Analyst Upgrades

• Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Nvidia (NVDA) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
• Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), Leap Wireless (LEAP) and MetroPCS (PCS) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Illumina (ILMN) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Sun Bancorp (SNBC) to neutral from sell at Janney Capital.
• American Tower (AMT), SBA Communications (SBAC) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Analyst Upgrades

• Cisco (CSCO) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Cognizant (CTSH) to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• Polypore (PPO) to outperform from neutral at RW Baird.
• Elan (ELN) to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Millicom (MICC) and NuStar GP Holdings (NSH) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Teekay LNG (TGP) to equal weight from underweight at Morgan Stanley.
• American Railcar (ARII) to outperform from market perform at Morgan Keegan.
• Texas Instruments (TXN) to buy from neutral at Sterne Agee.

Analyst Upgrades

• Stifel Financial (SF) and CVR Energy (CVI) to buy from neutral and Principal Financial (PFG) to conviction buy from buy at Goldman.
• Suntech (STP) to buy from hold at Auriga.
• Internap (INAP) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.
• Andersons (ANDE) to buy from hold at BB&T.

Eldorado Gold (EGO) closed at $18.42. Gold closed down 0.51% to $1,229 according to Bloomberg. EGO September put option implied volatility is at 41, January is at 45 versus its 26-week average of 47, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing near term price movement.

Leap Wireless (LEAP) closed up 37 cents to $11.13. LEAP September put option implied volatility is at 43, January is at 57 versus its 26-week average of 52, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing near term price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index, VIX: down 83 cents to $25.61.

Today was one of those weak days where you would tell yourself, "this could have been much worse." China tightened its reserve requirements again ahead of its long week off for the Chinese New Year. Greek concerns were back out that its recession might hamper a bailout. University of Michigan sentiment surveys showed a decline versus just a month ago. And the bias is still sour... Yet today's move was not as bad as it could have been.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,100.66 -43.53 (-0.43%)
S&P 500 1,075.88 -2.59 (-0.24%)
Nasdaq 2,183.53 +6.12 (0.28%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Today was a very unusual day. There was no real economic data to absorb. And the markets did see some unusual options trading ahead of expiration date at 4:00 PM today. Disappointing earnings kept a negative bias in the air despite a brief recovery into positive territory in the final hour today... Yet the negative close seemed almost a certain fate today.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,318.16 -14.28 (-0.14%)
S&P 500 1,091.37 -3.53 (-0.32%)
Nasdaq 2,146.04 -10.78 (-0.50%)

Top Analyst Calls
Top Day Trader Alerts
Unusual Options Trading

When Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) released a $50/month "unlimited everything" plan with its Boost Mobile prepaid unit back at the start of the year, it never knew what firestorm it would eventually set off. Indeed, that move caused a huge spike in Q1 subscribers to Sprint, with a number north of 700,000 -- and it caused the prepaid wireless competition to start offering low monthly costs for unlimited talktime plans (often with unlimited use of other features).

Tracfone, the largest prepaid service in the U.S., has finally fallen into place. The prepaid reseller's "Straight Talk" pan will cost $45 per month for unlimited talktime, further making comparisons of prepaid and post-paid wireless easy for many cash-strapped consumers. With post-paid wireless plans costing $99 and up for unlimited talk, prepaid plans for half the cost are soaring during the recession.

Here are a few highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Analogic Corp. (NASDAQ: ALOG) easily beat expectations, sending shares higher.
• Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) posted a loss and forecast sales for 2008 below estimates.
• Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.'s (NYSE: CCE) earnings outlook led shares to a 52-week high.
• Cooper Cos. (NYSE: COO) swung to a loss on acquistion costs and litigation.
• Copart Inc. (NASDAQ: CPRT) beat expectations, sending shares to a new high.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) posted a solid quarter, in line with expectations.
• Cost Plus Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM) posted a smaller-than-expected net loss.
• Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: FLE) narrowed its loss through improved efficiency.
• General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reaffirmed its 4Q forecast, but the forward outlook disappointed investors.
• H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB) warned of a deep loss due to the mortgage meltdown.
• Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY) beat estimates and revised its guidance.
• Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) posted a loss, but share prices rose anyway.
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH) earnings fell for the third quarter in a row.
• Methode Electronics Inc. (NYSE: MEI) beat estimates, spurred by international sales.
• Novell Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) swung to a loss, surprising Wall Street.
• Synopsys Inc. (NASDAQ: SNPS) beat expectations and offered guidance.
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN) raised its guidance for the fourth quarter.

Last week, MetroPCS Communications (NYSE: PCS) ended its $4 billion merger deal for Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP), which thought the deal wasn't good enough. Both companies provide wireless services to those that the major carriers -- like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) -- tend to avoid (such as low-income customers).

Well, LEAP shareholders may be regretting things. On the company's latest news bomb, the stock has plunged 34% to $38.33. In fact, since late July, the stock is down a stunning 61%.

First of all, LEAP said it will have to restate financial results for 2004, 2005, 2006 and the first half of 2007. The items include service revenues, operating expenses and so on. The amount is about $20 million or so.

Not so big, huh? Maybe not. After all, the company could be in default on its $890 million of debt.

Oh, and the company garnered only 36,500 subscribers in Q3 (the goal was 40,000). And, it looks like Q4 growth will be meager too.

All in all, it's hard to find anything good here. Then again, Leap's space is full of buyout activity so I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually hear some more buyout buzz on the company, especially in light of the big cut in the valuation.

PCS shares are tumbling over 20% as well today.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Priceline (NASDAQ: PCLN)'s higher profits are taking shares up 14%. And Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) is up 9% on buyout rumors.

Jones Soda (NASDAQ: JSDA) is trading off 19% due to poor earnings. And Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) is off 15% on news that it will have to restate earnings.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Monster Worldwide, Business Objects, Arcelor Mittal, Walgreen and Sealy Corp were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Wachovia downgraded shares of Monster Worldwide (NASDAQ: MNST) to Market Perform from Outperform citing increased risk of an economic slowdown and execution issues in its N.A. Careers segment.
  
• Credit Suisse downgraded shares of Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ) to Neutral from Outperform on valuation with shares above their $46 target.
  
• Banc of America downgraded Arcelor Mittal (NYSE: MT) to Neutral from Buy on valuation. The firm also downgraded Walgreen (WAG) to Sell from Buy, as they see further downside following the Q4 miss and believes the problems in Q4 are company-specific and not industry-wide.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of Sealy Corporation (NYSE: ZZ) to Sell from Hold following the Q3 results, as they believe Sealy faces increased competitive pressures at the high end of the market where the best margins are derived.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Goldman Sachs removed Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) from its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Merrill Lynch added Intercontinental Hotels (NYSE: IHG) to its Least Preferred List.
  
• ABN Amro downgraded Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) to Hold from Buy.
  
• Soleil downgraded Leap Wireless (NASDAQ: LEAP) to Hold from Buy.