Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Blackstone Group (BX) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q3 results and maintains an $18.50 price target on shares.
• Baird upgraded Astec (ASTE) to outperform from neutral citing relative valuation and upside from new multi-year U.S. highway funding legislation. The firm raised its target to $33 from $27.
• Goldman upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to conviction buy from neutral citing "significant" long-term growth drivers that include international growth. The firm raised its target to $45 from $36.
• Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Energizer (ENR) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) was upgraded to buy from hold at RBS.

Autumn has arrived and the quarter winds down this week. The Dow has been inching toward 10,000 for a while now, though it closed lower in the past three sessions. Can it make it to 10,000 for the start of the third quarter? If so, what will push it higher? If not, what will drag it down further?

• Monday is Yom Kippur, the most solemn of the Jewish holidays; trading likely will be lighter than usual. In the evening, the FDIC meets to discuss how to rebuild the Bank Deposit Insurance Fund.
• Tuesday, the Consumer Confidence Index for September is due and the SEC holds a public meeting to consider more short sale actions.

Even if the national headlines weren't already providing enough focus on the economy, plenty of economic data is due out as the month and the quarter wind down. U.S. economic data scheduled to be released this week include:

• Personal income (Aug. 2008): Monday 8:30 AM
• Consumer confidence index (Sept, 2008): Tuesday 10:00 AM
• Challenger job cut announcement (Sept, 2008): Wednesday 7:30 AM
• ISM manufacturing survey (Sept. 2008): Wednesday 10:00 AM
• Construction spending (Aug. 2008): Wednesday 10:00 AM
• New motor vehicle sales (Sept. 2008): Wednesday 4:00 PM
• Monster employment index (Sept. 2008): Thursday 6:00 AM
• Factory orders (Aug. 2008): Thursday 10:00 AM
• Employment situation (Sept. 2008): Friday 8:30 AM
• ISM nonmanufacturing survey (Sept. 2008): Friday 10:00 AM

Other economic events scheduled for this week include:

• Fed's Hoenig speaks on "The Economy and Monetary Policy": Monday 9:45 PM
• Fed's Lockhart speaks on the economic outlook: Tuesday 1:00 PM
• Ford Motor Co. September 2008 Sales Conference Call: Wednesday 1:00 PM
• AMETEK Inc. at Oppenheimer Industrials Conference: Thursday 8:00 AM
• DuPont at Citigroup Ethanol on the Cob Conference: Thursday 12:50 PM
• Fed's Evans speaks at Agricultural Markets and Food Price Inflation conference: Thursday 1:00 PM
• Fed's Bullard speaks at Indiana University Department of Economics: Thursday 7:00 PM
• Fed's Hoenig speaks on "The Economy and Monetary Policy": Thursday 9:45 PM
• National Association for Business Economics 50th Annual Meeting to address Future Economic Challenges: Friday 9:00 PM

Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) is a high-volume payments processor of electronic transactions and related money transfers. It performs point-of-sale credit card, debit card, and check authorization functions for merchants and financial institutions and offers corporate and government clients benefits transfer processing and electronic tax payment services. The firm also facilitates money transfers from the US and Europe, primarily targeting immigrants who send funds to their home countries. MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a client. Western Union (NYSE: WU) is a competitor.

The firm had good news for investors late last month, when it announced fiscal Q3 EPS of 44 cents and revenues of $310.6 million. Wall Street has been expecting 42 cents and $300.9 million. In discussing the solid results, the CEO pointed to successful merchant services operations and strong revenue growth from an Asia-Pacific joint venture with HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC). Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.95-$1.97 ($1.94 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $1.25-$1.26 billion ($1.24B consensus).

It's been said that if the U.S. state of Georgia were an independent nation, it would have the 18th largest economy in world. The "Empire State of the South" ranked tenth in U.S. in per capita personal income in 2005, and has one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. -- about a million additional people between 2000 and 2005. Its diverse industrial output ranges from peaches and peanuts, to textiles, food processing, and aircraft manufacturing, to publishing and tourism. Georgia is home to such corporate giants as Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO); Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL); Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD); UPS (NYSE: UPS); Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE: NWL), and Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX).

