Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of SourceFire (NASDAQ:FIRE) to Buy from Hold as they believe the company is benefiting from recent spending by the U.S. Federal government and private enterprises to improve cybersecurity. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $11 from $7.
  
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Brocade (NASADAQ:BRCD) to Buy from Neutral as they believe an expanded OEM announcement with IBM (NYSE:IBM) could be announced as early as the end of April, creating a positive catalyst. The firm raised their price target on the stock to $6 from $4.
  
• UBS upgraded Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) to Buy from Sell but lowered their target to $4 from $21 citing reduced churn and cashflow concerns, expectations for FY10 to be a trough year, and a potential reacceleration in deferred growth.
• AK Steel (NYSE:AKS) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Strattec (NASDAQ:STRT) was raised to Neutral from Underperform at Baird.
  
• Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was upgraded at William Blair to Outperform from Market Perform.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Bidz.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDZ) Q4 earnings release included notice about an SEC investigation.
• Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) saw net income drop by almost 50%, falling short of estimates.
• Ducommun Inc. (NYSE: DCO) received an analyst's downgrade after its Q4 earnings release.
• Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) said Q4 earnings fell due to weakness at Gap and Old Navy stores.
• General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) worse-than-expected results prompted speculation about its survival.

It's been rough since Sourcefire Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE) went public last year. The stock went from $18.83 to a low of $5. The company, which provides cutting-edge security technologies, has been missing analyst estimates and can't seem to get the confidence of investors.

Well, Sourcefire has now attracted a hostile bidder -- Barracuda Networks, which is offering $7.50 per share. As a result, Sourcefire's stock price is now trading at about $7.65. Of course, the company has rejected the offer (indicating that is far too low).

To get a perspective on things, I had a chance to talk to Nick Selby, who is the senior analyst of enterprise security at the 451 Group. According to him, the bid is indeed too low. If anything, this could entice other bidders to the table.

In fact, he thinks other broken IPOs may be buyout targets, such as ArcSight (NASDAQ: ARST).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Cisco Systems, Kirby and First Fed Financial were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• UBS downgraded Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) to Neutral from Buy after channel checks indicated orders are slowing, which gives them concern over the July quarter.
  
• Stephens cut Kirby (NYSE: KEX) to Equal Weight from Overweight as they believe a good 2008 is already priced into shares and that the liquid barge industry cycle may be nearing a top.
  
• First Fed Financial (NYSE: FED) was lowered to Neutral from Outperform at Credit Suisse, citing credit quality deterioration.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan removed HB Fuller (NYSE: FUL) from its Focus List.
  
• RBC Capital downgraded SourceFire (NASDAQ: FIRE) to Sector Perform from Outperform.
  
• Goldman cut Lloyds TSB Group (NYSE: LYG) to Sell from Neutral.

Being from L.A., I've had to deal with earthquakes and fire (no, it's not always sunshine here). And, of course, I saw the devastation of the recent fires.

But what about some of the businesses that need to rebuild? Could they have prepared for the fires?

Well, I recently interviewed Jon Toigo, a disaster recovery expert at Toigo Partners International. Over the past 20 years, he has put together nearly 100 disaster recovery plans. His clients include Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Also, Toigo has a partnership with Office Depot to help businesses deal with disaster preparedness.

"The bottom line in disaster preparedness is to protect your most irreplaceable assets – your people and your data," said Toigo.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Toyota Motor Corp (TM), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), SourceFire (FIRE), Kohl's Corp (KSS) and Millennium Pharmaceuticals (MLNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Toyota Motor Corp (NYSE: TM) to Buy from Neutral to reflect expectations for greater operating profits and margin expansion in 2007.

• Keybanc upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) to Buy from Hold based on increased conviction in JBHT's ability to increase intermodal volumes, easier 2H and 2008 comps, buybacks and valuation.

• Jefferies upgraded SourceFire Inc (NASDAQ: FIRE) to Buy from Hold after their checks indicated better Federal IT spending and solid sales activity.

• Kohl's Corp (NYSE: KSS) was raised to Outperform from Neutral at Baird on valuation.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MLNM) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings, citing recent monthly Velcade prescription trends for the move higher...

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Credit Suisse upgraded Arch Capital Group (NASDAQ: ACGL) to Buy from Neutral.

• Bear Stearns raised Parexel International Corp (NASDAQ: PRXL) to Peer Perform from Underperform.

• Morgan Joseph upgraded West Marine (NASDAQ: WMAR) to Buy from Hold.

• Morgan Keegan raised Cost Plus Inc (NASDAQ: CPWM) to Market Perform from Underperform.

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: CKE Restaurants (CKR), Cardinal Health (CAH), eBay (EBAY) and CA Inc (CA) topped today's noteworthy initiation list today:

• Nollenberger believes the Hardee's franchise is entering a period of accelerated growth and initiated shares of CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) with a Buy rating and $27 target.

