U.S. stock futures are higher this morning, after AT&T (T) announced its plans to buy T-Mobile USA for around $39 billion.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 105 points to 11,904.00, while those for the S&P 500 stock index climbed 13.60 points to 1,287.80. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index surged 24.25 points to 2,245.75.

Analyst Upgrades

• Athenahealth (ATHN), Ensco (ESV), Pride International (PDE) and Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
• CIRCOR (CIR) to buy from hold at BB&T.
• Urban Outfitters (URBN) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Shaw Group (SHAW) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• MGM Resorts (MGM) and Boyd Gaming (BYD) to buy from neutral, as well as Intrepid Potash (IPI) to neutral from underperform, at BofA/Merrill.
• Carlisle (CSL) to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

Halliburton (HAL) shares, closed up 0.5% Friday. On Thursday, shares sold off 8% after the National Commission said Halliburton cement at the BP's (BP) Deepwater Horizon well was unstable. Call option volume of 72K contracts compares to put volume of 69K contracts. November put option implied volatility is at 48, December and January is at 43; versus its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data. Large option volume suggests traders positioning for larger price movement.

Intrepid Potash (IPI) closed up 4% as analysts raised their fertilizer price forecasts. November 37 calls and 40 calls are active with total call option volume of 9K contracts (2K puts). November option implied volatility is at 55, January is at 46; above its 26-week average of 44 according to Track Data. Large call volume suggests traders positioning for large price movement.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Analyst Upgrades

• Piper Jaffray upgraded Edwards Lifesciences (EW) to overweight from neutral and raised its target price for shares to $77 from $53 after The New England Journal of Medicine reported the company's PARTNER Trial met primary endpoints.
• UBS upgraded Endo Pharmaceuticals (ENDP) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $36 from $25. UBS is positive on Endo's creative strategic deals and believes the switch to Opana TRF from Opana ER will be easy. Additionally, the analyst believes pipeline expectations are very low.
• BMO Capital upgraded Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform based on expectations that share loss in the core GPU business will stop, Tegra momentum and valuation. The firm raised its price target to $16 from $9.
• FirstEnergy (FE) and Allegheny Energy (AYE) were upgraded to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Mylan (MYL) was upgraded to conviction buy from buy at Goldman. Warner
• Chilcott (WCRX) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Macquarie upgraded Boeing (BA) to outperform from neutral based on increased delivery forecasts for next year. The firm has an $83 target on the stock.
• William Blair upgraded Polycom (PLCM) to outperform from market perform, citing strong industry demand and improving execution.
• Rodman & Renshaw upgraded Idera Pharmaceuticals (IDRA) to outperform from market perform to reflect the company's platform technologies and partnership potential.
• Stanley Black & Decker (SWK) was upgraded to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Jacobs Engineering (JEC) was raised to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Felcor Lodging (FCH) was upgraded at FBR Capital to outperform from market perform.

Today was one of those days that started out strong and just stayed strong. Spending in January rose 0.5% but outpaced a 0.1% gain in personal income. This morning's strength came on the heels of an overseas stock market rally and that was enough to keep things rolling all day, even if the manufacturing data was lackluster. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 10,403 (+0.76%)
S&P 500: 2,273 (+1.58%)
NASDAQ: 1,115 (+1.02%)

Top Analyst Upgrades/Downgrades
Top Day Trader Alerts

Analyst Upgrades

• Baird upgraded United Parcel Service (UPS) to outperform from neutral based on operating leverage, improving industry pricing and exposure to a cyclical recovery. The firm raised its target to $70 from $61.
• JMP Securities upgraded Qualcomm (QCOM) following positive wireless industry checks. The firm, which has a $60 target on the stock, believes Qualcomm is the best positioned wireless company to enable 3G deployments and the early ramp of 4G technology.
• Credit Suisse has taken a more positive stance on the potash sector given the settlement of the Chinese contracts and improving near-term fundamentals. The firm upgraded Potash (POT) to outperform from neutral and raised its price target to $135 from $119. Credit Suisse also raised Intrepid Potash (IPI) to neutral from underperform and raised its price target to $30 from $28.
• Avery Dennison (AVY) was raised to outperform from neutral at Baird.
• Biogen Idec (BIIB) was upgraded at BofA/Merrill to neutral from underperform.
• RadioShack (RSH) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.

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.

Analyst upgrades:

• Thomas Weisel upgraded PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) to Overweight from Market Weight on valuation as it sees limited downside to consensus estimates. The firm raised its target on shares to $20 from $18.
• Jefferies upgraded WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE: WX) to Hold from Underperform following the Q2 results as it believes the company's cross-selling strategy is paying off. The firm raised its target on shares to $12 from $5.
• FBR Capital upgraded J. Crew (NYSE: JCG) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's trend-right product, inventory control, unit growth, and strong management. The firm raised its target on shares to $36 from $25.
• Popular (NASDAQ: BPOP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• HearUSA (AMEX: EAR) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

Analyst Upgrades

• Wachovia upgraded Choice Hotels (NYSE: CHH) to Outperform from Market Perform based on its high margin franchise, valuation, and brand acquisition opportunities, among other reasons.
• Canaccord upgraded Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) to Buy from Speculative Buy based on asset and management quality, size, and liquidity, and view as a potential hedge against inflation and U.S. dollar weakness.
• Cowen upgraded Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm expects Amazon to gain more of the consumer wallet as it focuses on lower prices and a superior shopping experience vs. online and offline competitors.
• Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Nomura.
• FedEx (NYSE: FDX) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU) to Buy from Neutral and added shares to its Conviction Buy List. The analyst expects Baidu to benefit from growth in paid search in China, where growth is expected to be 30% annually.
  
