Analyst Upgrades

• Medicis (MRX) to overweight from neutral at Piper Jaffray, to outperform from market perform at Bernstein, to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital and to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Wellpoint (WLP) to buy from neutral at Davenport.
• Humana (HUM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Frontier Oil (FTO) to equal weight from underweight and Resources Connection (RECN) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• General Electric (GE) and Barclays (BCS) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Warnaco (WRC) to outperform from market perform and Melco Crown (MPEL) to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
• Parker-Hannifin (PH) and Emerson Electric (EMR) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• AMD (AMD) to buy from neutral at Nomura.
• Novellus (NVLS) and Sherwin-Williams (SHW) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• OpenTable (OPEN) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Skilled Healthcare (SKH) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Lear (LEA) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Adobe (ADBE) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• BofA/Merrill upgraded ConocoPhillips (COP) to neutral from underperform following the better-than-expected Q2 report. The firm has a $61 price target on shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Citrix Systems (CTXS) to buy from hold following the company's Q2 results and raised its target for shares to $65 from $45. Shares were also upgraded to neutral from underperform at Cowen following the better-than-expected Q2 report.
• Macquarie upgraded Arch Coal (ACI) to outperform from underperform and raised its price target to $29 from $23. The firm expects PRB priced to move higher given increased domestic and export demand combined with supply shortfalls.
• Boeing (BA) was upgraded to hold from sell at Societe Generale.
• Equinix (EQIX) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Williams-Sonoma (WSM) was upgraded to equal weight from underweight at Barclays.

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded UPS (UPS) to overweight from neutral with a $79 price target following the company's better-than-expected Q1 results.
• SunTrust believs Zions Bancorp's (ZION) tangible book value is around $20/share, making any future capital raise not as dilutive as the firm previously expected. The firm upgraded shares to buy from neutral and has a $26 target on the stock.
• FBR Capital upgraded J.B. Hunt (JBHT) to outperform from market perform following the company's better-than-expected Q1 results. The firm raised its target price for shares to $43 from $40.
• American Superconductor (AMSC) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• BP (BP) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Global Payments (GPN) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

Analyst Upgrades

• Oppenheimer upgraded Boeing (BA) two notches to outperform from underperform to reflect, among other things, the company's plans to accelerate 777 and 747-8 production. The firm raised its price target for shares to $80 from $56. Boeing was also upgraded to outperform from neutral at Cowen.
• FBR Capital upgraded Waddell & Reed (WDR) to outperform from market perform on expectations the company will outperform peers. The firm raised its target for shares to $40 from $36.
• Morgan Keegan upgraded Standard Microsystems (SMSC) to outperform from market perform. The firm has increased optimism that the company will benefit from continued strength in the PC end market.
• Genuine Parts (GPC) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Halozyme Therapeutics (HALO) was upgraded to buy from hold at Brean Murray.
• Medtronic (MDT) was upgraded to buy from hold at Lazard Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded Intel (INTC) to outperform from neutral and has a $26 target on the stock. The firm's checks indicate tier-one PC OEMs have raised their 1H10 procurement forecasts, which could lead to Intel outperformance.
• Citigroup upgraded UnitedHealth (UNH) to buy from hold on expectations the company will benefit from a sector rotation into Managed Care in 2010. The firm raised its price target on shares to $39 from $30.
• UBS upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS) to buy from neutral based on strong capital and liquidity positions, building investment banking pipelines, and expectations for a turn in EPS/ROE, among other reasons.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded the U.S. Refining group as it believes demand is improving and margins could expand in 2010. The firm raised its rating on Sunoco (SUN) to hold from sell and its target on shares to $25 from $18, and upgraded Tesoro (TSO) and Frontier Oil (FTO) to buy from hold.
• Boeing (BA) was raised to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) was upgraded at UBS to buy from neutral.
• Investors Bancorp (ISBC) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Janney Montgomery.

The focus of last week's preview was on oil and energy companies, and we saw that big oil had a good week, reporting better-than-expected results and record profits driven by high prices in the third quarter. Energy-related companies are well represented again this week and expectations in general remain high.

Early in the week, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial anticipate that the big earnings gainers will include EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE: EOG), Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: APC), and Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC), which are expected to post profits of $2.24 per share (up 64.7% from a year ago), $1.48 per share (up 52.7%) and $2.26 per share (up 61.1%) respectively. All three of them have offered positive surprises in recent quarters, and analysts on average recommend buying EOG and Anadarko. Other expected big earnings gainers early in the week include Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST), Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (NYSE: PXD), Comstock Resources Inc. (NYSE: CRK), and MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA). The earnings of phosphates producer Innophos Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: IPHS) are expected to have risen 92.3% to $3.37 per share. Innophos beat estimates in the previous quarter by a whopping 210%, and analysts have been impressed with Innophos's lack of debt and pricing gains despite the slowing economy, so, on average, they recommend buying IPHS.

