MOST NOTEWORTHY: Lincoln Educational, Sonus Networks and Novartis were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Lehman upgraded Lincoln Educational (NASDAQ: LINC) to Overweight from Equal Weight based on improving student enrollment growth and valuation.
  
• Merriman upgraded Sonus Networks (NASDAQ: SONS) to Buy from Neutral on the company's strong AT&T (NYSE: T) outlook and near-term upside potential from Japan. They believe shares can trade towards the $5-$6 range.
  
• Bernstein raised Novartis (NYSE: NVS) to Outperform from Market Perform as they believe the company's diversification position it well to withstand future generic expiries.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Goldman Sachs added Burger King (NYSE: BKC) to its Conviction Buy List.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded Imperial Tobacco (NYSE: ITY) to Outperform from Neutral.
  
• FreightCar America (NASDAQ: RAIL) was upgraded at Jefferies to Buy from Hold.

The term "greenback" may be going out of style when it comes to the new $5 bill. The newest, high-tech Lincoln five-dollar bill was unveiled this morning by U.S. government officials just as the U.S. dollar hit an all-time low against the euro. How charming!

The newest $5 bill represents the latest technology in the ongoing quest to thwart global counterfeiters, as it features newer pastel colors and watermarks of the number 5 instead of a watermark like the one used on the $100 bill (featuring Benjamin Franklin's head).

Of course, those are not the only changes. The security thread (seen when you hold a $5 bill up to a light) has been moved to a different location than in the $100 bill. The $5 bill was not actually going to be redesigned until U.S. customs officials saw that counterfeiters were bleaching existing $5 bills and printing $100 values on them due to the security thread being in the same place on both bills. Also, the border around Lincoln's head has been removed and a series of purple stars (with small, yellow 5 numerals) will take its place. The center of the bill also features a purple color that fades into gray at the bill's edges.

It's interesting that the launch will not happen until next spring, to give vending machine operators time to upgrade for the new bill, among other things (heh). Until then, government officials can continue to add to the roster of 3,945 arrests related to counterfeit bill production in 2006, with an estimated loss of $62 million. That means the average loss would be about $15,716 per arrested offender. Newsflash to the government: $15,000? I'm quite sure the loss was more than that. Not a good ROI especially when you consider the costs of the newest color laser printers, eh?

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) actually made money in the second quarter, shocking Wall Street which had expected a loss. The automaker also confirmed media reports that may sell its Jaguar and Land Rover businesses.

The company made $750 million, or 31 cents per share, compared with a loss of $317 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier, its first profitable quarter in more than two years. Revenue rose 6% to $44.2 million. Wall Street had expected Ford to lose 35 cents on revenue of $37.5 billion. Click here for the earnings release, here for the Wall Street Journal story, and here for the Bloomberg News story.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Carl Icahn has predicted that the private equity market has peaked at the Wall Street Journal's Deal and Deal Makers Conference, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• Imperial Tobacco Group plc (NYSE: ITY) and CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, are both looking at Altadis, the leading maker of cigarettes in Spain and France, with a final price of over $17B expected, reported the Wall Street Journal.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is set to launch a new national incentive program today featuring no-interest financing for 36 months on all 2007 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, signalling pressure for the company to sell vehicles, reported the Detroit Free Press.
• Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC) has appointed Tom Marano, a leading executive and highly regarded mortgage-bond trader, to oversee the bailout of its hedge fund collapse, reported the New York Post.
• Bharti and Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) appear to be close to finally sealing a partnership, reported the Economic Times.

I've owned quite a number of cars made by the Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) over time and they've all been good ones. I had a 1968 Galaxy which was as beautiful as it was a joy to drive. I've had several F-150's and there wasn't a loser in the bunch. My wife had an Escort which gave us a quarter million miles. If we had put new tires and front wheel bearings on it, I think we would have gotten another 50 thousand good miles from it, possibly more. It was a good, stout little ride. My wife still misses that car.

The reason I'm writing about Ford is to address a simple question. Why has Ford stock taken such a sound thrashing over the last two years? In 2004, Ford stock was happily playing around in the range of $12 to $16 a share. In 2005, a steady decline began. Ford shares had started '05 just in range of $14 but ended the year near a miserable $8 a share. The picture has not improved for 2006. After dipping as low as $6.06 this year, a bit of recovery has occurred, however unsatisfactory. Ford shares have nipped at $9.50 within the last 52 weeks but they rest at an uncomfortable $8.18 at the end of yesterday's trading. I've looked and searched and asked around. No one has provided a truly solid answer to my simple question of why Ford shares been beaten down so badly.

If no one can provide me sound reason why Ford stock is performing so poorly, then there's only one thing I can do. I must paint you a picture of why Ford's stock deserves better treatment, so here it is from me to you.

Do American cars perform as reliably as foreign brands in the eyes of consumers? This question has always been somewhat of a perplexing one, as I've met diehard American car buyers who swear by Chevys against Hondas and Toyotas. On the flip side, there are those who had a few bad experiences with reliability on U.S. car brands and switched to foreign makers, vowing never to return to an American car brand.

That second example is going to be hard for American carmakers to shed as an image, but they are trying even in the face of billion-dollar quarterly losses, labor issues all over the place, and intense pressure from foreign automakers in terms of style, quality and price. Who said the car and truck business was easy? Anyway, Ford Motor Company's (NYSE:F) new Fusion model earned high marks from both Consumer Reports testers and consumers who rated its reliability -- and that's a good sign for Ford. These results demonstrate that U.S. automakers may be making strides in initial quality. But, this is only a first step -- there is a long way to go yet. A LONG way.

As Doug McIntyre reported on earlier, Japanese automakers had 39 of the 47 vehicles with the best predicted reliability in the overall Consumer Reports study. American manufacturers had six vehicles -- including the Ford Fusion, the Milan and the Lincoln Zephyr -- all from Ford Motor Company. Maintaining that success for Ford, and the ability of General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) to get on board will be critical in the next three to four years if American carmakers want to build an image of quality and reliability in the face of those ratings from competitors like Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE:TM) Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (NYSE:HMS) and Daimler-Chrysler (NYSE:DCX).