Prognosticators the world over are throwing in their 2 cents about "my pal Warren's" next market moves; especially since he announced last week that his trigger finger was itchy. When Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A and BRK.B) speaks, investors listen.

On Wednesday March 2, this investor threw in his two cents worth (see:Serious Money: What Should Warren Buffett Do Next?) discussing possible acquisitions. Since all the "pro's", I use the term loosely, have had a say I thought I would give readers a chance to express some of their ideas too.

"National Grid (NGG), an electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution utility, is a low-risk, income-generating idea," suggests income expert Carla Pasternak.

The editor of High Yield International explains, "Based in London, the company's largest market is still the UK, and it holds a virtual monopoly on the electricity transmission grid in England and Wales.

"Its primary business is to balance the supply and demand of electricity and natural gas and transmit that power from producers to customers across its network of high-voltage transmission wires and natural gas pipelines.

Analyst Upgrades

• DuPont (DD) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• UBS upgraded Deere (DE) to buy from neutral and AGCO (AGCO) to neutral from sell.
• Canadian Solar (CSIQ) was upgraded to outperform from neutral at Macquarie.
• Thoratec (THOR) and DTE Energy (DTE) were upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• NICE Systems (NICE) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Copa Holdings (CPA) to buy from hold.
• BofA/Merrill upgraded Nu Skin (NUS) to buy from neutral.
• Continental Resources (CLR) was upgraded to buy from hold at Jefferies.

During the second quarter I wrote a series of stories about stocks that might interest "my pal Warren" in the global market. One such stock in the June 24 post was National Grid PLC (NGG), which closed Friday October 8 at $45.43.

At the time of the recommendation, the stock was at $37.81. It was 33% off its high and, besides strong fundamentals, is a company that resembles Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A) Mid-American utility holdings. I thought it would be a good fit for further integration and growth of this division, given that both also have British and U.S. enterprises.

Analyst Upgrades

• RBC Capital upgraded Syniverse (SVR) to outperform from sector perform based on strong secular growth in mobile data and roaming. The firm raised its price target to $28 from $23.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded PG&E (PCG) to buy from hold with a $49 price target due to valuation.
• Jefferies assumed coverage on Sierra Wireless (SWIR) with a buy from a hold and raised its price target to $12 from $9. The analyst expects the M2M market to experience 25% growth over the next two years.
• Affiliated Managers (AMG) was upgraded to buy from neutral at Goldman.
• EastGroup Properties (EGP) was upgraded to buy from neutral at UBS.
• Gammon Gold (GRS) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.

Analyst Upgrades

• BMO Capital upgraded Church & Dwight (CHD) to outperform from market perform with a $75 price target, citing valuation.
• JPMorgan upgraded Men's Wearhouse (MW) to overweight from neutral with a $25 price target. The firm cites valuation and expectations for margin expansion for the upgrade.
• Longbow upgraded Greenbrier (GBX) to buy from neutral and has a $15 target on the stock. The firm's checks indicate demand is tightening for intermodal railcars.
• Sunpower (SPWRA) was upgraded to buy from hold at Soleil.
• Tesoro (TSO) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

"National Grid (NGG) is Britain's largest utility, and is also a major player in the Northeast U.S. as the result of its 2007 acquisition of Keyspan," says Gerald Appel, an advisor and technician who is best known for developing the well-known MACD indicator.

The editor of Systems & Forecasts explains, "Much of its business is in regulated markets, offering stability in sales and profits. The company more than earns its current dividend, and is expected to continue to do so.

"National Grid issued new shares this year to fund capital expenditures. This diluted future earnings, and contributed to this year's 26% sell-off in the stock.

Four weeks ago, I made the argument that National Grid (NGG) might be on Warren Buffet's radar screen as a foreign acquisition. The strategic benefits, depressed stock price and yield all made it look like a good fit.

Ten days ago, Barron's trumpeted National Grid, a British company traded on the NYSE, for all the same reasons, absent the merger and acquisition possibilities.

So last week I bought NGG on a dip as a value proposition and if by some miracle "my pal Warren" makes a play for it that would be a bonus. Not to mention my crystal ball would go up in value. If you might be interested in a 7.72% yield from a company with the cash flow to back it up, read on.

Today we expand on investment criteria and start to look at actual stocks of non US companies that might be in the running for inclusion as one of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B) foreign holdings.

