Every day I marvel at all the silly things that happen in the marketplace, the missed opportunities and the overlooked bargains. Mini-mill steel company Nucor Corp. (NUE) is certainly one of them.

I understand that the construction industry is in the dumps and the auto industry has barely come back to life. There is no question that Nucor has fallen on tough times. However, that is what creates the investment opportunity. If you want to make a lot of money, you must find high-quality companies during their business lulls and not be afraid to put your money to work.

Analyst Upgrades

• Credit Suisse upgraded AT&T (T) to outperform from neutral and has a $35 target on the stock. Credit Suisse believes the impact from AT&T's loss of iPhone exclusivity will be less than expected and that the stock should benefit from its earnings growth and dividend yield.
• Goldman upgraded Freeport McMoRan (FCX) to buy from neutral and raised its price target to $94 from $79 based on improving copper fundamentals.
• Benchmark Co. upgraded Valueclick (VCLK) to vuy from hold on expectations Google Instant (GOOG) could drive marketing traffic. The firm raised its target price for Valueclick shares to $15 from $11.
• Best Buy (BBY) was upgraded to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Research In Motion (RIMM) was upgraded to buy from sell at Societe Generale.
• CarMax (KMX) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

United States Steel Corp. (X), whose colleagues include AK Steel (AKS) and Nucor Corp. (NUE), was sold off by investors on Tuesday after the company released its first-quarter results. The stock dropped $3.44, or 5.7%, to $56.63. Volume was strong.

The company is definitely far away from the 52-week low, but it unfortunately is also significantly under the 52-week high of $70.95. The one-year chart shows an up-and-down pattern that isn't necessarily for every investor. Indeed, the most recent price action has been decidedly in the downward direction. Of course, that might mean the business is worth a look, especially when you take into account the ultimate bias towards an upward trend. Let's check out the Q1 numbers.

A new method of setting the price on iron ore for export is upsetting Chinese and European steel makers and auto manufacturers, but that same pricing scheme is most likely going to benefit U.S. steelmakers such as AK Steel (AKS), Nucor (NUE) and U.S. Steel (X).

In the past, iron ore pricing was largely set on an annual basis, with the first negotiated ore contracts of the season setting the price for the duration of that season. However, this year, the three largest iron ore miners, BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RTP) and Vale SA (VALE), have decided that they will seek quarterly renegotiation of ore contract pricing. This will allow those companies to take better advantage of increases in iron ore demand and spikes in spot prices.

Analyst Upgrades

• JPMorgan upgraded Deere (DE) to overweight from neutral and raised its target on shares to $65 from $52. JPMorgan believes the company's fundamentals are improving and sees signs of a recovery in forestry, turf and earth-moving equipment.
• Piper Jaffray upgraded Valmont (VMI) to neutral from underweight on valuation following the company's Q4 results. The firm lowered its target price on shares to $70 from $74.
• Soleil upgraded Group 1 Automotive (GPI) to buy from hold on valuation with a $36 price target. The firm believes negative news flow for Toyota has created an opportunity to accumulate shares.
• Bernstein upgraded Deutsche Telekom (DT) to outperform from market perform.
• Nucor (NUE) was upgraded to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
• American Eagle (AEO) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the relentless ascent can only point to a belief that Congress will put jobs on the front burner.

Washington's listening. I think that Washington has had its fill of health care talk and is anxious to focus on jobs. President Obama wants to dither now with carbon capture, content that the stimulus plan, however bogus it was, is doing the job. But Congress senses that they are 13 months from a debacle and they are going to bring employment to the front burner.

That's what I think the market is saying. When I spoke to Dan DiMicco last night, the CEO from Nucor (NUE) (Cramer's Take), he showed devastating evidence of the real unemployment, now at about 18%, and the lack of job creation coming out of this recession compared to the last four recessions.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Nucor (NYSE: NUE) to Buy from Hold to reflect its positive outlook for steel and expectations the company will return to profitability in Q4. Citi raised its target price on shares to $57 from $46.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Given Imaging (NASDAQ: GIVN) to Outperform from Perform to reflect solid PillCam Colon data and expected margin improvement. The firm has a $25 target on shares.
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Genworth (NYSE: GNW) to Buy from Hold following the $600M capital raise as it believes liquidity at the holding company has improved. The firm raised its target on shares to $18 from $7.
• Washington Federal (NASDAQ: WFSL) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at FBR Capital.
• Carnival (NYSE: CCL) was upgraded to Sell from Conviction Sell at Goldman.
• Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Weeden.

Analyst upgrades:

• Citigroup upgraded Emergency Medical Services (NYSE: EMS) to Hold from Sell as it believes earnings estimates and valuation multiples could expand should Congress extend insurance coverage to the currently uninsured. The firm raised its target on shares to $38 from $29.
• JPMorgan upgraded Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB) to Neutral from Underweight on expectations the company's fixed income business will drive earnings.
• KeyBanc expects U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) to benefit from a global recovery in flat-rolled products and a potential stabilization in energy end markets. The firm upgraded shares to Buy from Hold.
• Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Soleil.
• Pinnacle Financial (NASDAQ: PNFP) was upgraded to Equal Weight from Underweight at Stephens.
• BP Plc (NYSE: BP) was raised to Buy from Hold at ING Group.

