Analyst Upgrades

• U.S. Steel (X) to buy from neutral and Barnes & Noble (BKS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Salesforce.com (CRM) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• Dollar Tree (DLTR) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Edison International (EIX) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Analog Devices (ADI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.

EchoStar (SATS) announced an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Hughes Communications (HUGH) in a transaction valued at approximately $2 billion. EchoStar overall option implied volatility of 29 is near its 26-week average of 31, according to Track Data, suggesting slightly lower price movement.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice announced a definitive merger agreement under which an affiliate of CD&R will acquire EMSC for $64.00 in cash for each share of EMSC Class A common stock and Class B common stock and each LP Exchangeable Unit. Overall option implied volatility of 16 is below its 26-week average of 32, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Two of the three major indexes opened higher on a solid earnings report from General Electric Company (GE), although a quarterly loss from Bank of America Corporation (BAC) and weak earnings from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) kept a lid on the rise. Oil prices have continued to decline today, trading below $89.50. Gold prices, too, have posted a second-day of falling prices, though today's drop is modest compared with yesterday's dive. In the currency markets, the euro has gained against the dollar for a second day in a row.

Here are the unofficial closing bell numbers for today:

Dow Jones: 11,871.84 +49.04 (0.41%)
S&P 500: 1,283.35 +3.09 (0.24%)
Nasdaq: 2,689.54 -14.75 (-0.55%)

Deutsche Bank downgraded Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) to "hold" from "buy", according to Briefing.com. The news service also reports that Merrill upgraded Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU) to "buy" from "neutral."

Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) was raised to "neutral" at Credit Suisse, according to Briefing.com. The financial site also reports that Hughes Communications (NASDAQ:HUGH) was started as "overweight" at Lehman Brothers.

The recently reported three day e-mail blackout experienced by the consumer internet customers of Hughes Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH) has ended. Although the system has not swung over to its new enhanced version, it appears that Hughes technical staff has opted to reawaken the previous e-mail application to restore that service to its customers. Personal comment from the company regarding this situation was unavailable as of this writing.

What little preview I received of the attempted e-mail upgrade by HughesNet was enticing. It looked streamlined, intuitive and was definitely appealing to the eye. When the company completes its adjustments and makes the hoped for upgrade available, I'll provide my full assessment of the new service for our readers.

A simple 24 hour email outage for a system upgrade has turned into a 3 day technical nightmare for Hughes Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH). Initially, the company informed customers that email service would be suspended for a 24 hour period, from 6pm Saturday, April 26 through 6pm Sunday, April 27. As of this writing, HughesNet email service is still down.

I guess one can live without email for a few more days, even though some might have important data to transmit via email. It's data which could affect one's career advancement. I guess in my case I could hand it off to my ground based mail carrier. However, because I have become quite accustomed to lackluster performance from Hughes Communications, I'm glad I'm not invested in it.

[Note from the author: Hughes email service fully restored in original format as of 04-30-08]

Would you like a couple of failed Internet page loads? I have a bucketful of them for you. Would you like your e-mail tied in knots? I can help you out there also. It's all compliments of my new HughesNet DSL connection. If it was a new car, I'd take it back to the dealer. If it was a dish rag, I'd have thrown it out by now.

And it appears that I'm not alone in my assessment of this consumer internet service from Hughes Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGH). I blogged about it previously on one of our sister blogs. I've received feedback there from other Hughes customers who are as unhappy as I am with the Hughes service. Yet not one comment came to their defense. No, not one good thing have I heard.

Overall, the company's stock is doing well, and analysts are calling it a strong buy. Oscillating in a range between $48 an $55, it's holding the middle ground between its 52 week high and low. The company has made some major upgrades for its commercial customers as of late, but honestly, what is it doing for me, the little guy?

If this is the way that Hughes serves its consumer clientele, it's a good thing that it has a commercial division. Because from the way I see it, the company isn't long in the private sector. Someone needs to remind Hughes that word of mouth travels quite fast on the Internet. We're not happy out here with Hughes, and someone might find that out. In the mean time though, its stock is holding its ground.

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger. He does not knowingly have interest in Hughes Communications, (except for the two year contract they're going to have to ride out with him.)