Analyst Upgrades

• Chesapeake (CHK) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Biogen (BIIB) and Regeneron (REGN) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Caribou Coffee (CBOU) to outperform from neutral and Encore Energy (ENP) to neutral from underperform at RW Baird.
• Fluor (FLR) to market perform from underperform at BMO Capital.
• Hornbeck Offshore (HOS) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Saks (SKS) and Zale (ZLC) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Analyst Upgrades

• Micron (MU) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Baker Hughes (BHI) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• PDL BioPharma (PDLI) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Fluor (FLR) and Rush Enterprises (RUSHA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Camden Property (CPT) to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) to buy from hold at Wunderlich.
• Linear Technology (LLTC) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• Hologic (HOLX) and Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• F5 Networks (FFIV) to buy from neutral at Gleacher.

Analyst Upgrades

• Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Fluor (FLR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Macy's (M) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ), JA Solar (JASO) and HeartWare (HTWR) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Ashford Hospitality (AHT) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• RenaissanceRe (RNR) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
• DCT Industrial (DCT) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Coeur d'Alene Mines (CDE) and Silver Standard (SSRI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Weatherford (WFT), Hercules (HERO), GulfMark Offshore (GLF), Tidewater (TDW) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to buy from hold, and Diamond Offshore (DO) to hold from underperform, at Jefferies.
• Ritchie Bros. (RBA) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) to buy from hold at Citigroup.

Analyst Upgrades

• Amgen (AMGN) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• Goodrich Petroleum (GDP) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• Tutor Perini (TPC) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Covidien (COV) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Sara Lee (SLE) and Comcast (CMCSA) to outperform from market perform at Bernstein.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) to outperform from sector perform at FBN Securities.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Dollar Tree (DLTR) to neutral from underweight and $48 price target.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Time Warner Cable (TWC) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $70 from $59, citing growth in wireline HST demand.
• Needham upgraded NetScout (NTCT) to buy from hold with a $29 price target, citing channel checks that indicate industry spending on network monitoring software may be improving.
• Nstar (NST) was upgraded to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Novo Nordisk (NVO) was upgraded to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• Air France-KLM (AFLYY) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

Fluor (FLR), an expert in the field of industrial construction and engineering, issued its second-quarter report Monday after the bell. The market enjoyed the results. The stock rose by more than 3% in after-hours trading, good for a share price of $49.

The business made 87 cents per share in Q2. Unfortunately, that was six pennies less than what was booked in last year's similar period. Fortunately, Wall Street was only counting on 71 cents per share. This could be one reason why the stock was seeing a bid.

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

• Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) Q1 net loss was in line with estimates and same-store sales declined, shares also fell.
• CA Inc. (CA) shares sold off on high volume following the Q4 earnings miss and disappointing guidance.
• Cigna Corp. (CI) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and higher revenue, and reaffirmed its full-year outlook.
• Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) beat Q3 earnings and revenue expectations in the "strongest quarter in our history."
• Dean Foods Co. (DF) lower Q1earnings beat analysts' estimates, but shares fell on heavy volume afterward.
• Denny's Corp. (DENN) bested consensus estimates and year-ago EPS by a penny, but said same-store sales fell.

Did you miss-out on purchasing Fluor's shares last winter? Take heart, FLR is headed considerably higher.

I'm Reiterating my Buy rating for Fluor (NYSE: FLR), first recommended on February 17, 2009 at a price of $39.12. The low-down on FLR:

As earnings season begins to wind down, some apparel retailers are scheduled to report quarterly results this week. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipate that Walmart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the 800-pound gorilla in the space, will report that it earned $0.77 per share in the first quarter, about the same as in the first quarter of last year. But JCPenney Co. (NYSE: JCP), Kohl's Corp. (NYSE: KSS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), and Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) are expected to report lower profits for the first quarter as consumers continued to hold off on spending. Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) are expected to have swung to a loss year over year.

Whole Foods Market Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) and Winn Dixie Stores Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) are likewise expected to report declining earnings, while the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. (NYSE: GAP), parent of the A&P supermarket chain, is expected to have narrowed its net loss 68.9% to $0.28 per share.

