MOST NOTEWORTHY: American Axle, Knight Transportation and Newfield Exploration were today's noteworthy upgrades.

• Citigroup upgraded shares of American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc (NYSE: AXL) to Buy from Hold on valuation following the recent sell-off and recommends switching out of General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM) and into AXL; the firm downgraded GM to Hold from Buy.
• Wachovia upgraded Knight Transportation Inc (NYSE: KNX) to Outperform from Market Perform as they expect the company to benefit earlier from capacity leaving the TL market.
• KeyBanc raised Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX) to Buy from Hold based on production growth visibility, Rockies value, and increased estimates.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• LCA Vision Incorporated (NASDAQ: LCAV) was upgraded to Sector Perform from Underperform at RBC Capital.
• Deutsche Bank raised Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SA (NYSE: PAC) to Buy from Hold
Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE: BHI) to Buy from Neutral.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: J. Sainsbury, Orthofix and Salary.com were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Merrill Lynch downgraded J. Sainsbury (Other OTC:JSAIY) to Sell from Neutral following the company's quarterly results; Deutsche Bank downgraded shares to Sell from Hold as they believe the company's results show it has lost momentum.
  
• ThinkPanmure downgraded Orthofix (NASDAQ:OFIX) to Source of Funds from Accumulate citing the loss of Osteocel, which will impact growth.
  
• Wachovia cut Salary.com (NASDAQ:SLRY) to Market Perform from Outperform citing concerns that FY09 will be a challenging given significant increases in investment for sales and marketing.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• UBS cut Knight Transportation (NYSE:KNX) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• HSBC downgraded StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO) to Neutral from Overweight.
  
• Merrill lowered National Semi (NYSE:NSM) to Neutral from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Occam Networks, Washington Mutual, Downey Financial and IMS Health were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Merriman downgraded shares of Occam Networks (NASDAQ: OCNW) to Neutral from Buy as they believe the company's restatement filing raised more questions than it answered and that the company's takeout value is shrinking.
  
• Friedman Billings downgraded Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and Downey Financial Corporation (NYSE: DSL) to Underperform from Market Perform based on credit trends that are eroding faster than anticipated in the housing market.
  
• William Blair downgraded IMS Health (NYSE: RX) to Market Perform from Outperform following the lower than expected Q3 results to reflect deterioration in the company's market environment. Shares were also downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman Sachs.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) was downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia.
  
• B. Riley downgraded Hancock Holding (NASDAQ: HBHC) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Deutsche Bank downgraded eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) to Sell from Hold and E-Trade Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) to Hold from Buy.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The pharmacy benefit managers sector, financials E*Trade Financial Corp (ETFC) and TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (AMTD) and transports J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) and Knight Transportation (KNX) were today's most noteworthy initiations:

• CIBC is positive on the pharmacy benefit managers group given increasing generic utilization, continued growth in specialty pharmacy, improving mail-order penetration and share repurchases. CIBC initiated Express Scripts, Inc (NASDAQ: ESRX) with a Sector Outperformer and $104 target as the firm expects continued strong performance as the company benefits from positive secular industry trends, and initiated Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) with a Sector Performer and $82 target on valuation.
• BMO capital started E*Trade Financial Corp (NASDAQ: ETFC) and TD Ameritrade Holdings Corp (NASDAQ: AMTD) with Outperform ratings.
• Cathay Financial started J.B. Hunt Transport (NASDAQ: JBHT) and Knight Transportation (NYSE: KNX) with Neutral ratings.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• BMO started Charles Schwab Corp (NASDAQ: SCHW) with a Market Perform rating
• Citigroup started NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) with a Buy rating and $113 target.
• AG Edwards initiated shares of La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co (NASDAQ: LJPC) with a Buy rating and $11 price objective.

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