MOST NOTEWORTHY: Hershey Foods, Cognos, Resmed and Artes Medical were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Hershey (NYSE: HSY) was downgraded to Underperform from Peer Perform at Bear Stearns. Bear believes the new CEO will be under intense pressure to improve operating performance, which will likely lead to higher R&D and marketing spending.
  
• Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN) was downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley following the acquisition by IBM (NYSE: IBM).
  
• ABN Amro lowered its rating on Resmed (NYSE: RMD) to Hold from Buy on valuation following the recent rally.
  
• Cowen downgraded Artes Medical (NASDAQ: ARTE) to Neutral from Buy following the company's disappointing Q3 report.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill downgraded Target (NYSE: TGT) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Goldman downgraded Gatehouse Media (NYSE: GHS) and NewStar Financial (NASDAQ: NEWS) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Bernstein downgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Market Perform from Outperform.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Select newspaper stocks and Dolan Media were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Banc of America initiated six stocks in the newspaper sector with Neutral ratings: Gannett (NYSE: GCI) was started with a $51.50 target, citing a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; New York Times (NYSE: NYT) was started with a $21 target, reflecting a lack of clarity into the company's acquisition strategy; E.W. Scripps (NYSE: SSP) was started with a $43 target, as the firm feels the company's Interactive division is a "big question mark" that could drag down company growth; McClatchy Co (NYSE: MNI) was started with a $26 target, as the firm is positive longer-term, but sees downside risk to 2007 consensus estimates; Lee Enterprises (NYSE: LEE) was initiated with a $19.50 target; Gatehouse Media (NYSE: GHS) was started with a $12.50 target.
  
• Dolan Media (NYSE: DM) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $24 target at Piper Jaffray. Piper believes DM's Q3 guidance is conservative given the default rates in July and August and notes the company processes defaults in two of the three highest default rate states. Dolan Media was also started with a Buy rating and $26 target at Merrill Lynch and with a Buy rating and $28 target at Craig-Hallum.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Think Equity assumed coverage of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) and Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) with an Accumulate rating and $26 target and a Buy rating and $18 target, respectively.
• Citigroup started shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL) and Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) with Hold ratings.
• SuperValu Inc (NYSE: SVU) was started with a Hold rating and $47 target at Citigroup.
• Rodman & Renshaw initiated shares of Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (NYSE: OMRI) with a Market Outperform rating.

I guess that it's only fitting that in a day where GateHouse Media shares debut in a successful IPO, that we also hear that The Boston Globe might be sold.

GateHouse Media, Inc. (NYSE:GHS), a local newspaper and online publisher, rose 20% in its market debut today before closing up 17.61%, or $3.17, from its increased pricing of $18 a share. More on GHS IPO here.

Today, we also learned of preliminary plans by no other than former General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) CEO, Jack Welch and advertising exec Jack Connor to buy The Boston Globe from The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT).

Investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) helps the two investors with the potential deal. According to some involved in the discussion, JPMorgan has valued the Globe at $550 million to $600 million, well below the $1.1 billion The Times paid for it in 1993. This isn't that surprising since The Globe financial results haven't been stellar to say the least.

Welch and Connor are both Boston residents, which fits the recent trend of returning newspapers to local hands. However, The Times has repeatedly said the The Globe isn't for sale.

[Photo Chris Kirkman]