MOST NOTEWORTHY: HSBC Holdings, AstraZeneca, Syneron Medical, Talbots, BankUnited and First Fed Financial were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• UBS downgraded shares of HSBC Holdings(NYSE: HBC) to Neutral from Buy on valuation, rising customer defaults and slower growth at the company's the U.S. consumer-finance unit.
  
• UBS also downgraded AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) to Sell from Neutral, as they believe the company faces major risks from drug approvals, competition and lawsuits.
  
• Merriman downgraded shares of Syneron Medical (NASDAQ: ELOS) to Neutral from Buy following the company's Q3 earnings preannouncement due to near-term margin erosion and growth drivers that remain four quarters away.
  
• CIBC downgraded shares of Talbots (NYSE: TLB) to Sector Performer from Outperformer as they believe 2H07 expectations are too high given the current weakness in the Missy space.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded BankUnited (NASDAQ: BKUNA) to Market Perform from Outperform and FirstFed Financial (NYSE: FED) to Underperform from Market Perform based on credit trends that are eroding faster than anticipated.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Merrill downgraded JMP Group (NYSE: JMP) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Baird downgraded Cabela's (NYSE: CAB) to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• Societe Generale downgraded Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) to Hold from Buy.

Bank of America-(NYSE-BAC) volatility Elevated at 28; above 26-week average of 21. BAC is recently down .56 to $47.22. BAC call option volume of 45,694 contracts compares to put volume of 52,369 contracts. BAC August & September option implied volatility of 28 is above its 26-week average of 21 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Citigroup-(NYSE-C) September volatility Elevated at 37; above 26-week average of 21. C is recently down .97 to $46.30. C call option volume of 76,747 contracts compares to put volume of 82,171 contracts. C August option implied volatility is at 39; September is at 37; above its 26-week average of 21 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

JP Morgan-(NYSE-JPM) September volatility at 46; above 26-week average of 25. JPM is recently down .85 to $43.75. JPM call option volume of 33,492 contracts compares to put volume of 34,684 contracts. JPM August & September option implied volatility of 46 is above its 26-week average of 25 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX is up 2.83 to 24.05

Daily options Update is provided by Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: AstraZeneca (AZN), Ametek (AME), InterNAP Network Services (INAP) and Rosetta Genomics (ROSG) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Cowen believes AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) faces challenges from patent expirations, patent challenges, high-risk pipeline and value creation from deals, and initiated shares with a Neutral rating.

• Ametek (NYSE: AME) was initiated at Friedman Billings with an Outperform rating and $44 target, as the firm believes AME has turned into a collection of niche-oriented high-value-added manufacturers of precision instrumentation, resulting in a high-margin, high-return business with above average growth.

• InterNAP (NASDAQ: INAP) was initiated at Thomas Weisel with an Overweight rating, as the firm is positive on INAP's unique service offerings, VitalSteam acquisition opportunities, high growth customers, and improving collocation and bandwidth demand fundamentals.

• Cantor expects Rosetta Genomics (NASDAQ: ROSG) to launch the world's first microRNA-based cancer diagnostic in the second-half of 2008 with a market of $200 million, and initiated shares with a Buy rating and $15 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Banc of America initiated shares of Spirit AeroSystems Holdings (NYSE: SPR) with a Buy rating and $42 target.

• Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) was initiated with a Market Perform rating at BMO Capital.

• Merrill Lynch initiated shares of JMP Group (NYSE: JMP) with a Buy rating.

• UBS initiated shares of Itron (NASDAQ: ITRI) with a Neutral rating and $82 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

Jim Cramer talked about refiners and an IPO on today's STOP TRADING! segment on CNBC.

He says he is shifting from a Buy to a Sell on the refineries because margins may have peaked. He does not think margins will collapse at all, but it's time to take some off the table. Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) at $74 is one he's had enough with. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is another one that he's had enough with.

JMP Group, Inc. (NYSE: JMP), the boutique investment banking firm and parent of JMP Securities IPO from today, is one that he thinks is a great investment banking niche that you can play. You can buy into it as a great firm.

As far as conjecture here, JMP is a good niche play. Its analysts do have the ability to move stocks and it has many relationships with companies that generate revenues outside of just sales and trading. It also has asset management that contributes to the bottom line.

The refinery play is hard to know for sure. We ran some of our own valuation analysis on Valero and that one seemed as though it went from very undervalued earlier in the year to overvalued recently. Its latest refinery sale in Lima, Ohio quantified some of this and that may be where Cramer made some of his observations and evaluations.