Analyst upgrades:

• Roth Capital upgraded MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $90 from $70, citing encouraging Q2 results, new product cycle catalysts, a lift from Europe, and cost reductions.
• William Blair upgraded Costco (NASDAQ: COST) to Outperform from Market Perform after meeting with management as it believes sales and earnings could beat expectations over the next year.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $29 from $23. The firm cites higher Samsung capex forecast, high leverage, and low expectations.
• Home Properties (NYSE: HME) and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) were upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at FBC Capital, while Douglas Emmett (NYSE: DEI) and Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) were raised to Market Perform from Underperform.
• Agilent (NYSE: A) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Cytec Industries (NYSE: CYT) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at KeyBanc.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded General Electric (NYSE: GE) to Buy from Neutral and raised its target to $15 from $13 citing reports that U.S. House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank has indicated regulatory reform will not require a separation of GE Capital.
• Syntel (NASDAQ: SYNT) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform by Wells Fargo. The firm upgraded the stock following the company's much better than expected Q2 EPS.
• Canaccord upgraded USANA (NASDAQ: USNA) to Outperform from Market Perform citing the strong Q2 report and earnings momentum. The firm has a $40 target on the stock.
• Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Barclays.
• Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at FBR Capital.
• Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) to Buy from Neutral based on valuation and a potential margin rebound at Linens N' Things.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Rockwell Automation Inc. (NYSE: ROK) to Hold from Sell on valuation and believes expectations have been reset to a reasonable level. The company's target was lowered to $27 from $33.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN) to Outperform from Market Perform on valuation following the recent weakness and thinks the Army will move forward with a larger XSAPI procurement in FY09. The firm raised their target to $30 from $26.
• Goldman added Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to the Conviction Buy List.
  
• Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
  
• Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst downgrades:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MGM Mirage (MGM), KLA-Tencor Corp (KLAC), Raytheon Co (RTN) and four apartment REIT's were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bear Stearns upgraded MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) to Outperform from Peer Perform following Kirk Kerkorian's intentions to purchase the Bellagio and City Center and also pursue strategic alternatives for the rest of the company.

• Matrix raised KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ: KLAC) to Buy from Hold, believing that growing demand for memory chips used in computers is leading to increasing revenues and profits.

• Cowen upgrade shares of Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) to Outperform from Neutral based on cash deployment potential from the RAC sale, pension EPS tailwind, foreign sales cycle, and strong execution.

• Wachovia upgraded shares of Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE: ASN) and Apartment Investment and Management Co (NYSE: AIV) to Outperform from Market Perform and Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) and UDR, Inc (NYSE: UDR) to Market Perform from Underperform...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• AG Edwards upgraded Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RSA.A) to Buy from Hold.

• Stifel raised Citrix Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CTXS) to Buy from Hold.

• RBC Capital raised Kilroy Realty Corp (NYSE: KRC), Boston Properties, Inc (NYSE: BXP) and Maquire Properties, Inc (NYSE: MPG) to Sector Perform from Underperform.

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