• Goldman views Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) as a as a high quality, focused franchise with strong fundamental outlook driven by margin expansion and improvements in non-drug wholesale businesses and restructuring efforts, reinstating its Buy rating on the company.

• American Technology initiated eBAY Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY) with a Buy rating and $43 target, believing the company is the top play on growth of U.S. e-commerce and they expect upside to numbers tonight.

• Needham believes CA Inc (NYSE: CA) Inc remains in transition as it continues to work on the repackaging of its vast product array into five solution sets and started the company with a Hold rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Lazard initiated F5 Networks Inc (NASDAQ: FFIV) with a Buy rating and $100 target.

• Citigroup started Clearwire Corp (NASDAQ: CLWR) with a Hold rating and $23 target.

• Morgan Stanley assumed coverage of Vornado RealtyTrust (NYSE: VNO) with an Equal Weight rating.

• SourceFire Inc (NASDAQ: FIRE) was initiated with a Hold rating and $12 target.

• The Wet Seal (NASDAQ: WTSLA) was initiated with an Outperform rating at Cowen.

• Roth Capital initiated shares of Vivus Inc (NASDAQ: VVUS) with a Buy rating and $15 target.

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

It does look like the IPO market is staging a comeback. But there are still perils.

Just take a look at Sourcefire Inc. (NASDAQ: FIRE). The company went public in mid March at $15 and quickly moved to a high of $18.83.

Well, investors got a rude shock yesterday as the shares plunged 29% to $12.28.

Basically, the company violated a cardinal rule in IPOs: it will miss its first quarterly numbers as a public company. In fact, the company expects to post a loss of $2.2 million to $2.6 million for the fiscal fourth quarter.

Sourcefire is a cutting-edge security company that sells to big-time clients. What's more, the company has a very popular open source version of its technology. All in all, it's a good IPO candidate -- but apparently management is not doing a good job in dealing with Street expectations.

I had a chance to talk to Nick Selby, who is the senior analyst of enterprise security at the 451 Group. According to him:

"Sourcefire has profited mightily by deftly walking a marketing line that has got investors thinking it's both a security company and an open source company. We argue that this 'open source premium' has contributed to the company's successful IPO: investors think security equals growth and open source equals cost savings.

"Sourcefire has a lot going for it, but it does have to meet its targets. Although, in the past it has met privately stated goals and its unofficial ballpark numbers."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Jim Cramer has a new SELL BLOCK this evening on MAD MONEY, and many of these are not sells at all. He also reviewed many recent IPOs -- some he says to sell and some he still likes.

Cramer said he feels like he got a little played by the CEO of Syntax-Brillian Corp (NASDAQ: BRLC) because the CEO said all great things, but right after Cramer brought him on the company announced a $15.5 million capital raise at a huge discount in a private placement. Cramer said he felt gamed and he is upset with the CEO for not disclosing this. Cramer doesn't trust the CEO now and he said it is taken off the positive crew.

Out of his 4% yield plays in AT&T (NYSE: T), Cramer says he likes Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) better now, but you don't have to sell all of AT&T. He says you can keep some but if you don't own either then he likes VZ better right now.

He would rather see you in Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) and out of his BP (NYSE: BP) call now since everyone wants to own XOM.

Cramer changed his tune on Vonage Holdings (NYSE: VG), well sort of. He said it is very interesting $3.00 lower than here, which is basically ZERO. VG actually popped a tad on this after-hours, even though it sounded a little sarcastic. I would expect to hear a clarification from Cramer on this tomorrow or next week since VG is such a controversial stock.

Movado (NYSE: MOV) is up 12% since his call, but he said to wait for a pullback. Now you got it and it is lower than his first recommendation since they warned; stock was down 17% today.

Here are his recent IPO Sell Block notes: As far as BigBand Networks (NASDAQ: BBND), Cramer still likes it. On SourceFire (NASDAQ: FIRE) he said they have run enough and you can sell. Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN) and Glu Mobile (NASDAQ: GLUU) he still doesn't like. Cramer likes Clearwire Corp (NASDAQ: CLWR) down here. He still is sticking with the "the underwriters sold to the wrong hands" story and thinks it is a good buy in here. On eTelecare Global Solutions (NASDAQ: ETEL) he said he still likes it but you can sell most of it and just leave the amount on that you have profits in since it is up so much.

Jon Ogg is a partner in 24/7 Wall St. LLC; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

IPO stands for Initial Public Offering. It's when a company first offers stock to investors that will be publicly traded. IPO's sometimes are good investments, but the best IPO's can't be bought by most individual investors. They're the hot IPO's, the ones that institutions grab before you or I have a chance to buy any. But the ones we can buy need to be carefully researched, just like any other stock. And some of the most recent IPO's should come with a warning sticker: This Stock Has No Earnings.

It seems that everything goes in cycles. Right now the cycle is starting for companies to go public even if they're not profitable. Most of them show good revenue ramps (means sales are increasing very fast), but don't confuse sales with earnings. You need sales to have earnings, but just because you have sales doesn't mean you have earnings.

