Analyst upgrades:

• Keefe Bruyette upgraded Blackstone Group (BX) to outperform from market perform following the company's Q3 results and maintains an $18.50 price target on shares.
• Baird upgraded Astec (ASTE) to outperform from neutral citing relative valuation and upside from new multi-year U.S. highway funding legislation. The firm raised its target to $33 from $27.
• Goldman upgraded Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) to conviction buy from neutral citing "significant" long-term growth drivers that include international growth. The firm raised its target to $45 from $36.
• Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) was upgraded to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan.
• Energizer (ENR) was upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) was upgraded to buy from hold at RBS.

Analyst upgrades:

• Goldman upgraded SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) to Buy from Neutral and raised their target to $22 from $16 citing the renegotiated royalty agreement with Samsung.
• Goldman also upgraded Starwood Hotels (NYSE: HOT) to Buy from Sell and raised their target to $27 from $11 citing strong operating leverage as RevPAR recovers.
• KeyBanc upgraded Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to Hold from Underweight citing a recent improvement in freight demand.
• J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) was upgraded to buy from Underperform at Banc of America/Merrill.
• Savvis (NASDAQ: SVVS) was raised to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer.
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) was upgraded at Citigroup to Buy from Hold.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says that before you buy into the conventional wisdom, you should consider these counter-arguments.

Sometimes it pays to know the consensus thinking of the big boys, the smart boys who trade every day. So let's detail it before we critique it:

1. Someday the companies that report bad earnings are going to start going down again. This is the Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) dilemma I keep alluding to, a company that skyrockets on terrible numbers no matter how you cut it.

2. The market will now recognize that the stress test is a big joke, everything's a phony, and the banks will fold again. Roubini's right; Geithner's a lightweight.

Analyst upgrades:

• Deutsche Bank upgraded AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) to Buy from Hold on valuation as it views the risk/reward as favorable at current levels. Deutsche raised its target price to $41.50 from $38.
  
• FBR Capigal upgraded Charlotte Russe (NASDAQ:CHIC) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's Q2 results on expectations merchandise improvements and cost-cutting efforts will drive continued margin expansion. The firm raised its target on shares to $15 from $10.
  
• Oppenheimer upgraded Fidelity National (NYS:FIS) to Outperform from Perform as it believes the Metavante (MV) acquisition makes strategic sense and the stock's risk/reward is favorable. The firm's target price is $25.
• First American (NYSE:FAF) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Keefe Bruyette.
  
• Nokia (NYSE:NOK) was raised to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan.
  
• Parker-Hannifin NYSE:(PH) was lifted at Wachovia to Outperform from Market Perform.

Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) started off the new earnings season with disappointing results that helped to stifle the recent rally. Was that enough of a sign of what's to come? No, probably not. But the earnings reports start to fly in earnest this week, which should provide a more detailed picture of the state of things.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters anticipate that some of the biggest names will prove to be holding their own. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is expected to post a profit of $4.91 per share, marginally higher than a year ago, and Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) expected $1.22 per share profit is slightly lower year over year. Even Mattel Inc.'s (NYSE: MAT) estimated loss of $0.13 per share is the same as in the year-ago period.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the sellers are in control, and without dividend protection, we have no floor.

The bad stuff is in the market. It just has to get more in. That's all. That's the conclusion you have to reach when you see companies like Terex (NYSE: TEX) (Cramer's Take), which is valued at only a billion and a half dollars, or Joy Global (NASDAQ: JOYG) (Cramer's Take) at $2 billion and change or McDermott (NYSE: MDR) (Cramer's Take) at $3 billion.

In other words, forget about the stock prices. They are almost all absurd unless we are headed into a recession of such magnitude that companies start showing severe losses in the first quarter. Think about the market cap size. If Terex, which is actually a pretty good machinery company, can sell at a billion and a half dollars -- about the price that some acquisitive company might have paid for a division of Terex a year ago -- why can't it sell at $1 billion? How about $800 million? What's to stop it? The sellers at this point obviously don't even care about it, not one bit. They just want money. The buyers have had their heads twisted off and don't want anything more to do with it. No one wants to recommend it because the estimates are too high. And without a dividend, it has no protection; besides, people might perceive that the dividend can't be paid -- a la Freeport (NYSE: FCX) (Cramer's Take) -- and sell it anyway.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says when the dust settles, we'll notice the reduced equity here, and stocks will rise to reflect it.

Do corporate balance sheets matter? One of the things that you will see in the next few weeks is everyday industrial companies brimming with cash. You are going to see buybacks of huge proportions. Companies like Deere (NYSE: DE) (Cramer's Take) and Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) (Cramer's Take) are swimming in cash. United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take), Emerson (NYSE: EMR) (Cramer's Take), huge. Every drug company, big. Almost every major tech company from Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) (Cramer's Take) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) (Cramer's Take) to Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) (Cramer's Take) and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) (Cramer's Take). Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (Cramer's Take), which just reported, has a monster amount of cash. (Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take) will soon, after the smoke clears.)

