Analyst Upgrades

• Red Hat (RHT) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Cogdell Spencer (CSA) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Micron (MU) to neutral from reduce at Nomura.
• El Paso Electric (EE) to buy from hold at Jefferies.
• MICROS Systems (MCRS) and Harmony Gold (HMY) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Meridian Bioscience (VIVO) to buy from hold at Canaccord.
• Verso Paper (VRS) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Sony (SNE) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Noble Corp. (NE) and Baker Hughes (BHI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Tyson Foods (TSN) and Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from hold at BB&T.

Analyst Upgrades

• Siemens (SI) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Diamond Offshore (DO) to market perform from underperform at FBR Capital.
• MeadWestvaco (MWV) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• TD AmeriTrade (AMTD) and Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Janus Capital (JNS) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• Motorola Mobility (MMI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Frontier Communications (FTR) to neutral from underperform at Macquarie.
• Humana (HUM) to buy from hold at Argus.

Analyst Upgrades

• Brinker (EAT) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Starbucks (SBUX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Paccar (PCAR) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• CA Technologies (CA) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• PPL Corp. (PPL) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• ConocoPhillips (COP) to hold from sell at Citigroup.
• First Defiance (FDEF) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• MasTec (MTZ) to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.
• Amdocs (DOX) to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Analyst Upgrades

• BP (BP) to buy from hold at RBS.
• Symantec (SYMC) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• GenOn Energy (GEN) and Nationwide Health Properties (NHP) to buy from hold at Citigroup.
• Logitech (LOGI) and Patriot Coal (PCX) to neutral from sell, as well as ARM Holdings (ARMH) to buy from neutral, at Goldman.
• Silvercorp Metals (SVM) to outperform from market perform at BMO Capital.
• Cinemark (CNK) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• Smith & Nephew (SNN) to market perform from underperform at Bernstein.
• Molex (MOLX) to overweight from underweight at JPMorgan.

Analyst Upgrades

• Ryder (R) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• HCP (HCP) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Hertz Global (HTZ) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• Lincoln National (LNC) to buy from neutral and T. Rowe Price (TROW) to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Protective Life (PL) and Janus Capital (JNS) to neutral from sell at Goldman.
• Newell Rubbermaid (NWL) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• National Instruments (NATI) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Team Health (TMH) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.

Analyst Upgrades

• Walgreen (WAG) and Triumph Group (TGI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Focus Media (FMCN) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Home Depot (HD) to outperform from market perform at FBR Capital.
• Arbitron (ARB) to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Waddell & Reed (WDR) and Legg Mason (LM) to overweight from equal weight, and Janus Capital (JNS) to overweight from underweight, at Barclays.
• Central Euro Media (CETV) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• GenOn Energy (GEN) and Ntelos (NTLS) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Cooper Tire (CTB) to buy from neutral and Goodyear Tire (GT) to buy from underperform at BofA/Merrill.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (CIE). Traders plowed into 1,553 new call option contracts -- 4.65 times the average volume -- on the stock on Monday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 98% of the trades came in on the ask price.

Cobalt just bounced up off of support at $7. The stock closed Monday at $8.25, down 1.32% during the past month.

Option traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on Janus Capital Group (JNS). Traders plowed into 1,010 new call option contracts -- 7.77 times the average volume -- on the stock on Friday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 99% of the trades came in on the ask price.

Janus Capital closed Thursday at $9.51. The stock has dropped 9.86% during the past month and is currently sitting above support at $9.

Goldman Sachs (GS) analysts stated Monday that the recent market volatility is causing them to "reassess" their coverage on the financial sector.

According to MarketWatch, the brokerage house said: "The recent spike in volatility makes us more optimistic about capital markets activity like trading, but we are more cautious about the longer-term capital deployment theme, such as M&A, private equity, corporate loan growth and equity-fund lows." The list of moves is quite extensive, but one of the companies feeling the ire of Goldman is Janus Capital Group (JNS), which was cut to sell from neutral.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded T. Rowe Price (TROW) to overweight from neutral while downgrading Janus Capital (JNS) to underweight from neutral to reflect valuations and fundamentals. The firm has a $67 price target for T. Rowe Price shares.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Lincoln Electric (LECO) to overweight from neutral as it believes the rebound in global manufacturing is accelerating. The firm has a $70 price target on the stock.
• Wells Fargo upgraded Highwoods Properties (HIW) to market perform from underperform, citing valuation and a strong balance sheet.
• Corning (GLW) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Allergan (AGN) was upgraded to conviction buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Mohawk (MHK) was upgraded to buy from neutral at SunTrust.

Late yesterday, Janus Capital Group (NYSE:JNS) reported second-quarter earnings of 10 cents per share compared to a net loss of $5.22 per share in the first quarter. The first-quarter results included charges of $5.21 per share.