Also early in the week, analysts expect Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (NYSE: GT), Kaiser Aluminum Corp. (NASDAQ: KALU), and Oshkosh Corp. (NYSE: OSK) to report that their profits fell 52.9% to $0.33 per share, 45.1% to $0.67 per share, and 41.2% to $0.67 per share, respectively. These companies have tended to beat estimates in recent quarters, and the consensus recommendations of analysts are to buy them. However, PMI Group Inc. (NYSE: PMI), one of the largest private mortgage insurance providers in the U.S., is expected to take another hit as the housing slump drags on. The California-based company is expected to have widened its net loss from $1.04 per share a year ago to $2.43 per share in the most recent quarter. Its shares are down 84.5% from a year ago, and have been trading recently near their 52-week low.

With a turn of the calendar page, we drift into the middle portion of the current quarter, but the earnings season rolls on. Among the many companies scheduled to report quarterly results this coming week are Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), News Corp. (NYSE: NWS), and Whole Foods Market International (NASDAQ: WFMI). Let's take a look at which companies Wall Street analysts are expecting to be among the top earnings gainers and decliners this week.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following to report strong earnings growth when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• DRS Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DRS): $0.85 EPS (+95.3%) on revenue of $823.8 million (+12.0%)
• Integrys Energy Group Inc. (NYSE: TEG): $0.40 EPS (+70.0%) on revenue of $2.6 billion (+9.7%)
• Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC): $2.53 EPS (+64.4%) on revenue of $599.9 million (+75.4%)
• Forest Oil Corp. (NYSE: FST): $1.51 EPS (+55.6%) on revenue of $456.1 million (+79.1%)
• Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN): $3.28 EPS (+48.5%) on revenue of $4.1 billion (+38.5%)
• CMS Energy Corp. (NYSE: CMS): $0.13 EPS (+46.2%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+6.7%)
• Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG): $3.23 EPS (+43.0%) on revenue of $3.1 billion (+112.9%)
• Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE: SLE): $0.26 EPS (+38.5%) on revenue of $3.5 billion (+8.9%)
• Williams Companies Inc. (NYSE: WMB): $0.69 EPS (+37.7%) on revenue of $3.4 billion (+20.0%)
• Harris Corp. (NYSE: HRS): $0.99 EPS (+28.3%) on revenue of $1.4 billion (+18.0%)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Spreadtrum, Amylin Pharma and Network Equipment were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Roth Capital downgraded Spreadtrum (NASDAQ: SPRD) to Hold from Buy and said recent checks at several Chinese handset companies indicate shipments have been weak since mid April due to sluggish demand and weak macro conditions. The firm does not expect SPRD to meet its Q2 revenue guidance and has lowered estimates and its rating.
  
• Jefferies downgraded shares of Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Hold from Buy as they believe Novo Nordisk's (NYSE: NVO) Liraglutide could prove to be greater-than-expected competition for AMLN's Byetta.
  
• Network Equipment (NYSE: NWK) was cut at ThinkPanmure to Source of Funds from Buy following the company's reduced guidance based on reduced government spending.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Lehman downgraded European Stocks to Underweight from Overweight.
  
• Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) was cut at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• Goldman downgraded Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) and Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC) was lowered to Hold from Buy at Deutsche Bank.

J.P. Morgan downgraded Murphy Oil (NYSE: MUR) from "neutral" to "underweight," according to Briefing.com. The news service writes that Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) was downgraded to "neutral" from "buy" at Goldman Sachs.

Briefing.com writes that AbitibiBowater (NYSE: ABH) started as Outperform at RBC Capital Markets. The website also reports that Macrovision (NASDAQ: MVSN) was raised to Buy at Piper Jaffray

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alaska Communications, Royal Bank of Scotland and Frontier Oil were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Banc of America upgraded shares of Alaska Communications (NASDAQ: ALSK) to Buy from Neutral as they believe the company will return to a dividend growth focus after completing its strategic initiatives.
  
• Credit Suisse raised Royal Bank of Scotland (NYSE: RBS) to Neutral from Underperform as they believe the company has already taken "prudent" write-downs.
  