It's also home to Acuity Brands Inc. (NYSE: AYI) and Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), both of which represented Georgia on the Forbes 2007 list of 100 best mid cap stocks. I examine two other Peach State companies -- RPC Inc. (NYSE: RES) and Radiant Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: RADS) -- in a separate Investing in Georgia post.

If you use a credit card, the chances are pretty fair that you have done some business with an Atlanta outfit that facilitates electronic transactions around the world.

Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) is a high-volume payments processor of electronic transactions and related money transfers. It performs point-of-sale credit card, debit card and check authorization functions for merchants and financial institutions and offers corporate and government clients benefit transfer processing and electronic tax payment services. The firm also facilitates money transfers from the US and Europe, primarily targeting immigrants who send funds to their home countries. MasterCard (NYSE: MA) is a client. Western Union (NYSE: WU) is a competitor.

The firm had good news for investors last week, when it announced fiscal Q1 EPS of 54 cents and revenues of $311 million. Wall Street has been expecting 50 cents and $294.6 million. The company attributed the successful quarter to a solid increase in merchant service revenues, continued organic expansion and favorable results from an Asia-Pacific joint venture with HSBC. Management also guided FY08 EPS to $1.87-1.96 ($1.91 consensus) and FY08 revenues to $1.20-$1.25 billion ($1.19B consensus). Barrington Research subsequently reiterated its "outperform" on the shares.

As credit card and debit card usage continues to soar, domestically and on a global scale, payment processing service companies stand to benefit. I am impressed by Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN). Over the last three years, Global has had a 21% compound annual growth rate, and I feel there is still room to continue its recent success.

Nearly 87% of Global's revenues come from its merchant services segment. While Global is dwarfed compared to giants in the industry like First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) and Western Union Co. (NYSE: WU), it cleverly uses its nimble size to focus on small, independent merchants, or those generating less than $300,000 in purchase volume a year. Through Global, these merchants are able to process credit and debit cards, and each time a card is used, Global makes money. It is becoming increasingly rare to find a small merchant who doesn't accept plastic, and the rise in usage by this sector, along with the overall booming credit industry, is good news for Global.

In addition to merchant services, Global operates a money transfer business, which primarily serves Latino immigrants in the U.S. and Europe who want to send money back to their home countries. Recently, Global formed a partnership with HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE: HBC) opening it to the Asia-Pacific market. Further, its financials are strong; it has no debt on its balance sheet, and almost $300 million in cash on hand.

Some analysts are concerned that increased regulations on the money transfer business, in part due to the Patriot Act, could seriously hurt Global, and it is something to keep an eye on.

Type of stock: A fast-growing company in the payment processing services sector, that is capitalizing on the small merchant business and pushing into new foreign markets through mergers and acquisitions.

Price target: At $39.85 right now, I think this is a good buy. With the growth of the credit card industry, Global's
push into Asian markets, and the increase in Latin American immigrants sending money back home, I expect Global to continue growing at a strong clip. I could see GPN reach $55 by year's end.

Hilary Kramer is a financial editor and money coach for AOL and an authority on investing. Visit her at www.hilarykramer.com.

U.S. stocks were lower on an increase in December new job creation and higher wages. Interest rates rose. The Dow was down 0.62%, NASDAQ 100 down 0.76%, S&P 500 down 0.58%, and the 10-year bond rate rose to 4.646%. Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX rose .56 to 12.07.

• Global Payments Inc.'s (NYSE: GPN) implied volatility increases: Global sells off on tighter guidance. Global Payments is recently down $8.15 to $40.90 after the company lowered its 2007 revenue guidance. Goldman Sachs said, "we believe key questions remain: 1) Is Western Union exerting significant pressure in the Mexico money transfer market, and when (in the November quarter, or in the current February quarter) did the pricing environment begin to deteriorate? How significant are the pricing changes?" Global Payments' call option volume of 5,689 contracts compares to put volume of 1,723 contracts. February option implied volatility of 35 is above its 26-week average of 29, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.