert on utilities. Here's a look at the latest featured growth stock in his The Utiliity Forecaster -- Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR).

"Two years ago, Entergy Corp's regulated utility business was literally in ruins. The core New Orleans subsidiary as well as units in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, faced billions in repair costs, and thousands of customers lost their homes.

"However, Entergy stayed on its feet for one reason: a portfolio of well-run nuclear power plants-the nation's second largest-that ran at 90 percent-plus capacity while wholesale electricity prices surged.

"With utility operations recovered, third quarter earnings surged 27.8% and are set for another 20% next year. Management shared some of that bounty by hiking dividends 38.9% in 2007. This year, shareholders will get more cash as well as a 50% interest in the company's five unregulated nuclear plants.

Crude oil's upward arc continues. The price of natural gas, while cheaper than oil, seems to track oil's move higher. Meanwhile, coal, while substantially cheaper as a fuel for electricity generation, still rates as a dirty fuel, despite the use of moderately-cleaner coal-fired generation technologies. And renewable energy sources, while gaining momentum, are not a present-day or near-term solution.

An option left to meet the U.S.'s growing energy needs? The above suggests that nuclear power will play a larger role, and among the nuclear plays, Entergy (NYSE: ETR) is worth a look.

Entergy is an amplified energy play, of sorts. For those seeking immediate cash, there's Entergy's healthy $3 annual dividend. But for those who want more than a typical utility stock, there's the company's present nuclear power operations, and its prospects for significantly larger nuclear power operations, moving forward. Entergy closed Tuesday down 61 cents to $123.54.

Short interest in General Electric (NYSE: GE) rose 8.2 million shares, to 67.4 million. After all the excitement about future earnings and the stock trading over $40 for the first time in half a decade, the shares have slipped back to just above $38.

What appears to have happened is that the market is concerned that the black box known as GE Finance may have mortgage and high-yield loan problems. But GE is not saying much.

It is hard to find another explanation. NBC Universal should get good money from the upcoming Olympics. The company has won several aviation equipment deals and a large contract with Hitachi to build reactors for Entergy and GE Electric picked up $3.5 billion in building deals in the Middle East.

But GE plays the cards for its financial units very close to the vest. The operations have been money machines for years, but they have already been hit by some sub-prime problems. If the economy gets softer, questions will arise about its credit card portfolio and any high interest loans it may have purchased.

Some part of GE is always worrying investors. For now, it is financial services.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Verisign (VRSN) and Entergy (ETR) led a light upgrade list Monday morning as the Dow and Nasdaq moved higher in early trading.

• Lehman upgraded VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) to Overweight from Equal Weight, saying it expects the company's upcoming restructuring and pending sale of the Jamba ringtone business to result in improving prospects for 2007 and investor sentiment.
• BMO Capital upgraded Entergy Corp. (NYSE:ETR) to Outperform from Market Perform, target to $110, indicating that its earnings will accelerate over the next four years.
• Wachovia upgraded Express Scripts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESRX) to Outperform from Market Perform, citing the recent sell-off, which the firm believes is overdone; it has a $74-$82 valuation range for ESRX.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Merrill Lynch upgraded Unilver (NYSE:UN) to Neutral from Sell, saying the recent quarter represented the first signs of recovery.
• Finally, First Albany upgraded Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:LIOX) to Strong Buy from Buy, target to $10, citing Q3 results and price weakness.

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