It was fun watching, as an NPR correspondent said last night, Joe the Plumber becoming a third man in the Presidential debates last night. I didn't realize (as I missed the first few minutes) that Joe is actually a real man -- Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, of Toledo, Ohio.

Unfortunately, he's not really a plumber (though initial reports of him not being registered to vote are untrue; the registrar has his name spelled incorrectly). The Toledo Blade investigated and discovered that he's not licensed or registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio. As small businessmen and homeowners everywhere [update: everywhere I've been a homeowner, and in Toledo where Joe lives, evidently not true everywhere] know, each plumber, electrician and other specialty contractors must be licensed under their own name in their locality, with most areas requiring plumbers and electricians to go through union-approved apprenticeship programs. The only exception to this rule [in Toledo and many localities, like Portland, Oregon] is if you are a homeowner doing your own work; technically, I'm not even allowed to have my dad, a licensed general contractor, work on the plumbing and electricity in my home (he's a stickler for the rules so he had my husband do the work under his counsel). Joe says he does plumbing work under someone else's license; though this is, of course, against local statutes.

So, though he does (with questionable legality) do plumbing work under W. Newell Corp.'s license, he's definitely not a plumber. Joe the unwitting victim of a debater's technique? Joe the regular guy working unethically to feed his family? Joe the symbol of our economy: Thousands of guys pretending they don't understand the rules so they can make a great living (Joe's hypothetical revenue -- not his real income -- was $250,000 a year), and getting away with it.

Reminds me of a couple hundred corporate executives in the news these days.

John Bollinger is among the industry's most respected technical analysts. In the "Contrary Corner" of his Capital Growth Letter, the advisor suggests scaling into a package of three home building stocks.

He explains, "For this exercise, I've looked at 20 home building stocks, each stock based on its monthly charts. Yes, I know that seems like a sacrilege in the day and age of hyperactive short-term trading, but we are taking the long view here.

"I then looked at the percentage drop from the stock's most recent swing high and then the number of months from the peak to the trough or the present if a swing low has not been established. I then looked to determine if there is a swing low in place.

"After reviewing these 20 homebuilding stock, I've chosen 3 candidates to start. I like the idea of selecting a fair number of small positions that add up to a normal sized position, then eliminating the non-performers as time passes while keeping the winners. We are choosing WCI Communities (NYSE: WCI), Standard Pacific (NYSE: SPF) and St. Joe (NYSE: JOE) as our first commitments."

Each day, Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com features the latest stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Apple (AAPL), Ariba (ARBA), EMC Corp (EMC), Anadarko Petroleum (APC) and RealNetworks (RNWK) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was upgraded to Buy from Hold with a $160 target at Citigroup following yesterday's pullback; they believe Mac should remain strong through year-end, Q3 consensus estimates look conservative and believe production cuts should not be a surprise.

• Roth Capital upgraded shares of Ariba (NASDAQ: ARBA) to Buy from Hold as they believe shares work higher over then next few quarters; they expect seasonally strong September and December quarters and believe that revenue bottomed last year.

• Goldman added EMC Corp (NYSE: EMC) to its Conviction Buy List, citing Q2 results and multiple product cycles.

• Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital following better than expected Q2 results and guidance.

• RealNetworks (NASDAQ: RNWK) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Soleil on valuation after reporting solid Q2 earnings...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• PetSmart (NASDAQ: PETM) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

• BWS Financial raised Xoma (NASDAQ: XOMA) to Buy from Hold.

• Matrix upgraded McGraw-Hill Cos (NYSE: MHP) to Buy from Hold.

• Matrix also raised Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) to Strong Buy from Buy.

• Wachovia upgraded St. Joe Co (NYSE: JOE) to Market Perform from Underperform.