In searching for global investment prospects that might interest Warren Buffett we have established that newly allocated capital would most likely pursue companies that pay a dividend and make products or operate in sectors that are well established and have a high level of certainty to exist decades into the future. This is basic to "my pal Warren's" investment philosophy, and there is no reason to think this will change.

In Part 2 of this series we then examined the size of a potential investment settling on a general range from $4 billion to $24 billion.

Analyst upgrades:

• Oppenheimer upgraded Genzyme (NASDAQ: GENZ) to Outperform from Perform on expectations that upcoming regulatory events, mainly approvals of Mozobil and 2,000L Myozyme, will serve as positive catalysts.
  
• Ladenburg analyst Dick Bove raised Bank of New York (NYSE: BK) to Buy from Neutral as he now believes the Russian lawsuit is turning in the bank's favor and is no longer a significant risk.
  
• Societe Generale upgraded UBS (NYSE: UBS) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the company's deal with the Swiss government.
  
• Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ :BBBY) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at Friedman Billings.
  
• RC2 Corp (NASDAQ: RCRC) was lifted at Wachovia to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Cintas (NASDAQ: CTAS) was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Citigroup.

Analyst downgrades:

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded shares of British Sky Broadcasting (NYSE: BSY) to Buy from Neutral and added the company to the Conviction Buy List as they find the stock oversold at current levels.
  
• Goldman also added Publicis (OTC: PUBGY) to the Conviction Buy List and upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral as they find the stock cheap at current levels.
• Oneok (NYSE: OKE) was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman.
  
• UBS raised Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE: WBD) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst downgrades:

• Baird downgraded Amylin Pharma (NASDAQ: AMLN) to Neutral from Outperform and said they are incrementally more cautious on the commercial performance of Amylin's Byetta following the yesterday's update. Amylin's target was lowered to $27 from $37. Soleil recommends investors avoid Amylin with the disclosure last night of four additional cases of mortality associated with pancreatitis in patients who were on Byetta. The firm cut shares to Sell from Hold and lowered their target to $20 from $25.
  
• Citigroup downgraded shares of AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) to Sell from Hold on valuation as they find the stock expensive following the recent run-up. The firm raised their target to $9 from $6.70 to reflect the drop in crude prices.
  
• J Crew (NYSE: JCG) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Brean Murray following the weak Q2 report and guidance.
• JMP Securities downgraded Quality Systems (NASDAQ: QSII) to Market Perform from Outperform.
  
• National Grid (NYSE: NGG) was lowered to Equal Weight from Overweight at Lehman.

Analyst initiations:

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Alcoa, Publicis Groupe and Fresenius were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• JP Morgan downgraded shares of Alcoa (NYSE: AA) to Neutral from Overweight as they do not believe the company is a takeover target. The firm thinks investors could be disappointed with the new CEO's strategic direction as well as near-term earnings.
  
• Societe Generale cut Publicis (OTC: PUBGY) to Sell from Buy on valuation following the recent rally and macroeconomic concerns.
  
• UBS downgraded Fresenius (NYSE: FMS) to Neutral from Buy citing valuation, but added shares to its Short-Term Buy list citing potential upward EPS revisions when the company reports on July 3.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Annaly Capital (NYSE: NLY) and Microchip (NASDAQ: MCHP) were lowered to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Soleil downgraded Steris (NYSE: STE) to Sell from Hold.
  
• Goldman added National Grid (NYSE: NGG) and Marshall & Ilsley (NYSE: MI) to its Conviction Sell List and removed Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) from the Conviction Buy List.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: National Grid, Shire Plc, On Semiconductor and Enbridge were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of National Grid (NYSE: NGG) to Buy from Hold as they believe the Keyspan deal will be positive for shareholders.
• Goldman upgraded shares of Shire Plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) to Buy from Neutral and added the stock to their Conviction Buy List on valuation and expected gains in the ADHD market.
  
• On Semiconductor (NASDAQ: ONNN) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wachovia on valuation.
  
• Enbridge Inc (NYSE: ENB) was raised to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets, as the firm sees an attractive 3-year return potential as new projects come into service and expects the stock's relative underperformance to come to an end.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Visteon Corporation (NYSE: VC) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman Sachs.
  
• RSC Holdings (NYSE: RRR) and Greenfield Online Inc (NASDAQ: SRVY) were upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Lehman Brothers.
  
• Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.
  
• Stifel upgraded Health Care REITs, including Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE: HR), LTC Properties Inc (NYSE: LTC) and Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR), to Buy from Hold.