Investing, like the politics that leads to U.S. public policy, is the art of the possible.

Conditions shift, windows of opportunity present themselves, even amid choppy seas. One such opportunity is presenting itself with Fluor (NYSE: FLR).

Fluor is a leading international design, engineering, and contracting firm with projects that include designing and building manufacturing facilities, refineries, pharmaceutical facilities, health care buildings, power plants and telecommunications and transportation infrastructure.

Do not underestimate the power of a new administration in Washington. With the ability to spend a huge amount of dollars, team Obama can wield tremendous influence in the market.

Case in point is the stem cell space. It is widely expected that Obama will issue an executive order eliminating restrictions on stem cell research.

Stocks like StemCells Inc. (NASDAQ: STEM) and Geron Corp. (NASDAQ: GERN) have been moving higher since the inaugural.

Coincidentally, on Friday, GERN announced approval for human trials for its treatment of spinal chord injuries using stem cells. Both GERN and STEM were up big as a result.

Another space expected to do well under the Obama administration is construction. A massive stimulus plan is said to be coming in February. A key point of the plan will be to boost infrastructure spending.

The dollars will benefit companies like Fluor Corp. (NYSE: FLR) and Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC). Unlike stem cells, the market has yet to move these stocks higher. FLR is down more than 10% and JEC is down nearly 18% so far this year.

At long last -- to this Democrat's view anyway -- Barack Obama is the president of the United States. Now, it's time to gaze into our crystal ball.

Obama has many things on his plate, including fixing the economy. Lots of people are trying to pick the winners and losers. Here are my guesses. Keep in mind that it may take several years for the impact of Obama's policies to be felt.

Defense: Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) will benefit from the spending needed to replace worn-out military equipment from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Obama's push to improve health care technology. The defense contractors over the past few years have become huge government IT contractors and are experts at systems integration. Each have plunged by double-digits over the past year.

Healthy living: Call me an optimist but I expect the Obama administration to push healthier living and for greater control of health care. Hain Celestial Group Inc. (NASDAQ: HAIN), the largest provider of organic food, seems a likely beneficiary. Also, it's hard to see how he is going to be able to digitize health care records without the involvement of health insurers such as Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI). Hain is down 42% over the past 52 weeks, while Cigna has plunged more than 70%.

"Infrastructure stocks have been laid low by the economic downturn; but once massive government stimulus programs get growth going again, these companies should be among the surest winners," says Stephen Leeb.

In The Complete Investor newsletter, the advisor explains, "We've found four top infrastructure stocks, now at bargain-basement levels, that we think will surge. All are all astonishingly cheap when you consider how vital their role is in worldwide economic growth."

"It would be difficult to find a group of stocks more leveraged to economic growth yet whose valuations imply there will be no growth.

"If you have any faith in the world's future, these stocks are for you, and we think they will be dramatic outperformers as stimulus spending starts to kick in.

"Most diverse among the four is Jacobs Engineering (NYSE: JEC), which serves the chemical, pharmaceutical, building/infrastructure, and oil and gas industries. Nearly 20% of its revenues come from government sources, domestic and foreign.

"The company has nominal debt and has been generating hefty free cash flow, which management has indicated it may use to acquire beaten-down compatible firms, adding to future growth.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"Fluor (NYSE: FLR), my top pick for 2009, is a global heavyweight in the engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance field," says noted value investor Nathan Slaughter.

The editor of Half-Priced Stocks explains, "2008 won't go down as one of the most memorable for Fluor shareholders -- but 2009 is likely to tell a different story.

"Texas-based Fluor began by building oil refineries over a century ago and has since expanded its repertoire to encompass other specialties including power, telecommunications, and transportation. Annual revenues are now $20 billion.

"In early December, President-elect Obama unveiled ambitious plans for a hefty economic stimulus package, spearheaded by a pledge to rebuild highways and complete other public works projects that will revitalize our aging infrastructure.

"These bold initiatives are aimed at putting workers back on the payrolls and reinvigorating the nation's economy -- but they will also funnel billions into the coffers of construction firms like Fluor.