Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYB) to Market Perform from Underperform to reflect a new valuation framework. The firm raised its target on U.S. Bancorp to $21 from $14 and on New York Community Bancorp to $10 from $9.
• Stephens upgraded Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD) to Overweight from Equal Weight to reflect the company's top-line growth prospects and reasonable expectations. The firm raised its target on shares to $14 from $8.
• Baird upgraded Athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) to Outperform from Neutral and raised its target to $46 from $37 based on expectations for revenue and gross margin expansion, and relative valuation.
• Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Phillips-Van Heusen (NYSE: PVH) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) was upgraded to Conviction Buy from Neutral at Goldman.

Analyst upgrades:

• FBR Capital upgraded Talbots (NYSE: TLB) to Outperform from Market Perform as it believes the company's inventory and SG&A control should help earnings and the stock's risk/reward is compelling at current levels. The firm raised its target on shares to $7 from $5.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Human Genome (NASDAQ: HGSI) to Buy from Accumulate to reflect higher assumptions for the company's Lupus treatment Benlysta. The firm raised its target on shares to $26 from $18.
• KeyBanc upgraded Parkway Properties (NYSE: PKY) to Buy from Hold based on valuation, improving fundamentals, and stable capital position. The firm has a $17 target on the stock.
• HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• BioScrip (NASDAQ: BIOS) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
• DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Upgrades

• Goldman upgraded Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) to Buy from Neutral on expectations business in the U.S. and China will improve in the second half of 2009. Goldman raised its target price on shares to $40 from $36.
• Canaccord upgraded Exco Resources (NYSE: XCO) to Buy from Speculative Buy citing the company's financial transactions to reduce debt. The firm, which has a $17 target on the stock, says Exco now has a stronger balance sheet, a greater geographic focus, and the ability to expedite drilling programs.
• ThinkEquity upgraded Shanda (NASDAQ: SNDA) to Accumulate from Source of Funds and raised its target to $60 from $50. The firm believes recent weakness on regulatory concerns is overdone and that Q2 estimates are conservative.
• Mack-Cali Realty (NYSE: CLI) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.
• Marvel Entertainment (NYSE: MVL) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.
• France Telecom (NYSE: FTE) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at Credit Suisse.

Surviving this recession is foremost on peoples' minds, but giving to charity is especially important in times like these. So how can you effectively give while preserving your net worth?

If you plan on liquidating any profitable, or taxable, positions in the stock market thanks to the current uptrend and also want to give to your favorite charity, the strategy outlined below is key to optimizing your gift, as well as your capital.

Though giving cash to causes is the most popular form of charity, desperate times call for creative measures, and any type of gift will be gladly accepted. By giving stock directly to charity, and bear in mind that the stock must be in your portfolio for one year or more as short-term capital gains are not applicable, you not only avoid capital gains taxes on your gains, but you can actually use the gift of your stock as a tax deduction. Hence, the cost of your gift is lower than giving cash directly. Think of it as an overall investment for yourself and the charity.

Analyst upgrades:

• Janney Montgomery upgraded Aqua America (NYSE: WTR) to Buy from Neutral on valuation, viewing the recent weakness as a buying opportunity. The firm has a $19 target on the stock.
• UBS upgraded Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) to Buy from Neutral due to customer Broder's improved liquidity and the improved outlook for margins.
• RBC Capital upgraded State Street (NYSE: STT) to Top Pick from Outperform and raised its target to $55 from $40. The analyst said the $2B capital raise addresses TCE ratio concerns and large unrealized losses in the investment portfolio.
• Sherwin-Williams (NYSE: SHW) was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
• Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
• M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein.

Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded Alcoa (NYSE: AA) to Overweight from Neutral and added shares to its Focus List. The analyst said the equity offering and dividend cut provide enough "liquidity insurance" to make it through 2009 and now views risk/reward as attractive.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Asbury Automotive (NYSE: ABG) to Buy from Hold as it finds the current valuation attractive and thinks the company's cost savings will drive upside in a recovery. The firm raised its target price to $7 from $5.50.
  