I know it doesn't matter at all. Right now we are so stuck on the banking problems and on the companies bleeding from higher energy prices that nobody cares about all of this cash, which will be used to shrink equity. They won't care because the banks, brokers and homebuilders, and the hobbled companies that use oil, have to issue so much equity that you can't see the effect of the equity shrinkage. But it will eventually matter. It has to matter that Deere has taken out 10% of its stock in the last four years. It does matter that Black & Decker (NYSE: BDK) (Cramer's Take) has eliminated almost 20% of its equity. Emerson's taken out 5%, same with Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take). There's just a huge amount of equity being shrunk.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says recent downgrades are killing whole industries, and they're coming at a terrible time.

You can't lose autos and aerospace. Yet that's what's happening. The devastating aerospace downgrade by Goldman yesterday had pin action galore, wrecking everything from United Tech (NYSE: UTX) (Cramer's Take) and Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take) to BE Aerospace (NASDAQ: BEAV) (Cramer's Take). It took the whole frame down with it and made everything toxic. And it happens at a terrible time. It isn't like Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take), which with a few days left in the quarter can come out defending itself. Goldman rolled a perfect strike.

And now the bowlers are back for more with an equally devastating "sell everything" call based on GM (NYSE: GM) (Cramer's Take). Once again it is seamless: Lear (NYSE: LEA) (Cramer's Take) and Tenneco (NYSE: TEN) (Cramer's Take) get jettisoned too, but you know that Visteon (NYSE: VC) (Cramer's Take) and American Axle (NYSE: AXL) (Cramer's Take) and Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) (Cramer's Take) and BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) (Cramer's Take) -- the good ones! -- go down with the car.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says lots of companies now thrive with crude up here.

Oil's not a tax on everything -- it's a tax on the consumer. That's what I come down to when I see the charts this weekend and ponder what's happening in so much of industrial America.

Company after company that I examine -- the new techs, as I call them -- actually benefit from higher oil prices. Or they can pass them on with ease, because of the worldwide demand being so strong.

Take all of the companies involved with making a Boeing (NYSE: BA) (Cramer's Take): Boeing itself, Alcoa (NYSE: AA) (Cramer's Take), Honeywell (NYSE: HON) (Cramer's Take) and Precision Castparts (NYSE: PCP) (Cramer's Take) being good examples. Each of these is necessary because the new Dreamliner burns lots less fuel, and with fuel the biggest airline cost, it stands to reason that higher energy prices make the plane more desirable even at a higher price point.

Or how about all of the companies involved with process and flow control and efficient motors: Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) (Cramer's Take), Emerson (NYSE: EMR) (Cramer's Take), Eaton (NYSE: ETN) (Cramer's Take) and Flowserve (NYSE: FLS) (Cramer's Take). Those work higher with higher energy prices. CSX (NYSE: CSX) (Cramer's Take), Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) (Cramer's Take), Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) (Cramer's Take), Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) (Cramer's Take) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) (Cramer's Take) are smaller energy users than trucks, and they ship plenty of ethanol and fertilizer.

MOST NOTEWORTHY: MedicNova, Transocean and Lennox were today's noteworthy initiations:

• Rodman & Renshaw is positive on MedicNova's (NASDAQ:MNOV) two primary products in development: MN-221, for the treatment of severe asthma and MN-166, an oral treatment for multiple sclerosis. The firm is also positive on MNOV's valuation; shares were initiated with an Outperform rating and $9 target.
  
• Transocean (NYSE:RIG) is UBS's Top Pick as they believe it is the primary beneficiary of rising deepwater dayrates. Shares were assumed with a Buy rating and $201 target.
  
• Suntrust initiated Lennox (NYSE:LII) with a Neutral rating and cites near-term visibility.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Dean Foods (NYSE:DF) was initiated with an Outperform rating and $29 target.
  
• Goldman started Parker-Hannifin (NYSE:PH) with a Neutral rating and $92 target.
  
• UBS assumed Hercules Offshore (NASDAQ:HERO) and Pride International (NYSE:PDE) with Neutral ratings and targets of $35 and $49, respectively.

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says there's some reason for caution, but no reason to get out of the market here.

There all right there. Don't you feel it? Hundreds of stocks at resistance. Hundreds have formed a nice base. The Transports and the Dow are moving in synch. The earnings period surprisingly great, with so many companies not stung by the raw costs. Three straight up weeks, with all the commodity stocks showing signs of rolling over; most at crucial "must hold" levels except for gold, which has already crashed, making the inflation case much dimmer in the eyes of the traders.