• Bear upgraded Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) to Peer Perform from Underperform as they believe the company is better positioned to withstand this period of margin weakness.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Jefferies upgraded Adobe Systems (NASDAQ: ADBE) to Hold from Underperform.
  
• RBC Capital lifted Medarex Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDX) to Sector Perform from Underperform.
  
• United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) was upgraded at Merrill to Buy from Neutral.

Over the past year, we have been hearing a lot of news about soaring crude oil prices. The easiest thing that we could think about is investing our money into independent oil refiners. Companies such as Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO), Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO), Tesoro (NYSE: TSO), Alon USA Energy (NYSE: ALJ) or Western Refining (NYSE: WNR) are among those potential stocks on the waiting list.

Though it may seem surprising, Kiplinger.com advises us of exactly the opposite. Kiplinger underlines the fact that refiners represent a way to loose a lot of money... contrary to pipelines, oil producers and energy service companies. This came as the result of people's needs to transform crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel or heating oil.

The big difference between the cost of crude and the price of refined products is called the "crack spread", and this is where the problem comes in. In May of last year, the crack spread peaked at $27, and even moved up as high as $40 in some locations. This compares to the historical norm of closer to $20. But starting with the spring of 2007, things started changing, and the spread began to narrow... now the spread has fallen down to around $8.50 for some companies.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Goldman Sachs, Lehman and TD AmeriTrade were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• UBS downgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Neutral from Buy. The firm believes liquidity problems and de-leveraging in the capital markets will get worst before they get better; UBS also downgraded Bank of New York (NYSE: BK), State Street (NYSE: STT) and Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Following Bear Stearns' (NYSE: BSC) downfall, UBS also downgraded Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to Neutral from Buy and said the company could be the "next on the list" for the confidence/liquidity crisis by some investors.
  
• TD AmeriTrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) was downgraded to Neutral from buy at UBS and to Market Perform from Outperform at Friedman Billings. Friedman Billings downgraded TD Ameritrade citing slowing client activity as well as margin compression.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• JP Morgan cut Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• Goldman downgraded Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) and Holly Corp (NYSE: HOC) to Neutral from Buy and removed Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) from its Conviction Buy List.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: GlobalSantaFe Corp, Transocean, Frontier Oil, Tesoro and Audio Codes were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded shares of GlobalSantaFe Corporation (NYSE: GSF) and Transocean Inc (NYSE: RIG) to Neutral from Underweight based on valuation and improving deepwater rig fundamentals.
  
• Frontier Oil Corporation (NYSE: FTO) was upgraded at Banc of America to Buy from Neutral as they believe the company's assets are ideally located to access cheap Canadian oil sands production. They feel the stock should trade closer to its replacement value, which they estimate at $55/share.
  
• The firm also raised Tesora Corporation (NYSE: TSO) to Buy from Neutral, as the firm believes Terero is the best play on the extended refining cycle given its exposure to California.
  
• CIBC upgraded shares of AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation after their checks suggested the company's business is stabilizing and cost cutting is tracking ahead of plan, which could bring upside EPS estimates.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• GSI Commerce (NASDAQ: GSIC) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies.
  
• Apache Corporation (NYSE: APA) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.
  
• Amgen Inc (NASDAQ: AMGN) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• BB&T Capital upgraded shares of Skechers USA (NYSE: SKX) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Bernstein upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology (NASDAQ: CTSH) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Three years ago yesterday, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) became public. Since then, those investors who could get past the seemingly high valuation of $85 per share have been generously rewarded with a hefty return of 478%. Google has been a perfect example of the need to look forward when analyzing growth companies. At the time of its IPO, value investors (rightfully so) appeared on CNBC to tell investors that Google was overvalued. However, because Google was able to grow its earnings per share at such an unbelievable rate, the stock's IPO price represents just 8x last year's earnings and 5.5x this year's. Given the choice to buy Google at $85 per share now I'd bet every value, growth, stupid and smart investor would jump on the opportunity to pick up the stock.

But Google hasn't been the only incredible performer during the last three years. In fact, Business Week has an interesting article listing the companies and stocks that outperformed Google during the last three years. You'll find that many of these stocks rose due to some huge underlying trend that these companies were able to ride out for powerful growth.

For example, high oil prices have been a huge trend for profits. Frontier Oil (NYSE: FTO) was able to return 611% to investors over the last three years as the company rode the increased oil prices to make huge refining profits. Foster Wheeler (NYSE: FWLT), with its focus on energy, pharmaceuticaul and environmental infrastructure products, was able to return 557%.