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

Investment ideas were aplenty, following up on our Ira W. Sohn Investment Research Conference blog earlier. Some ideas worth noting are:

• Bill Miller, despite being wrong on this investment since 1999, believes Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) will turnaround and is worth $45 per. As we have blogged in the past, the new CEO is very close to getting this business model to work, meaning this company could turn into a free cash flow machine.
• Steve Mandel, formerly of Tiger Management and now running a fund at Lone Pine Capital, likes EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), which was up big last week. In addition, he likes other large cap stocks such as General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE: GS). He also has has postive comments on Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG).
• Wilbur Ross is still pushing his commodities turnaround plays, in particular International Coal Group Inc (NYSE: ICO). Ross's thinking is as follows: Coal pricing should reach healthy levels as excess inventory is burned off. Coal will account for 57% of U.S. electricity generation, up from 50% today, in the next twenty five years. Appalachian coal, in which ICO is rich, has considerable pricing power since East Coast supply is limited and demand is strong.

The ideas were aplenty with some negative views on MBIA Incorporated (NYSE: MBI), betting against subprime mortgage exposure, and The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE), the northwestern Florida real estate company, which is running into some difficulty as the housing market slowdown continues.

In addition to Wendy's (NYSE: WEN) management's recent hiring of JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) to help review strategic options for the company, the fast-food restaurant has decided to throw its hat into the breakfast ring by signing an exclusive deal with Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG). The deal allows Wendy's to be the only major fast-food restaurant chain to offer a proprietary blend of Folgers Gourmet Selections coffee and will become part of Wendy's new breakfast menu.

What's that you say, "Breakfast menu?"

Yes folks, Wendy's just isn't for lunch or dinner anymore (or dessert – mmmm Frosty's). You can now eat Wendy's for every meal of the day. By the end 2007, Wendy's expects to have 20-30% of its North American restaurants serve breakfast along with premium Folgers coffee.

Wendy's is definitely throwing its hat into a very crowded ring. The fast-food breakfast market is growing at almost three times the rate of the overall market, with Burger King (NYSE: BKC), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Arby's, a unit of Triarc Co. (NYSE: TRY), Carl's Jr and Hardee's, both owned by CKE Restaurants (NYSE: CKR) and even Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) offering similar on-the-go breakfasts to consumers. Papa John's (NASDAQ: PZZA), Dunkin Donuts and Chick-fil-A are planning new breakfast products as well. What's going to be so different to make me go to Wendy's?

When looking at the coffee aspect, one has to recall last year's Canadian Business magazine taste test between McDonald's "Café Roast" and Starbucks coffees. I'm sure all the companies I mentioned above serve some brand of coffee. Wendy's is really walking into a competitively caffeinated situation. We also can't forget about Seattle 's "Sexpresso" baristas, but that's competition on a different level.

Where do you go to get your morning cup o' joe? And would the chance to have Folgers Gourmet change your mind?

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Forest Laboratories Inc (FRX), The St. Joe Co (JOE) and Tyco Int'l Ltd (TYC) topped today's list of downgrades:

• Following the withdrawal of Orapem, Forest Laboratories Inc (NYSE: FRX) was downgraded to Sell from Hold at Citigroup, with a $47 target, given the company's dependence on two products and early stage pipeline.

• The St. Joe Co (NYSE: JOE) was downgraded to Underperform from Market Perform at Wachovia, citing valuation and secondary-home sale activity which continues to pressure steady primary-home activity in core markets; BB&T also downgraded St. Joe, to Hold from Buy on valuation.

• Deutsche Bank downgraded Tyco Int'l Ltd (NYSE: TYC) to Hold from Buy on valuation with a $33 target, as they find shares fairly valued heading into the separation.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Bank of America downgraded Alltel Corp (NYSE: AT) to Neutral from Buy on valuation and lowered its target to $58 from $66.

• UBS downgraded Sohu.com Inc (NASDAQ: SOHU) to Neutral from Buy, with a $28 target, following second-quarter results. Lehman Brothers downgraded Sohu.com to Equal Weight from Overweight on the news.

• Merrill Lynch downgraded Centerne Corp (NYSE: CNC) to Sell from Neutral.

• Merrill also downgraded Ingersoll-Rand Co Ltd (NYSE: IR) to Neutral from Buy, citing weakness in the residential market and execution uncertainty for the downgrade.

• Bank of America downgraded Post Properties Inc (NYSE: PPS) to Sell from Hold following the company's Q4 report and guidance.

• BB&T downgraded Oakley Inc (NYSE: OO) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

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