The company also announced that it is going to offer $150 million in new common stock, along with $150 million of convertible senior notes due in 2014. According to the company, the notes will be convertible under certain circumstances into cash, shares of JNS stock, or a combination of the two - depending on what the company chooses. The company will use the money raised and other cash to buy back as much as $400 million of the aggregate principal amount of the firm's outstanding 2011, 2012, and 2017 senior notes.

Analyst upgrades:

• Morgan Stanley upgraded Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) to Overweight from Equal Weight as they expect the company to benefit from higher natural gas prices in 2010. The firm has a $34 target on shares.
• Citigroup upgraded Energy Conversion (NASDAQ: ENER) to Hold from Sell on valuation is it finds the risk/reward balanced at current levels. The firm raised its target price to $16 from $13.
• Jefferies upgraded Lifetime Brands (NASDAQ: LCUT) to Buy from Underperform to reflect reduced liquidity concerns and an improved outlook for Global Direct Sellers. The firm raised its target price to $4 from $2.
• American Eagle (NYSE: AEO) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• TJX Companies (NYSE: TJX) was upgraded at Barclays to Overweight from Equal Weight and to Outperform from Netural at Credit Suisse.
• STEC Inc (NASDAQ: STEC) was raised to Overweight from Market Weight at Thomas Weisel.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer is seeing signs of a coming boom, but he's still being cautious here.

If you had to define the early cycle, if you had to outline what stocks should be soaring coming out of a recession into a boom and which ones should be faltering, you would have to say the action in this market in the last month is the quintessential behavioral pattern.

What are the components of the early cycle? First, it's the homebuilders. As is typical coming out of a recession, the stocks precede the bottom of housing. That's exactly what's happening with the lowest permits and highest affordability and best mortgage rates and massive inventory. Everywhere, except on Wall Street reporting, the bottom is bursting out. When you read the lead story in the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, and it is all about the thousands of prospective homebuyers heading south to pick up condos and homes for half of what they were worth two years ago -- or even less -- and you know that virtually no one has broken ground in the Sunshine State in a year, you can bet that the bottom's actually behind us. This housing market has wiped out all but the most stable private builders and even the public ones are merging as we know from Pulte (NYSE: PHM) (Cramer's Take) and Centex (NYSE: CTX) (Cramer's Take). So, in the next cycle, you can see some profitability developing year over year even though the new homes don't have much margin because the foreclosed homes next door are going for a song. And don't believe this won't change the dynamic of future foreclosures. In most areas, rent is higher than the interest on mortgages, so you will find that second or third job needed to stay in your home. The incentive structure's radically different than a year ago.

Analyst upgrades:

• UBS upgraded Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to Buy from Neutral as it believes the company's product portfolio is recovering.
  
• Canaccord upgraded Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to Buy from Hold and raised its target to $450 from $300. The analyst said industry checks indicate deteriorating search conditions have started to improve in late March and notes that the market is already pricing in a weak Q1.
  
• Wachovia upgraded CGI (NYSE: GIB) to Outperform from Market Perform. In addition to valuation, the firm cited the company's defensive profile, comfort with its fiscal 2009 estimates, and its expectation that the company will continue to have strong signings.
• Siliconware Precision (NASDAQ: SPIL) was raised to Overweight from Neutral at HSBC.
  
• Matrixx Initiatives (NASDAQ: MTXX) was lifted to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) reported a narrower Q3 net loss and reaffirmed its outlook.
• Barclays (NYSE: BCS) earnings and dividend prospects resulted in an analyst's downgrade.
• Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) posted its 19th straight quarter of positive growth.
• Choice Hotels International Inc. (NYSE: CHH) better-than-expected Q3 report led to an upgrade.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) reported strong Q3 numbers and maintained its revenue outlook.
• DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) better-than-expected Q3 results driven by Kung Fu Panda.
• Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported another record profit in Q3 driven by record high fuel prices.
• Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) reported a better-than-expected Q3 profit and offered guidance.
• Hercules Inc. (NYSE: HPC) posted lower Q3 earnings and anounced [regulatory] approval of its buyout.
• Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) weaker-than-expected results led to an analyst's downgrade.
• Legg Mason Inc. (NYSE: LM) swung to a smaller-than-expected Q2 net loss and shares soared.
• Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) dismal Q3 results managed to beat low earnings expectations.
• Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) Q3 results included lower revenue and a net loss due to economic conditions.
• Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) unimpressive Q3 numbers fell short of estimates.
• Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) swung to a greater-than-expected net loss due in part to competition.
• Texas Roadhouse Inc. (NASDAQ: TXRH) missed Q3 estimates and warned of flat full-year earnings.
• Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) strong Q3 results included a gain from a sale of a refinery.
• Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) beat Q4 earnings expectations after adjustment for litigation-related charges.
• Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) fell short of revenue estimates and announced job cuts.