• Friedman Billings upgraded shares of Corporate Office Properties (NYSE: OFC) to Outperform from Market Perform to reflect the company's exposure to the "sound" Washington, D.C., market and "favorable" liquidity position.
  
• Soleil upgraded Sunoco (NYSE: SUN) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $45 from $38 on the strength of the company's non-refining segment.
• Mosaic (NYSE: MOS), Potash (NYSE: POT), Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) and Terra Industries (NYSE: TRA) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Kroger (NYSE: KR) was upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.

Analyst downgrades:

• Jefferies downgraded shares of Bronco Drilling (NASDAQ: BRNC) to Underperform from Hold and lowered its target to $4.50 from $7.50 on valuation and their expectations for a rig decline in U.S. drilling activity.
  
• Morgan Stanley cut Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) to Equal Weight from Overweight into reporting season on concerns of further impairment charges.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to Sell from Hold to reflect challenges in the handset market.
• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was lowered to Sell from Hold at WestLB.
  
• BT Group (NYSE: BT) was slashed at JP Morgan to Underweight from Neutral.
  
• Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Keefe Bruyette.

Analyst initiations:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: BMC Software, Smart Modular and Entropic Comm were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Stanford initiated BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) with a Buy rating and $45 target. The firm highlights the company's broad product portfolio and configuration management database leadership and thinks margin expansion should continue.
  
• ThinkPanmure assumed Smart Modular (NASDAQ: SMOD) with an Accumulate rating and $5.50 target. The firm expects better DRAM pricing but expects SMOD to experience some headwinds with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) losing share in the server market.
  
• Broadpoint expects Entropic Comm (NASDAQ: ENTR) to benefit from the adoption of applications that allow video through numerous devices, especially high definition and data content. Shares were started with a Buy rating and $6 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America initiated General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) with Buy ratings and targets of $100, $120 and $80, respectively.
  
• Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) was initiated with a Buy rating and $150 target at UBS.
  
• Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) was assumed with a Buy rating at Merrill Lynch.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Invesco, Kimberly Clark and Crawford & Company were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Jefferies finds Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) compelling given the company's focus on expense control, strong cash flow characteristics, and attractive valuation. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $33 target.
  
• Caris started Kimberly Clark (NYSE: KMB) with a Below Average rating and $58 target. The firm believes consensus estimates may be too high given the high cost of commodities.
  
• Suntrust started Crawford & Company (NYSE: CRDB) with a Buy rating and $8 target, and believes the company is at the "front end" of a turnaround in operations.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Bernstein initiated Energizer Holdings (NYSE: ENR) with an Outperform rating and $100 target.
  
• BMO Capital assumed Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) with an Outperform rating and $85 target.
  
• Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI) was started with a Sell rating and $40 target at Soleil.

Today, we can blame the market almost entirely on OIL and THE DOLLAR. Oil rose to a dime within $120.00 today before selling off and the dollar is becoming the PESO with the reading having hot $1.60 per EURO. Interestingly enough, the oil services stocks are not performing well in earnings season despite record prices. More importantly, today's stock market shows that the market is still in a state of flux, and it may have become a stock picker's market. Until this finally doesn't work, the trade is to buy when you feel worried and sell when you are feeling good. Below are today's unofficial market index closing levels:

• DJIA 12,720.31 (-104.71; -0.82%)
• S&P 500 1,376.00 (-12.17; -0.88%)
• NASDAQ 2,376.94 (-31.10; -1.29%)
• 10YR-TBond 3.72% (+0.008%)
• 52-WEEK LOWS
• MAJOR SHORT INTEREST

Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) saw shares rise by after the company narrowly bear earnings expectations. The company is one of "stocks to double" by the recession end, and cost cutting and capacity monitoring did more goodwill today than the earnings. Shares were up by almost 7% at $20.90 in the final minutes of the day.

So far this year, it's been a tough IPO market. However, there were no problems for the offering of Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), which sold 30 million shares at $32 a piece. In today's trading, the shares are up an impressive 56%.

Intrepid Potash is the largest producer of muriate of potash in the U.S. It operates production facilities, three in Mexico and two in Utah.

According to Fertecon Limited, the global potash market is expected to grow 3.5% per year from 2007 to 2011. Simply put, there is strong demand from China, India and other emerging economies. In fact, as personal incomes grow, there tends to be an increase in consumption of animal protein, which requires significant amounts of grain for feed.

As for Intrepid Potash, the firm is ramping up nicely. Last year, revenues spiked 40% to $213 million and earnings came to $29.7 million.

What's more, the rest of the potash market has been red hot. Just look at the strong stock performances of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) and CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF).

If you want to learn more about the Intrepid Potash offering, you can find the prospectus at the SEC website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.