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Analyst calls: WFMI, SOV, STD, QI, NWS, ENS, GILD, ADBE

Analyst upgrades:

Citigroup upgraded shares of Sovereign Bancorp (NYSE: SOV) to Buy from Hold on their belief Sovereign will merge with Banco Santander (NYSE: STD) according to the terms on their October 13 agreement.
Jefferies upgraded Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) to Hold from Underperform on valuation as they believe the capital infusion from Leonard Green limits downside risk. The company's target was raised to $11 from $9.50.
Banc of America upgraded Max Capital (NASDAQ: MXGL) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, the company's strategic changes to lower earnings volatility and their belief it is well positioned to benefit from an improved P&C marketplace.
Qimonda (NYSE: QI) was upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at Cowen.
Health Net (NYSE: HNT) was raised to Neutral from Sell at Goldman.
Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) was lifted to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

Merriman upgraded shares of Netezza (NYSE: NZ) to Buy from Neutral following the company's solid Q2 results as they believe it is well-positioned for strong operating results heading into 2H09.
JP Morgan raised Cabot (NYS: CBT) to Overweight from Neutral. The firm expects 2009 to be a better year given lower raw material costs and higher contract prices.
JP Morgan also upgraded Royal Ahold (OTC: AHONY) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation.
Liberty International (OTC: LBYIY) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank.
BMO Capital upgraded Royal Bank (NYSE: RY) to Market Perform from Underperform and Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) to Outperform from Market Perform.

Analyst downgrades:

Jefferies downgraded shares of Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) to Underperform on Hold on concerns the company will come under increasing pressure to issue equity. The firm lowered its target to $60 from $71.
Thomas Weisel downgraded Williams-Sonoma (NYSE: WSM) to Market Weight from Overweight citing continued macro pressures.
Wachovia has concerns that Kayne Anderson's (NYSE: KED) book value will be pressured by its investment in ProPetro Services, trading losses associated with SemGroup, and negative developments at Quest Midstream. The firm cut shares of Kayne to Market Perform from Outperform.
Energy Conversion (NASDAQ: ENER) was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Piper.
Deutsche Bank cut International Paper (NYSE: IP) and Domtar (NYSE: UFS) to Hold from Buy.
H&E Equipment (NASDAQ: HEES) was lowered at Credit Suisse to Neutral from Outperform.

Analyst initiations:

Morgan Stanley yesterday initiated Elan Corp (NYSE: ELN) with an Overweight rating. The firm sees a low-probability of a Tysabri withdrawal.
ThinkPanmure views On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) as a nice turnaround story with opportunities for shares gains in notebooks and consumer gaming platforms. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $14 target.
Petrohawk Energy (NYSE: HK) was assumed with an Outperform rating at Morgan Keegan.
Regency Energy (NASDAQ: RGNC) was initiated at Merrill Lynch with a Neutral rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Caterpillar Inc (CAT), Movie Gallery (MOVI), Cache, Inc (CACH) and Manor Care, Inc (HCR) were today's noteworthy downgrades:

UBS downgraded shares of Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) to Reduce from Neutral and lowered their target to $70 from $78 to reflect decelerating revenues in the company's core businesses, global capacity additions in construction machinery, competitive concerns and valuation.

Soleil downgraded Movie Gallery (NASDAQ: MOVI) to Sell from Hold following comments after yesterday's close about missing certain debt covenants.

Suntrust downgraded shares of Cache (NASDAQ: CACH) to Neutral from Buy citing the company's attempt to reconstruct itself in a difficult economic period with tough comps and in a waning trend cycle.

Manor Care (NYSE: HCR) was cut to Market Perform from Outperform at Wachovia, citing the acquisition by the Carlyle Group. Soleil cut Manor Care to Hold from Buy on the news...

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

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

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Joseph Lazzaro	114	0
2	Tom Johansmeyer	103	3
3	Connie Madon	51	0
4	Steven Mallas	44	0
5	Tom Taulli	42	0
6	Mark Fightmaster	42	0
7	Trey Thoelcke	32	0
8	Steven Halpern	32	0
9	Melly Alazraki	26	0
10	Paul Foster	25	0
11	Zac Bissonnette	23	0
12	Jon Ogg	22	0
13	Brian White	22	0
14	Jim Cramer	22	0
15	Brent Archer	22	0
16	Elizabeth Harrow	19	0
17	Eric Buscemi	17	0
18	Sheldon Liber	13	0
19	Michael Fowlkes	8	0
20	Beth Gaston Moon	8	0

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