The airline industry, oh, it's plagued with problems right now. I'm sure you could help me list them: overcrowding on airplanes, passengers left to suffer overflowed toilets on the tarmac, unappealing food, no food at all. Delays, record financial losses, union woes, price pressures. Yep. The airline industry has issues.

But why focus on the real problems when you can make such a wide public statement that shows your commitment to AIDS prevention? I know, what? Qantas Airways Limited (ASX:QAN) terminated the flight attendant who, reportedly, had sex with actor Ralph Fiennes in an airplane bathroom. Ironically, he was on his way to Mumbai to deliver a speech about AIDS -- bloggers are reporting salaciously that he committed AIDS prevention no-no No. 1 (though I don't know how anyone can be sure about his prophylactic use or lack thereof).

In any case, a high-profile tabloidy encounter between a beautiful flight attendant and a sex symbol of an actor should be the airline industry's least concern.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has levied a fine which may bode well for The Home Depot, Inc.'s (NYSE:HD) sales of Charmglow grills this coming summer. It has been reported that Nexgrill Industries has agreed to settle a claim that they allegedly failed to inform officials of a potentially dangerous gas grill defect in a timely manner. The CPSC has provisionally accepted Nexgrills agreement to pay a $300,000 fine in the matter.

Nexgrill had received reports of gas grill fires, including reports of minor injuries, and allegedly failed to report the possible defect to the CPSC for 10 months. The news release states that Nexgrill had sufficient reason to believe they were dealing with a product defect. Finally, in June of 2006, Nexgrill did announce a recall of about 16,000 of the potentially offending grills. The possible defect exists in the placement of a fuel hose which may be situated too close to the heat source and thereby may potentially separate from the burner unit and create a fire hazard.

Nexgrill has made available a retrofit heat shield which eliminates the potential hazard. You may contact them regarding this corrective measure at this web address: http://nexgrill0025.serorder.com/. With this now behind them, both companies have the coming summer to look forward to.

A few weeks ago we were buzzing about a posting in which several Yahoo! insiders and outsiders were ranked with the probability they might succeed embattled CEO Terry Semel. The scuttlebutt amongst media insiders: Yahoo! is disorganized, without a unifying personality to lead the company, weak on strategy and thinly-staffed. First among the contenders to take over Terry's job and charge forth with a new mission was CFO Susan Decker.

It seems as if the "bookies" were right. Tonight Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) got a reorganization. In the press release, the company announces it has divided itself into three sections: the Audience Group, the Advertiser & Publisher Group, and the Technology Group. What's more, COO Dan Rosensweig is leaving the company in March (he was rumored to be a rival to Decker for the CEO spot). Decker will head the Advertiser & Publisher Group (i.e. where the money is), certainly a nod toward her potential to take over the "corner cube" from Semel.

Buzz started at 4 p.m. local time: there was an internal company-wide executive level webcast. Nothing says "someone is getting fired" like "internal company-wide executive-level webcast." At least not in a web company! The response so far: "no surprise," "no surprise" that Project Panama is being set as a priority for the new Technology group (and, from the same post, "If you can't sum up a unit in 30 words maybe it's not streamlined enough"), "where is Jeff Weiner, Yahoo!'s former golden boy?" and, from an insider, why not Britney Spears as CEO? [Or, at the very least, the head of the audience group, for which a search party has been launched.]

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)'s CEO, Peter R. Dolan and General Counsel, Richard K. Willard, will be fired if the company's board of directors agrees with recommendations from an independent monitor. The Wall Street Journal made the unusual move of posting a "breaking news" notice on its web site in advance of the full story.

While Dolan's self-importance is such that the company's "about us" web page features his name, under "CEO:" as the first (and only managerial) Very Important Detail, he's made such gigantic missteps that a recent article said he had "precious little credibility." His attempts to delay generic competition for Plavix are being investigated by the Justice Department, and he's been responsible for "major financial scandals."

Today's Forbes asks, "Who Could Replace Peter Dolan?" and offers up names such as CFO Andrew Bonfield, Chief Scientific Officer Elliot Sigal (a "dark horse") and Karen Katen, Vice Chairman of Pfizer. We'll provide more details as we see them.

More fallout from the flaming battery debacle. Today, The Associated Press reports, (picked up by A-list consumer tech blog engadget,) that the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) is putting the blame squarely back on Apple. The trade powerful ministry has ordered Apple's Japanese subsidiary to get to the bottom of the battery fiasco by September 5th, or the company could face a fine of up to ¥300,000 ($2,570) under local consumer safety laws. It's unclear whether the fine is per day per laptop or a one-time fine. Obviously, there's a huge difference.

On the surface, we all knew that it was Japan's venerable consumer electronics company SONY that was culpable for the faulty batteries and the millions of laptops recalled by Apple and Dell. Still, those who know anything about doing business in that country will know that METI is a not-so-silent partner in promoting Japanese business and companies. Hence, today's news.