The choppy/consolidating (or perhaps worse) market conditions sometimes give the impression that growth plays do not exist, but that is not the case, and one growth company worth an evaluation is OceanFreight.

OceanFreight Inc. (Nasdaq: OCNF) specializes in dry bulk carrier lease charters. Third parties use OceanFreight's dry bulk vessels to carry iron ore, coal, grain, and etc.

OCNF operates a 10-vessel fleet, primarily dry bulk containers, but the company also owns oil tankers. Overall capacity is about 1 million deadweight tons.

Further, the secular, global trend of increased international trade between the Americas and Asia hemispheres bodes well for OCNF. Moreover, OCNF is one of those "off the radar" companies worthy of investor consideration: light institutional coverage gives individual investors a chance to establish a position in a promising company, before the major buy-side institutions drive up OCNF's price. The Reuters FY 2008/FY 2009 EPS consensus estimates for OCNF are $2.78/$2.63

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says investors need to look at the longer time frame and see what drove rates higher to begin with -- world trade and a ship shortage.

Freakout on dry bulk ships! That's what happened yesterday. The hot money saw the break in the rates and skedaddled.

Should you?

Do you believe that rates are done going up? Do you know about secret ships that are being built or contracts being broken? Or revised down? Do you know what's falling apart?

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

Maybe that shouldn't matter. Maybe all that mattered were the stocks, and they are now "bad."

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Motorola, Nokia, General Mills, AudioCodes and OceanFreight were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Cowen upgraded shares of Motorola Inc (NYSE: MOT) and Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) to Outperform from Neutral. The firm expects Motorola to benefit as the mobile phone market in North America improves as market supply tightens in Q4 and results in better unit pricing, while Nokia's new phones put it in a position to realize higher unit sales.
  
• Credit Suisse upgraded shares of General Mills Inc (NYSE: GIS) to Outperform from Neutral citing management's improved execution and openness, and well as valuation.
  
• Cantor raised shares of AudioCodes (NASDAQ: AUDC) to Buy from Hold after channel checks suggested that Q3 business is tracking well.
  
• OceanFreight Inc (NASDAQ: OCNF) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Oppenheimer on valuation and strong dry-bulk fundamentals.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Lehman upgraded shares of Roche Holding (OTC: RHHBY) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
  
• Goldman upgraded Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) to Neutral from Sell.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Citigroup raised Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE: CNQ) to Buy from Hold.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: ORBComm Inc (NASDAQ: ORBC), Weingarten Realty Investors (NYSE: WRI) and Regency Centers Corporation (NYSE: REG) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• ORBComm was initiated with a Market Perform rating and $16 target at Piper Jaffray, as the firm believes the company may need to launch at least 25 satellites over the next few years to continue servicing its existing subscribers, which could lead to further losses. The company was initiated with an Outperform rating at Raymond James.
• Baird initiated Weingarten Realty with an Outperform rating and $56 target due to its strategy to accelerate growth and initiated Regency Realty with a Neutral rating and $88 target citing valuation and lack of catalysts.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• OceanFreight Inc (NASDAQ: OCNF) was initiated with a Buy rating and $24 target at Cantor.
• UBS initiated shares of Ocean Power Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: OPTT) with a Buy rating and $20 target and shares of Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (NYSE: OHI) with a Neutral rating and $18 target.
• Shutterfly Inc (NASDAQ: SFLY) was initiated at JMP Securities with a Strong Buy rating and $25 target.
• Corn Products International Inc (NYSE: CPO) was initiated with a Buy rating and $48 target at BB&T Capital Mkts, as the firm believes CPO will be able to generate strong earnings growth, as well as use its strong cash flow to grow its specialty ingredients business, raise its dividend, use for a share repurchase or a combination of the above.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Leap Wireless (LEAP), Cergaon Networks (CRNT), Cinemark (CNK), Regal Entertainment (RGC) and Ocean Power Tech (OPTT) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Leap Wireless International Inc. (NASDAQ: LEAP) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $103 target at Pacific Crest, as the firm believes the company's long-term opportunity with new-market expansion is underappreciated.
• Pacific Crest also initiated shares of Ceragon Networks Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRNT) with an Outperform rating and $12 target, as the firm believes accelerating wireless data growth is driving backhaul demand.
• Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK) was initiated with an Overweight rating at Morgan Stanley, a Buy rating and $21 target at Banc of America and a Buy rating at Merrill Lynch; Banc of America believes the current box office strength could drive upside to estimates.
• Morgan Stanley also initiated shares of Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) with an Equal Weight rating.
• Ocean Power Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: OPTT) was initiated with a Buy rating and $24 target at Banc of America and a Neutral rating at First Albany.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Telanetix Inc. (NASDAQ: TNXI) was initiated with a Buy rating and $8.50 target at Kaufman Bros, as the firm believes the company's market opportunity is significant and thinks it could be an interesting acquisition target if the telepresence market development accelerates.
• Banc of America initiated shares of OceanFreight Inc. (NASDAQ: OCNF) with a Buy rating and $23 target.
• Goldman Sachs initiated shares of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (NYSE: KMP) with a Neutral rating and $54 target and shares of Kinder Morgan Management (NYSE: KMR) with a Neutral rating and $53 target.
• Deutsche Bank initiated shares of Guess Inc. (NYSE: GES) with a Buy rating and $49 target.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).