• Barclays upgraded Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC) to Overweight from Equal Weight. Following their healthcare conference and management meetings, the firm sees increased visibility into revenues.
• Waddell & Reed (NYSE: WDR) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Credit Suisse.
  
• Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) was lifted to Outperform from Sector Perform at RBC Capital.

In The Oberweis Report, growth expert Jim Oberweis. Jr. sees upside for risk-oriented investors in two diagnostics firms: Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) and Thoratec (NASDAQ: THOR).

"Myriad develops molecular diagnostic products focused in the area of predictive caner diagnostics. It currently sells five genetic tests (and just recently announced the launch of a 6th test in December) focused on cancer and women's health.

"The bulk of their revenues currently come from their BRACAnalysis test for breast cancer. This test is the only one of its kind available to detect a faulty version of BRAC genes in women, which has been linked to significantly increased chances of developing breast and ovarian cancers.

This week, the short-term rally of the last few days of the holiday season was over. While many hope the economy would start rebounding toward the end of the year, more voices are now heard saying the recession will be longer and deeper than estimates. The only thing that could help is a proper stimulus plan.

Indeed, President-elect Obama's transition team and his chosen staff have already been working on a plan, trying to push legislators to act swiftly. As investors received news of one dismal economic report after another -- from retail sales, auto sales, housing, manufacturing and employment -- the corporate side also continued to show considerable weakness with earnings warnings coming nearly daily.

The real question is whether the stimulus plan and the Federal Reserve actions, alongside similar moves taken around the world, could give the boost the economy so desperately needs. It seems several BloggingStocks contributors believe this might be the case as they looked at long-term investment ideas. Here are some of their picks from the past week:

Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) actually saw an increase in value of 62.3% during the quarter. It has a strong capital position and is nearly debt free. It has actually seen a third-quarter same-store sales growth of 8.3%. There has been some pressure on the stock following an earnings miss due to growth, creating an opportunity for astute investors, says Jamie Dlugosch.

Health care has long been considered a recession-resistant business. Given the current economic challenges, it's little surprise that in our survey of favorite stocks for the coming year, a number of leading advisors turned to this classic defensive sector.

In this year's Top Stock Picks from 75 advisors report, we found an intriguing group of medical-related stocks, from speculation in emerging biotech to well-established pharmaceutical firms, and from medical products makers to medical services firms focused on increasing health care efficiency and early disease detection.

Mike Cintolo, editor of The Cabot Market Letter, thinks Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) could be a "big winner in 2009," The company is a lead in the new field of cancer predisposition testing. For Mike's full report, read Top Stock Picks '09: Myriad Genetics.

Chuck Carlson, editor of The DRIP Investor, sees both quality and potential in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). For Chuck's full report, read Top Stock Picks '09: Bristol-Myers Squibb.

This post is part of a special annual report -- Top Stock Picks '09 -- in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked 75 leading newsletter advisors to select their favorite investment for the new year.

"My top idea for 2009 is Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN)," says Mike Cintolo. In The Cabot Market Letter, he looks at "the leader in the new field of cancer predisposition testing."

"Myriad Genetics five tests on the market (covering colon, breast, ovarian, and skin cancer) that tell a patient if his genes make it more likely that he'll get various types of cancer.

"During the past few quarters, revenues from these tests have risen at a 50% annual clip, and there's no sign of that slowing down.

"The company also has a pharmaceutical division, but it's going to spin that off sometime in 2009. That should be a big positive, as the drug development division carries good potential, but also big-time costs. Once the cancer predisposition testing division is on its own, much of that revenue growth is going to fall to the bottom line.

Analyst upgrades:

• Jefferies upgraded shares of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) to Hold from Underperform on valuation as they believe the company's pricing pressure and sluggish sales trends are now priced in. The firm raised its target to $23.50 from $21.
  
• Merrill upgraded Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to Buy from Underperform citing attractive dividend yield and stabilizing businesses.
  
• Banc of America upgraded shares of Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) to Neutral from Sell and raised APOL's target to $60 from $48 on valuation as they see a balanced risk/reward at current levels.
• Nucor (NYSE: NUE) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley.
  
• Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS) and Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) were upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan.
  
• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Jefferies Group (NYSE: JEF) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) to Market Perform from Underperform.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• Baird upgraded Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD) to Outperform from Neutral following strong Q2 results as they expect comps momentum, operating leverage, and potentially favorable chicken wing costs to support healthy trends in 2H08.
  
• RBC Capital upgraded Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) to Outperform from Sector Perform citing solid core molecular diagnostics growth and increased confidence that the spin-out will generate better shareholder value.

Analyst downgrades:

• Citigroup downgraded shares of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) to Sell from Hold following the disappointing bapineuzumab data and lowered their target to $39 from $49.
• Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• UBS lowered Affymetrix (NASDAQ: AFFX) and Sepracor (NASDAQ: SEPR) to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Sony (NYSE: SNE) was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC.

Analyst initiations:

• Citigroup initiated Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) with a Hold rating and $112 target. The firm believes regulatory concerns and a potential deceleration in energy trading volumes could limit upside in the stock near-term.
  
• Banc of America assumed Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) with a Buy rating and $38 target and believes fewer new pharmacies openings removes an impediment to higher ROIC.

Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) is recently up $1.52 to $48.15.

MYGN's Flurizan, a treatment for Alzheimer's diseases is expected release top-line results in late soon.

MYGN call option volume of 8,246 contracts compares to put volume of 3,437 contracts. MYGN July option implied volatility is at 118; August is at 92; above its 26-week average of 68 according to Track Data, suggesting larger July price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Evergreen Solar, Myriad Genetics and Columbia Laboratories were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Kaufman Bros. believes Evergreen Solar (NASDAQ: ESLR) is well-positioned to take advantage of a decline in raw material costs because it makes its own wafers on its own equipment. The firm started shares with a Buy rating and $18 target.
  
• Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN) was initiated at RBC Capital with an Underperform rating and $37 target and expects negative Phase III results for Flurizan when data is presented in June.
  
• Caris believes Columbia Laboratories (NASDAQ: CBRX) has two potential high value treatments, one to prevent preterm birth and the other to treat primary dysmenorrhea. Shares were initiated with a Buy rating and $11 target.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• McDermott (NYSE: MDR) was initiated with a Buy rating and $70 target at KeyBanc.
  
• Morgan Stanley assumed Canon (NYSE: CAJ) with an Overweight rating.
  
• Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) was initiated at William Blair with a Market Perform rating.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Aerospace stocks, WuXi Pharma, Myriad Genetics, Cypress Bioscience and Knology were today's noteworthy initiations:

• LYON initiated shares of aerospace stocks including Goodrich Corporation (NYSE: GR), TransDigm Group Inc (NYSE: TDG) and Triumph Group Incorporated (NYSE: TGI) with Add ratings and a $74 target, $45 target and $90 target, respectively.
  
• WuXi Pharmatech (NYSE: WX) was started with a Hold rating and $29 target at Jefferies on valuation. JP Morgan started shares with a Neutral rating and Credit Suisse initiated shares with an Outperform rating.
  
• Myriad Genetics Inc (NASDAQ: MYGN) was started with a Hold rating and $50 target at Citigroup, as the firm is cautious on the Phase III Flurizan results and does not recommend putting new money here at these levels.
  
• Citigroup also initiated shares of Cypress Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ: CYPB) with a Buy rating and $22 target as the firm believes Milnacipran has sufficient database for approval and is capable of gaining meaningful market share as firstline therapy.
  
• Knology Inc (NASDAQ: KNOL) was initiated with a Buy rating and $25 target at BWS Financial, as the firm believes the company's growth potential is greater than other cable companies through a business plan that allows it to have operations in all regions of the U.S.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Wachovia resumed coverage of Liberty Media Corporation (NASDAQ: LCAPA) with an Outperform rating.
  
• Northwest Airlines Corporation (NYSE: NWA) and Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE: DAL) were initiated with Overweight ratings at JP Morgan.
  
• Thomas Weisel started shares of Tyco Electronics (NYSE: TEL) with a Market Weight rating.
  
• Goldman initiated shares of Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Activision Inc (NASDAQ: ATVI) with Buy ratings and THQ Inc (NASDAQ: THQI) with a Neutral rating.