"The steel stocks tend to go through boom and bust cycles depending on global economic activity; they have been pummeled over the last year, as the global economy slowed," notes turnaround expert George Putnam.

In his The Turnaround Letter, he explains, "But the news about steel is not all bad." Indeed, he believes some steel companies are poised for a turnaround. Here's his review of 6 leading steel production companies.

"Weakness in two big steel consuming industries, autos and construction, has been particularly troublesome for the steelmakers.

"However, there is evidence that steel inventories are gradually being worked off to low levels. There are also signs that economic activity in China, which is a huge consumer of steel, will not fall off as far as some economists initially feared.

Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded American Capital (NASDAQ: AGNC) to Outperform from Market Perform on expectations the company's book value and earnings are trending higher. The firm raised its target price to $22.
• Jefferies upgraded Spartan Stores (NASDAQ: SPTN) to Buy from Hold as it believes the company's EPS and sales momentum will return with the Michigan economy likely bottoming out. Despite upgrading, the firm lowered its target price to $18 from $24.
• Morgan Stanley upgraded U.S. Steel (X) to Overweight from Equal Weight due to its favorable product mix and leverage to improving operating rates.
• CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• Mueller Water (NYSE: MWA) was raised to Perform from Underperform at Oppenheimer.
• Marvell Technology (NASDAQ: MRVL) was upgraded to Outperform from Underperform at JMP Securities.

Nucor (NYSE: NUE - option chain) shares are rising today after iron-ore miner Rio Tinto (NYSE: RTP) agreed to cut its iron ore prices for Japan's Nippon Steel Corp by more than 30%. The steelmakers have already been driven lower as demand for their product has slowed, but now they are less likely to be charged boom-time prices for their raw materials on top of that. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NUE.

NUE opened this morning at $39.44. So far today the stock has hit a low of $39.14 and a high of $41.41. As of 11:35, NUE is trading at $41.25 up 1.16 (2.9%). The chart for NUE looks bearish and S&P gives NUE a negative 2 STARS (out of 5) sell ranking.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says this market is short-term overbought -- any other reasons to buy can wait.

The playbook says, "Buy weak-dollar plays." But does that mean only weak-dollar commodity plays, as in flee-out-of-dollar-into-oil plays? Or weak-dollar plays like Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (Cramer's Take) and General Mills (NYSE: GIS) (Cramer's Take)? Or weak-dollar plays like gold? Or tech plays because Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) (Cramer's Take) are hugely international?

Or do you bother doing anything at all up here because we are plus-seven on the oscillator and every time we have gotten this overbought in this market, we have come crashing down?

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says if the pricing shows a disconnect with long-term truths, you can buy here.

Nothing to say. Not much going on. Can't get any CEOs to comment. Too close to the end of the quarter. People are dismissive of Nucor (NYSE: NUE) (Cramer's Take), and happy with Darden (NYSE: DRI) (Cramer's Take). Meanwhile, Tim Geithner's been silent, and silence is golden. Now if only he would ask one simple question: What are we guaranteeing with AIG (NYSE: AIG) (Cramer's Take)? It's a sideshow but an important one down the road, not now.

All of these things are of a piece. We are in one of those golden moments when not much is happening, and when we get information, we declare it half-full. I found myself thinking that Nucor's decline has to be some sort of a bottom because utilization rates don't get much lower than this. I found myself thinking that the infrastructure plan will kick in because everyone has now decided it will and that's all that matters.

Analyst upgrades:

• ING upgraded Roche (OTC: RHHBY) to Buy from Hold as it believes Roche will not pay more than $100/share for Genentech (NYSE: DNA) and that the Avastin adjuvant data due April 2009 provides significant upside potential.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Motorola (NYSE: MOT) to Outperform from Perform on valuation as it believes sentiment is at an all-time low and the stock has limited downside. The firm set a $5 target on shares.
  
• Morgan Stanley upgraded Comerica (NYSE: CMA) to Equal Weight from Underweight citing valuation that adequately reflects credit deterioration in its commercial-heavy loan portfolio and aggressive government action.
• Cheesecake Factory (NASDAQ: CAKE) and Nucor (NYSE: NUE) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
  
• Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Barclays.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that country can be counted on for tons of growth.

How perfect is China? We have producer price inflation down to almost zero, and rate cut possibilities as far as the eye can see. In our country, all we have heard is "pushing on a string." In their country, all they know is that when the Chinese central bank loosens, wondrous things happen, including a 29% gain in the index.

That gain is so glaring that you can be emboldened about it. You know that they have just started to put China to work and the inventories of all metals could be worked off quickly and the infrastructure products just started.