Analyst Upgrades

• Interpublic Group (IPG) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
• Radware (RDWR) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
• Fluor (FLR) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) to buy from hold, as well as AllianceBernstein (AB) to hold from sell, at Citigroup.
• MetroCorp (MCBI) and American Capital (AGNC) to outperform from market perform at Keefe Bruyette.
• International Flavors (IFF) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
• BioCryst (BCRX) and Southern Company (SO) to buy from neutral at BofA/Merrill.
• Bunge (BG) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.

Riverbed Technology (RVBD - option chain) shares are rising today on reports that the company is in negotiations to buy Radware (RDWR) for $47 per share. Rival Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) reportedly has offered $45 per share for RDWR. 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 RVBD.

RVBD opened this morning at $35.50. So far today the stock has hit a low of $34.58 and a high of $36.91. As of 12:20, RVBD is trading at $34.99 up 0.17 (0.5%). The chart for RVBD looks neutral and S&P gives RVBD a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Tech is alive, retail is not dead, wholesale inventory didn't kill us, and M&A continues. What double-dip recession? The markets were all in positive territory until the end of the day and the final decision between red and black on the day was not a known certainty until the final minutes. Gold hit a new all-time high as uncertainty and risk still reigns.

Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 10,526.49 -17.64 (-0.17%)
S&P 500 1,121.10 -0.80 (-0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,289.77 +4.06 (0.18%)

Top Analyst Calls

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Riverbed Technology, Sirius Satellite and ASML Holdings were today's noteworthy downgrades:

• Deutsche Bank downgraded shares of Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD) to Hold from Buy after it negatively preannounced to reflect economic conditions and the company's lack of visibility.
  
• Credit Suisse said shares of Sirius Satellite (NASDAQ: SIRI) are trading near fair value and that shares will probably trade in a range between mid-$2s to $3 in 2008. Shares were downgraded to Neutral from Outperform.
  
• JP Morgan lowered ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML) to Neutral from Overweight as they believe chip manufacturing equipment orders are suffering from the weak DRAM memory market.

OTHER DOWNGRADES:

• Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) was cut at Goldman to Neutral from Buy.
  
• Tesco PLC (OTC: TSCDY) was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Societe Generale.
• RBC Capital cut Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) to Sector Perform from Outperform.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The office of the Massachusetts secretary of state is investigating whether Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) improperly traded mortgage-backed securities for its own account with two hedge funds that failed this past summer, without notifying in advance the funds independent directors, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Schork Report's Stephen Schork sees an oil correction coming and predicted oil in the $65-$68 range, according to the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column.

OTHER PAPERS:

• Insurer Aetna (NYSE: AET) has instituted a tighter reimbursement policy for Amgen's (NASDAQ: AMGN) anemia drugs, creating a setback for Amgen, reported the Los Angeles Times.
• A consortium led by Icelandic investor Baugur is interested in making an offer for Saks (NYSE: SKS), reported the New York Post, but Saks will not consider a sale until the credit market improves.
• From BusinessWeek's "Inside Wall Street" section:
  
• BusinessWeek suggested that US Airways' (NYSE: LCC) poor performance compared to it's competitors makes it an attractive target to be bought.
• Rami Rosen of investment firm Oscar growth believes pacts like Radware's (NASDAQ: RDWR) venture with International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) will help to drive growth.
• BusinessWeek hailed Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) performance, saying it is one of the few internet companies that has beaten Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

MOST NOTEWORTHY: The semiconductor sector, Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) and Federal National Mortgage Association (NYSE: FNM) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

• Bernstein upgraded the semiconductor sector to Overweight form Market Weight on expectations that utilization will rise starting in Q2. The firm upgraded ASML Holding NV (NASDAQ: ASML) to Outperform from Market Perform and Infineon Technologies (NYSE: IFX) to Market Perform from Underperform.
• UBS upgraded Quest Diagnostics to Buy from Neutral, citing Laboratory Corporation Of America Holdings' (NYSE: LH) contract renewal with Cigna HealthCare, which should ease concerns regarding deteriorating pricing.
• Fannie Mae was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Friedman Billings, citing improving fundamentals, better business mix and the possibility the company reports current financials in the next 12-18 months.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Mediacom Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: MCCC) was upgraded to Neutral at Pali Capital, as the firm does not see a major catalyst to drive down shares.
• Soleil upgraded shares of ICU Medical Inc (NASDAQ: ICUI) to Buy from Hold.
• DynCorp International Inc (NYSE: DCP) was upgraded to Outperformer from Sector Performer at CIBC World Markets.
• CIBC also upgraded shares of Radware Limited (NASDAQ: RDWR) to Outperformer from Sector Performer.