Yet, you simply can't read the papers. They are too awful. The cost to the consumers for everything from food to gasoline is humongous and going higher, according to all the food execs I had on last week. We are getting nowhere near a bottom in housing. The layoffs, while not significant in the Labor Report on Friday, sure seem endless. The two major presidential candidates from the Democratic side want to tax the oil companies into oblivion, the leaders of the last year. Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) blew the quarter. So did GE (NYSE: GE) (Cramer's Take).

Too far, too fast, based on those grim items.

To me, this is the first week since the Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) (Cramer's Take) bottom that I think seems aimless.

But perhaps there's a "split the difference" way to approach this week: options expiration.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Allegiant Travel Co. (NASDAQ: ALGT) beat estimates with soaring Q1 revenues, bucking the airline trend.
• Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA) Q1 profits doubled but fell short of expectations.
• Avon Products Inc. (NYSE: AVP) posted solid Q1 results despite negative operational cash flow.
• Centex Corp. (NYSE: CTX) posted a Q4 loss well below analyst estimates.
• Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) profits plunged in the first quarter on litigation charges.
• Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) posted another big loss, way off estimates of a small profit.
• Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) posted its first quarterly loss since 2003 on write-downs.
• Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI) beat Q1 expectations and raised its outlook for the year.
• International Paper Co. (NYSE: IP) fell short of Wall Street's Q1 earnings estimates.
• Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE: JEC) beat Q1 estimates and offered fully-year guidance.
• KBR Inc. (NYSE: KBR) Q1 profit more than doubled on arbitration benefit.
• MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) topped analysts' expectations as Q1 profits more than doubled.
• Office Depot Inc. (NYSE: ODP) Q1 profits tumbled 55% but still beat analysts' estimates.

Parker Hannifin Corporation (NYSE: PH) manufactures fluid power systems, electromechanical controls and related components. Its Industrial unit offers hydraulic systems, filters, sealing devices, pneumatic components and electromechanical instrumentation to OEMs in various production and processing industries. The firm's Aerospace segment provides hydraulic, fuel, and pneumatic systems used in commercial and military airframe and engine programs. The Climate and Industrial Controls division makes refrigeration and air conditioning systems. The company employs more than 57,000 people in 43 countries around the world. Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) and Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) are competitors.

Investors were pleased last week, when the firm reported fiscal Q3 EPS of $1.49 and revenues of $3.18 billion. Analysts had been looking for $1.34 and $3 billion. Management pointed to growth in many key markets, including aerospace. The firm also guided FY08 EPS to $5.40-$5.60, versus consensus of $5.28.

Readers of this space know that my investment bias is toward large-cap companies with demonstrated business models and who have a competitive advantage in established markets, preferably with a favorable global trend as a support. And with the above in mind, Parker-Hannifin is worth a review.

Parker-Hannifin (NYSE: PH) is one of the world's largest makers of components that control the flow of industrial fluids; control systems for machinery/equipment; motion control products; fluid purification, fluid and fuel control; process instrumentation; air conditioning / refrigeration; electromagnetic shielding; and thermal management products and systems.

In general, analysts expect PH to register 10-14% revenue growth in F2008, on solid growth in industrial and aerospace work, internationally. Moreover, the global aerospace growth cycle is expected to continue through 2008 and into 2009, netting impressive results for PH.

Further, although the majority of PH's revenues is U.S.-based, and those division will not achieve their peak performance due to the barely-growing U.S. economy, Parker's international industrial/business segment is expected to continue to benefit from emerging market / developing economies work.

Parker Hannifin (NYSE: PH), makers of motion and control technologies, was just awarded $2 billion in contracts to supply fuel and hydraulic systems for the new A350 aricraft. Parker's aerospace division will supply the entire fuel management system for the wide body aircraft. Likewise, Parker aerospace will supply hydraulic power and distribution components and measurement controls for the A350.

News of these awards comes immediately following Parker Hannifin's posting a record 2Q2008 sales revenue of $2.8 billion, an increase of almost 13%. A healthy 5% of this growth was organic, 3% resulted from four separate acquisitions the company made during the quarter. Net income increased just under 10% to $212 million, and cash flow increased more than 8% to $473 million. As a result, diluted EPS increased 13% to $1.23.

Parker Hannifin reported great results in its international segment. Revenue increased 28% to $1.2 billion, while operating income increased 44% to $175 million. These results helped make up for some softness in the domestic industrial market. While the domestic aerospace segment posted a 7% increase in sales, operating income dropped by 23%. The same is true of the climate control segment which posted a 22% drop in operating income.

On a more positive note, total orders are running 10% ahead of last year, with both industrial and aerospace segments posting 16-19% increases. CEO Don Washkewicz forecasts good order growth throughout all of 2008. As a result, he boosted earnings guidance modestly to the $5.15-$5.40 range.

Parker Hannifin forecasts a number of new product launches in 2008, with more products in the development pipeline. The company has increased its annual dividend for 51 consecutive years and shows no signs of breaking with tradition. The stock currently trades just under $62.