Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded MDS Inc. (NYSE: MDZ) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it believes shares are pricing in a "worst case" scenario at current levels. The firm keeps a $6.50 target on the stock.
  
• JP Morgan upgraded Continental (NYSE: CAL) to Overweight from Neutral on valuation as it believes the recent sell-off is overdone. The firm keeps a $13 price target on the stock.
• Thomas Weisel is positive on Allergan's (NYSE: AGN) diverse product portfolio, global infrastructure, vertical integration, and deep pipeline. The firm upgraded shares to Overweight from Market Weight and has a $54 target on the stock.
• NetLogic (NASDAQ: NETL) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Piper.
  
• Dover (NYSE: DOV) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America/Merrill.
  
• Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) was upgraded at Argus to Hold from Sell.

Analyst upgrades:

• Kaufman Bros. assumed coverage of Ctrip.com (NASDAQ: CTRP) and upgraded the stock to Buy from its previous Hold rating. The firm thinks the company's Q2 targets are achievable while 20%-plus growth should return in Q3 as comps ease.
• Janney Montgomery upgraded Cogdell Spencer (NYSE: CSA) to Neutral from Sell as it believes last night's capital raise removes risk. The firm has a $4.50 target on shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) to Buy from Hold following the positive Levadex Phase 3 results as it believes the migraine drug could generate peak sales of $250M in the U.S. if approved. Deutsche raised its target on shares to $12 from $5.
• Northwest Natural Gas (NYSE: NWN) was raised to Buy from Neutral at UBS.
• Petro-Canada (NYSE: PCZ) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) was upgraded to Add from Reduce at WestLB.

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT), Host Hotels (NYSE: HST) and Marriott (NYSE: MAR) to Outperform from Neutral based on valuation and indications that negative sentiment has reached a bottom.
• Citigroup upgraded Torchmark (NYSE: TMK) to Buy from Hold as they find the valuation attractive and think management can grow earnings and book value in 2009/2010. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered their target price to $37 from $45.
• ASM International (NASDAQ: ASMI) was added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.
• Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
• Live Nation (NYSE: LYV) was upgraded at Natixis to Buy from Hold.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Atmel, Skyworks, Alcatel-Lucent, Parexel and Map Pharma were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. initiated Atmel (NASDAQ: ATML) with a Buy rating and $6 target, as they believe the company's increasing focus around its core microcontroller business can drive an improved growth and profitability profile going forward and would be buyers at current levels.
  
• The firm also started shares of Skyworks (NASDAQ: SWKS) with a Buy rating and a $10 target, as they like the company's balanced customer positioning and find the stock attractively valued at current levels.
  
• JP Morgan initiated Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) with an Overweight rating and believes the risks are more than fully priced into shares at current levels.
  
• Parexel (NADSAQ: PRXL) was initiated with a Neutral rating at Broadpoint, as they believe the company's improved execution is already priced into shares.
  
• Deutsche Bank finds shares of Map Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MAPP) attractively valued given the opportunity from the company's two late stage product candidates, UDB and Tempo Migraine. The firm started shares off with a Buy rating and $19 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia initiated coverage of leisure stocks, starting shares of Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) and Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) with Outperform ratings.
  
• Credit Suisse initiated PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) with Outperform ratings and targets of $87 and $68, respectively.